Walk in a straight line inland and keeping the river to your left and soon you’ll find a wee lochan with a convenient picnic table. Here was the mine which supplied Diotomite. Beside the rough road and to the right is a dismantled railway, which was a 2 foot gauge tramway. In a description from 1905 the line was worked by manpower and gravity, later it appears to have had a locomotive.

It ran from Loch Cuithir (where the Diatomite was extracted from the lochbed and initially dried on wire nets) to the clifftop at Invertote where there were storehouses. At the foot of the cliff was a drying and grinding factory where the diatomite was kiln dried, ground and calcined (roasted). An extension of the line ran from the factories to the pier. A second facility carried Diatomite from Loch Valerain by aerial ropeway to Staffin Bay. Between these the Skye Diatomite company extracted 2000 tons. Today the line and works are closed and ruined and Loch Valerain is worked out.

The Diatomite was converted into kieselguhr which was used by Nobel Explosives at Ardeer to mix with nitroglycerine to make Dynamite. Diatomite has many uses and is still prepared in many parts of the world.

Just two weeks ago this was the scene not far from where I live. This week the snow has gone, the birds are back and so are over twenty caravans, cars, 4×4s, white vans and lots and lots of travellers. They broke through two gates and now have established a camp in the former industrial estate. Locals are on guard, and so too are the authorities. We await their next move.

The rubbish pile has started to grow and already the Community Wardens have scheduled daily visits to the site. Walking around the perimeter feels awkward, as if you are visiting the zoo. You try not to look through the gaps in the fence or wire but you just have to, to see what the ‘inmates’ are up to. Today, one came out and round the fence and then asked ‘”Does your dog bite?”.