The rocky path to Gangsti pier

You will recall, dear long-suffering reader, that Our Lass and I had journeyed far across the sea to Graemsay, on a day trip to visit Sian of 'Life on a Small Island'.

After coffee and cake (natch!), we wandered onto the beach and spent the remainder of the time before lunch walking along the rocky shore between the piers of Sandside and Gangsti. I guess you could call it a 'piers morgen'.

At Sandside, the beach on the eastern side of the old pier is comprised of mainly shell and coral. As opposed to the western side which is all sand, but we weren't headed in that direction.

We set off along the beach which, like many in Orkney, consists of a series of gentle steps in the beds of flagstones. Within the many layers, tiny features have been fossilised in time, as the sediments have built up and been condensed over millions of years.

A seabed of wave ripples.

Mud cracks.

Bits of fish bone.

Possibly mud cracks formed under different circumstances?

Dunno, not a clue. 

Forcing its way up through a fissure between the sedimentary layers, a metamorphic seam of something... geology's not my strong suit, is it?

We passed below Hoy High Light...

and eventually reached the current pier (where we had disembarked earlier). To one side of the pier is a small structure, which Sian informed us was the hut where the explosives were stored that were used during the construction of the pier. And on one side of that is an even smaller structure where the detonators were kept.

You can't be too careful when it comes to big bangs!