Between Loch Skipport and Loch Caslub, South Uist, there is a large tract of land, covering over 10 square km but now ocupied by only a handful of families.
Pre-clearance, this was the township area of Calternish, now the name of a single farm. After the clearances, the area was repopulated by other displaced families, being renamed East Gerinis and North Loch Skipport.
On the North shoreline of Bàgh a’ Mhanaic, a major sheltered bay, there is a ruined polygonal enclosure covering about 1/3rd acre, within which are the ruined footings of what was once the community school for the area. The only upstanding features now are five gate-posts, a concrete staircase and some perimeter wall sections.
The school first appears on the OS 1inch maps on the 3rd Edition 1inch series, pub 1911. The final time this buiding was referred to as a school was the ‘popular edition’ 1947, the 7th Series (1952-70) showed only the building, now anonymous, although roofed in early printings.
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