Selecting the Stones - The Stones and the Stars: Building Scotland's Newest Megalith - page 176

F IG . 6.17 First strike
Gavin's misgivings about the crosses wearing off were doubly
misplaced. As soon as we had marked up the stones, Mr. Mother-
well and his staff brought in a JCB with an articulated bucket, and
in an amazingly short time they had all the stones down and gath-
ered together (Fig. 6.19 ). Behind our stones, as they were waiting
for uplift and transport to Glasgow, what would have been their
fate otherwise could be seen - the flagstones that were the quarry's
regular output (Fig. 6.20a ) . The stones were picked up by bulldozer
and loaded into dump trucks, including the bowed stone, and
Gavin traveled with them into Glasgow, where they were depos-
ited at Ruchill Park for safekeeping. Unfortunately, their weight
was such that the dumpers had to be tipped right up to dislodge
them, and the bowed stone snapped in the cascade - giving Gavin,
whose main responsibility was to document the project photo-
graphically, the closest shave of his career to date (Fig. 6.21 ).