Working Westray #4

It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for my series on Working Westray.

I’m at the harbour and Willie is repairing the hull of the Noup Head. He’s hammering fresh copper plates onto the hull with large-headed copper nails. Sea-life won’t grow on copper, so it keeps the hull smooth and relatively free of fouling.

Working Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

He’s cutting boiler-grade copper with a guillotine into right-size pieces

Working Westray - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

After he’s finished, I’m fascinated by the copper plates and their arrangement of nails.

Copper hull - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

These’ll make it ship-shape for a few more years.

Copper hull - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

It’s a fascinating patchwork of the history of its use.

Copper hull - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

More Working Westray

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