Stone Structures - 2

From Dave King

Dave has found a number of stone structures in the area around Sanna and the lighthouse.  He describes them, and gives his thoughts on what they may once have been.  Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

On another day, I had a look at Port Min and Port Choinnich.  The walk down to Port Choinninch was great fun, and I really can’t believe many people walk down here from one year’s end to the next.

It was no great surprise that I could not identify any structures down by the beach, although given the roughness of the terrain, and the growth of the bracken, I wouldn’t rule out finding something down there. However, there is no level land, and it’s hard to see how such a narrow valley could ever support any land-based economy.

On the other hand, if the talk of pirates is true, you can imagine this as being an ideal place from which to prey on coastal traffic, especially that travelling north to south. A look out on the southern end of Garbhlach Mor would monitor progress of any traffic, which would be unaware of any hidden vessels until they slipped out at just the right time. This assumes, of course, that such piracy happened along this coast....

However, to show how difficult it was to identify anything, I only stumbled across this structure on retracing my steps. It is some way back up the valley, and therefore I guess it is more likely to have been some sort of temporary livestock enclosure rather than habitation, although it wouldn’t hold many sheep.

It seems to have been knocked up pretty quickly, and utilises two very large boulders which I would have to assume were already there.

Many thanks to Dave King for story & pictures.

An interactive version of the map is here.

Warning: the walk south from the lighthouse road to Port Choinnich is tough going.