Colin Palk
"In the mid 1970s I worked for the BBC at their transmitting station near Fortrose North East of Inverness.
On holiday in Skye (1974) I got hooked on minerals after visiting the Quirang and Talisker Bay.
I was able to get hold of a copy of Heddle (Mineralogy of Scotland) on loan from Edinburgh libraryfor 3 months and was able to transcribe the mineral locations under county headings and visited many of his sites in Invernesshire and Ross-shire.
In 1997 I often visited Elgin and Heddle says; Findrassie Quarry, Elgin, fluorite in red and yellow cubes, however this quarry was closed and overgrown.
I knew that there were two active quarries off the A491 (road) south of Elgin, at Gedloch 4 miles and Netherglen 5 miles.
At Gedloch I found clear cubic crystals to about 3mm scattered over pyritic rock, groups of tabular opaque white baryteto 4mm and cockscomb marcasite to 4mm but this proved to be unstable.
At Netherglen there were large boulders of pyrite crystallised in cavities but no extractable fluorite found.
These quarries were not continually in operation.
About 2 months later I returned, no change at Gedloch but a new "cut" at Netherglen revealing blue fluorite as per your sample (pictured) and also in cavities of crystallised pyrite which tended to a turquoise colour.
Samples were exchanged with John Ingham, Ambleside who worked at the Grove House Mineral Gallery at Keswick.
Samples were also sent to the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinbrugh.
I didn't return again as my attention had switched to the actinolite from Auchtertyre which I might have been the first to discover."
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