Not just any old rock

A couple of days ago I was so busy that I ended up photographing an ancient cat. Today was worse, much worse and I ended up photographing a rock. However this is not just any old rock, it is a 5 foot high lump of Rubislaw granite, the stuff from which Aberdeen, the Granite City, was built.

Rubislaw Quarry is located at the Hill of Rubislaw in the west end of of Aberdeen and was opened in 1740. Over the next 200 years, an estimated six million tonnes of granite were excavated from the quarry producing one one of the biggest man-made holes in Europe, 142 metres deep and 120 metres wide.

The fine grey granite from the quarry was used to build not only Aberdeen's older buildings, but many other structures including Waterloo Bridge in London, the terrace of the Houses of Parliament and the Forth Rail Bridge.

The quarry closed in 1972 and is now inaccessible, hidden by trees and surrounded by flats and office buildings, and is full to the brim with water. The block in my photograph was left when the quarry ceased operations and lies among the woodland around the quarry edge.