This was a spur of the moment thing when I was on my way home from the dentist in St Andrews. I've never managed to find the caves until today. I was shown them from the outside in about 1976 but they turned out to be nowhere near where I thought.
Blebocraigs is a small village near St Andrews in Fife, which has perhaps the worst Wikipedia page of any village in Scotland. There were once several sandstone quarries in the village and the "caves", as they are known locally, are an extension of one of these. It would probably be stretching a point to call it a mine. There were many mills on the nearby River Eden and I'm told Blebo sandstone was particularly good for millstones, as well as being used for building.
I'm still trying to get to grips with lighting, as you can see from the pictures.
The view from outside. Blurry as fook I'm afraid. Edit- now replaced with slightly less blurry version.
As far as you can get from the mouth.
Two methods of roof support, neither of which looks particularly reassuring.
Man-made tunnel. It looks much bigger than it is. To give an idea of the size, that's a small rucksack next to the bright light.
Closer to the outside world again. There are rocks the size of family cars that have fallen out of the roof.
My friend, who grew up in Blebo, tells me he rode his motorbike around here in the 1970s.
The seam of sandstone. It's very neatly finished, I think stonemasons must have used it to practice on. You can see from my ghosts that the overall height here is a little over 6'
Some cave art. The one on the left appears to be a particularly well-endowed ladyboy.
More here http://www.flickr.com/photos/30854514@N08/sets/72157622664614791/
Blebocraigs is a small village near St Andrews in Fife, which has perhaps the worst Wikipedia page of any village in Scotland. There were once several sandstone quarries in the village and the "caves", as they are known locally, are an extension of one of these. It would probably be stretching a point to call it a mine. There were many mills on the nearby River Eden and I'm told Blebo sandstone was particularly good for millstones, as well as being used for building.
I'm still trying to get to grips with lighting, as you can see from the pictures.
The view from outside. Blurry as fook I'm afraid. Edit- now replaced with slightly less blurry version.
As far as you can get from the mouth.
Two methods of roof support, neither of which looks particularly reassuring.
Man-made tunnel. It looks much bigger than it is. To give an idea of the size, that's a small rucksack next to the bright light.
Closer to the outside world again. There are rocks the size of family cars that have fallen out of the roof.
My friend, who grew up in Blebo, tells me he rode his motorbike around here in the 1970s.
The seam of sandstone. It's very neatly finished, I think stonemasons must have used it to practice on. You can see from my ghosts that the overall height here is a little over 6'
Some cave art. The one on the left appears to be a particularly well-endowed ladyboy.
More here http://www.flickr.com/photos/30854514@N08/sets/72157622664614791/
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