Cullipool

The first thing to strike you about Cullipool was the magnificent flora close by the beach. It may have been raining hard but it was magnificent.

Having said that, you couldn’t help noticing the slate and the rain. The last one you just had to smile at and say, ‘It’s only water’ and it didn’t seem so bad.

Particularly if you were well dressed.

I loved the slate desolation. Obviously there are plants and buildings, but it does look a bit out of this world.

Out at sea there were so many little islets that it is hard to be sure just what you were looking at.

Cullipool hardly looks like a major settlement by its sign but soon we found old quarries, now flooded and habitation.

I know this is rather untidy, but those monstrous gate posts just had to be recorded. And across the track – we were now walking – was the quarry. Slate quarrying had once been the lifeblood of Luing.

Much of Cullipool was composed of quarryfolk cottages, similar to those we had seen before at Ellenabeich on neighbouring Seil.

They look lovely and suit as artist homes or holiday lets. I think I’d find them a bit cramped for everyday living.

Cullipool is lived in, so there are cars. Is the cottage at the near end having a refit?

A chimney makes a good perch for a gull.

Electric cables are a bit unsightly – but who’d want to live without the electric for any length of time.

An informative notice board. These were the men at just one of the quarries in the early 1900s. Slate making was big business.

Here’s more old quarry with a well waterproofed watcher.

Actually, the rain was stopping. Soon the waterproof clothing would be discarded as the day improved.

The floral treats ran right up to the quarry waste.

We had passed through the village and the road had ended but there was still a rough track. That sky looks to be brightening up nicely. The islands out at sea looked much clearer.

Yes. It looked as though we really were going to be in for a decent day.