Old Photograph Quarry Crarae Scotland

Old photograph of the quarry at Crarae near Inveraray, Scotland. On Saturday, September 25, 1886, according to annual custom, a company numbering upward of 1,000 persons, including several members of the Glasgow Corporation, their wives and families, proceeded on board the Lord of the Isles steamer to Loch Fyne, to witness the great blast at the Crarae quarries. The quarries are situated on the face of a hill, rising 150 feet, perpendicularly from the loch. The steamer gave the signal for the explosion by blowing her whistle. Seven tons of powder were fired, and seventy thousand tons of rock were dislodged. It was reckoned a most successful blast, and thus far all went well. But then the passengers were anxious to land and inspect the scene of operations. Some three hundred of them did so, and all who could squeeze in entered the quarry. At first nothing untoward happened, but after a few minutes one visitor after another fell motionless to the ground, overpowered by the noxious vapours which the explosion had generated. A quarryman had, it seems, given them warning of their danger, but his words were either misunderstood or disregarded. Nearly a hundred persons were thus prostrated, and of these seven died on the spot, while others remained in a critical condition for several days. It is remarkable that the mephitic vapours did not begin to ooze out from the crushed rock until some time after the blast. This no doubt lulled the visitors into a false sense of security.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.