Loch Calder

[Turquoise]

I was wondering if anyone knows what the stones are, which stretch out into the water in what looks like a semi-circle shape? They are placed in pairs on their sides vertically and it seems to stretch out but you cannot tell how far??

It's on the sandy banks near the trees on the Westerdale side.

Any enlightenment???

[Blarney]

Must say that I have never noticed them! How big are they?

[Turquoise]

They are about an 6" long and 1" wide so presumably the diameter is roughly about 6" or so. It's difficult to tell as they are placed into the loch bank vertically on their edge, so it's only the aforementioned sides showing...

Am I the only person to have noticed these??

[r.rackstraw]

Interesting. But the sizes you give are very small - 6 inches by 1 inch.
Sandy banks? Westerdale side? Do you really mean Loch Calder and not Loch More?

[Turquoise]

Ach...I was tired I meant Westfield!! [lol]

It's down the hill from the road and round past the forest bit. They're sort of buried in the rocks and sand as I remember. Mind you it was last summer that I was last out so it could be anothe rloch I was thinking of in relation to the sand. But anyhow it's round where it starts getting a bit deeper and rocky?

[Blarney]

I'm going to have to go out and see this for myself as you have totally intrigued me. There'll be a few folk out for a run on Sunday!:)

[Dog-eared]

I havent been to the exact spot you mention but what I know is -

There are lots of Neolithic remains around that side of Calder.
There are the chambered cairns on the waters edge in front of the trees by the Lieurary - Westfield end and on the far west side before the big plantation there is a Neolithic settlement, chambered cairns and also 5 standing stones just over the top of the hill.

Of course, it could have something to do with the later building at Buolloch - remains of a jetty ?? Fishermen might know about this ?

You can see these features on OS Landranger map No 11 , but not detailed at 1;500 scale. A more detailed map would help.

A search of the Caithness Field Club reports on the Org might well turn something up.

An extensive list of their excellent reports and trips are here -

http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&cof=GALT%3A%230000FF%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23FFFFFF%3B VLC%3A0000FF%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3 ACC6633%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000% 3BGFNT%3A666666%3BGIMP%3A666666%3BLH%3A40%3BLW%3A2 40%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.caithness.org%2Fscripts% 2Flogo.gif%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.caithness.org%3B FORID%3A1%3B&safe=active&oe=ISO-8859-1&ie=ISO-8859-1&forid=1&client=pub-2059130617104004&sitesearch=www.caithness.org&domains=www.caithness.org&q=caithness+field+club&sa=Search

[Turquoise]

I havent been to the exact spot you mention but what I know is -

There are lots of Neolithic remains around that side of Calder.
There are the chambered cairns on the waters edge in front of the trees by the Lieurary - Westfield end and on the far west side before the big plantation there is a Neolithic settlement, chambered cairns and also 5 standing stones just over the top of the hill.

Of course, it could have something to do with the later building at Buolloch - remains of a jetty ?? Fishermen might know about this ?

You can see these features on OS Landranger map No 11 , but not detailed at 1;500 scale. A more detailed map would help.

A search of the Caithness Field Club reports on the Org might well turn something up.

An extensive list of their excellent reports and trips are here -

http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&cof=GALT%3A%230000FF%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23FFFFFF%3B VLC%3A0000FF%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3 ACC6633%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000% 3BGFNT%3A666666%3BGIMP%3A666666%3BLH%3A40%3BLW%3A2 40%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.caithness.org%2Fscripts% 2Flogo.gif%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.caithness.org%3B FORID%3A1%3B&safe=active&oe=ISO-8859-1&ie=ISO-8859-1&forid=1&client=pub-2059130617104004&sitesearch=www.caithness.org&domains=www.caithness.org&q=caithness+field+club&sa=Search

Thanks so much.

Yes, I'm glad you mentioned the archaeological references, as this is something which has occurred to me. I've always been interested in archaeology and find myself looking at the lay of the land for archaeological features and maybe spotting things which have previusly been ignored.

It had occurred to me that it may have been for rigging netting up to or something. The stones are fairly small and don't look like they could bear much weight. It's difficult to say how long they would have been in that position?

A mystery indeed but at least my findings are now catalogued and I can claim the name of The Turquoise Stones for them :Razz:Razz:Razz


Thanks very much again!

[Dog-eared]

"The Turquoise Stones of Calder " has a certain ring to it ! :)

[jimag]

Turquoise,

dont be too hasty in associating with these stones, you may incur the wrath of the anti windmill brigade. I think the stones were probably the foundations for a windmill used to pump water to houses and water troughs in the area long before Loch Calder serviced water supplies for the whole county. There were several of these wind pumps in the area, generally over wells.

[Dog-eared]

Good point, and obviously the water level was raised when it became a water reservoir.