Kelp! I need somebody
I’ve often wondered what kelp-burning pits looked like on Westray. There was a huge industry here, exporting the ash from burning seaplants harvest from the shore:
Despite seeing many of the kelp-drying walls which surround the island I’ve never seen one of the pits which it was burnt in.
Here’s an example of a whole series of kelp-drying walls, or tangle dykes as they are called locally:
On the rock-shelf beach beyond Stancro, Midge and David show me a hollowed-out pit:
It’s industrial archaeology, here on Westray.