Showing posts with label Rusting Away. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rusting Away. Show all posts

Tuesday 12 April 2022

Skulferatu #66 - Disused Pier and Ship Loading Bay, Preston Hill Quarry, Inverkeithing, Fife

When out for walks along the Fife Costal Path I often stumble across the ruins of the heavy industry that once thrived in this area.  There are pieces of machinery of indeterminate use, the remains of old buildings and piers, structures sitting out and decaying away in the water, and broken metal things that may have once been something useful but are now so rusted away it is difficult to say what they were.

 

A photo of the remains of a pier like structure standing in the middle of the open water of the Forth Estuary.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Decaying remains of an old pier in the Forth

 

A photo of a concrete structure with a door frame type thing at the end.  It appears to be an old loading bay.  In the background is the Forth Rail Bridge.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Concrete structure sitting on shore of the Forth

 

Just outside of Inverkeithing there are the rather striking remains of what looks like a disused, iron pier jutting out into the Forth. 

 

A photo of a long, thin metal pier like structure jutting out from the land and into the waters of the Forth.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.

 

These are the remnants of a conveyer belt and loading bay for Preston Hill Quarry.  It was once used to load stone from the quarry on to ships.  The quarry was closed down many years ago and the pier and loading bay have been left to just rust away.

 

A photo of a long, thin metal pier like structure jutting out from over rocks and into the waters of the Forth.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Disused pier and ship loading bay for Preston Hill Quarry

 

A photo underneath the pier showing the metal struts stretching out into the sea.   Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Underneath the disused pier for the conveyer belt

 

A photo up through the rusting iron struts of the disused pier.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
The rusting iron struts of the pier

 

A photo up through the pier showing metal struts and barbed wire.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Iron and barbed wire underneath the pier

 

I found a path through the thorny bushes that took me underneath the rusting metal structure and while I took some photographs a heron watched me warily from the water below.

 

A photo of a heron standing in the waters of the Forth.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
A heron watched me warily

 

I then took a wander over to the old quarry site.  It is now full of water and is a popular place with the local diving community for training and underwater photography.  I tried my hand at a bit of underwater photography by sticking an old and supposedly waterproof camera into the water to take a photo of the reeds growing below the surface. It sort of worked and the camera only fizzed and hissed a little bit.

 

A photo showing a sign post stating that it is illegal to fly tip or dump in the area, by this sign are several concrete fence posts, though the fence is now gone and behind these can be seen the cliffs of Preston Hill Quarry.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Entrance to Preston Hill Quarry

 

A photo showing cliffs around a body of water - this being the old Preston Hill Quarry.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Preston Hill Quarry

 

A photo of some plants growing underwater in the quarry.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Plants growing underwater in the quarry


A photo from the hill above Preston Hill Quarry looking over the quarry site.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
A view out over the quarry site

 

There are now plans afoot to fill in the quarry site and turn the area around it into a housing development.  I got the impression from some stickers on signposts and lampposts along the path leading up to the quarry that this is not a particularly popular idea.

 

I wandered back round from the quarry to the old pier and loading bay.  The sun was bright in the sky and all around was a haze of light reflected on a calm sea.

 

A photo of the disused pier and ship loading bay for Preston Hill Quarry.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Disused pier and ship loading bay for Preston Hill Quarry

 

A photo of the disused pier and ship loading bay for Preston Hill Quarry.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Disused pier and ship loading bay for Preston Hill Quarry

 

I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk in the iron struts of the pier supports.

 

A photo showing a small ceramic skull (Skulferatu #66) being held up in front of the disused pier and loading bay.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #66

 

A photo showing a small ceramic skull (Skulferatu #66) sitting in the rusting struts of the pier.   Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #66 in the iron struts of the pier

 

TomTom map showing location of Skulferatu #66
Map showing location of Skulferatu #66

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 56.02553

Longitude -3.38618


Tuesday 7 December 2021

Skulferatu #52 - XT-Craft Midget Submarine Wrecks, Aberlady Bay, East Lothian

 

About a mile away from the picturesque village of Aberlady, there is a rather lovely walk through a nature reserve that stretches along the coast on one side of Aberlady Bay.  The path through this takes you through a wooded area and out onto a stretch of land covered in sea grasses and reeds.  From there it leads onto some huge sand dunes and a gorgeous sandy beach that seems to stretch out forever at low tide.  Today, I walked out there from Aberlady.  The sun shone through a wind that howled in from the sea and it was both warm and freezing at the same time.  Typical British beach weather basically.

 

As I made my way out along the beach towards the retreating sea, I took off my socks and shoes and walked though pitted puddles in the sand to the watery graves of two submarines. 

 

A picture of the skeletal remains of a wrecked submarine lying on the sands of the beach at Aberlady Bay, East Lothian.  In the distance can be seen the concrete block it was tethered to, along with the remains of another submarine.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Remains of one of the submarines with the other away in the distance

 

These are not as you may think German submarines sunk during World War II but are rather a couple of British mini submarines that were used by the RAF for target practice.

 

A picture of the remains of one of the wrecked XT-Craft midget submarines lying on its side in the sands at Aberlady Bay.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
Remains of one of the wrecked XT-Craft midget submarines

 

They are the remains of two XT-Craft midget submarines.  These are training versions of the X-Craft submarines which were built in Britain during the Second World War and were designed to defend harbours and attack targets.  They were used on the attack of the German battleship Tirpitz in 1943 and were used during the D-Day landings to carry out beach reconnaissance and act as navigational beacons.

 

A picture of the rusting and seaweed covered remains of the hatch of one of the wrecked submarines.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project
The hatch of one of the wrecked submarines

 

A photo of a rusting metal tower on the wrecked remains of the submarine.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Detail of one of the wrecked submarines

 

A photo of the skeletal and rusting remains of one of the submarines with the metal ribs of the vessel on show.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Rusting remains of one of the submarines

 

A photo of the inside of the rusting remains of one of the submarines.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Inside view of one of the submarines

 

A photo of one of the wrecked submarines in silhouette with clouds above stretching off into the distance.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
View of one of the wrecked submarines on the beach

 

In 1946 these two submarines were towed out to Aberlady bay and moored to concrete blocks.  They were then used to test the effectiveness of 20mm cannon shells, which were fired at them by RAF aircraft.  The film of these tests taking place is available on YouTube at –




After the tests were completed the damaged remains of the submarines were left to rust away in the sea.

 

I left the Skulferatu that accompanied me on my walk in a hole in the rusting interior of one of the submarines.

 

A photograph of a small, ceramic skull (Skulferatu 52) being held in a hand with one of the wrecked submarines lying on the beach in the background.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #52

 

A photograph showing the rusting and barnacle covered interior of submarine where Skulferatu 52 was left.  There is a small, round hole in the centre of the rusting metal.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Interior of submarine where Skulferatu #52 was left

 

A photograph of the small, ceramic skull (Skulferatu 52) lying in the small hole in the rusting metal of the wrecked submarine.  Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #52 inside the wreck of one of the submarines

 

TomTom Map showing location of Skulferatu #52
Map showing location of Skulferatu #52

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 56.022681

Longitude -2.880941

 

I used the following sources for information on the submarines –

 

Canmore

X-craft: Aberlady Bay, Firth Of Forth | Canmore

 

Aberlady Heritage

Midget Submarines, Aberlady Bay, Summary Report by Alison Boutland