Some times you just past through places, with out really seeing them. I think this happens to Fionnphort on the Isle of Mull, where you catch the ferry across to Iona.
On our last trip to Iona in 2013, we had arrived early to wait for the ferry and it was an ideal time to take some photos. I have always liked the view you get when looking across the water to the beaches on Fionnphort, the pink rocks always looked interesting. So having come to the end of my posts on Iona, I thought I would investigate the pink rocks of Fionnphort on Mull
There are some seriously big boulders on this beach and as I zoomed in I saw some old machinery. I had read about Iona’s marble quarries but nothing about Fionnphorts. The quarry is situated in an area known as The Ross of Mull and was opened in 1831 and ceased in 1910. During this time the quarry supplied the lovely pink granite stone for the abbey on Iona, as well as many more famous buildings.
The quarry did reopened as Scottish Natural Stone, but the granite is rarely extracted nowadays.
The machinery and mining equipment were just left in situ, if you look at the close up photo you can see an old engine of some kind, just abandoned on site. So the next time we come back from Iona, I intend to explore Fionnphort, as I think there is a lot more to it, than just being a ferry terminal.
I have added a photo of the ferry, with no one on it or queuing, this is the first ferry of the day and the best one to travel on.
Echoes of the Past 
I love Fionnphort, too! 🙂 It’s almost as if it sits on the entrance to another world. There are some lovely bays to the south-west, if you can bear to delay the crossing to Iona. I hadn’t noticed the old mining machinery – I’ll look next time! Wonderful photos once again.
Glad you are enjoying the photos 🙂 I agree with you about Fionnphort and I’ve been reading about area and next time we will explore some more of it. You will need to zoom in with your camera to see the machinery, I didn’t see it, until I was trying to shoot some birds, missed the birds but got something more than I thought 🙂
Gorgeous place – I’ll never forget the colour of the water – if I ever get to a tropical island, I hope it’s half as good. 🙂
In the sunshine, the pink granite and the blue of the water make such a wonderful combination. Yes I think it would have to be a very special tropical island 🙂