Whalebone arch Lakefield House by A858 Bragar

Introduction

The photograph on this page of Whalebone arch Lakefield House by A858 Bragar by Jo and Steve Turner as part of the Geograph project.

The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.

There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk

Whalebone arch Lakefield House by A858 Bragar

Image: © Jo and Steve Turner Taken: 13 Jun 2012

The village Postmaster and general merchant, Murdo Morrison decided the lower mandible of the 82 foot long blue whale that drifted into Geodha nam Muc in 1920 would make an ideal arch over his gateway. The death dealing harpoon was also brought out to serve as a centrepiece. The jaws measure 25 feet each and weight about 4 tons. The height at the apex of the Arch is approximately 20 feet. The arch was Category B listed by Historic Scotland in 1978. Refurbishment was carried out in 2000 by Long Island Thermal Insulation Co in Newmarket near Stornoway where they were encased in 12mm of fibreglass protective coating and the damaged areas build up to the original shape using isopon filler. The harpoon was also shot blasted, repaired and coated but the steelwork holding the sections together at the apex was too badly corroded and had to be replaced.

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