The Whaligoe steps are a man made staircase of 365 steps built for just £8 in the mid-18th century that zig zag down the sea cliff to a naturally formed harbour. There are now only 331 steps remaining that will take you down to a platform known as the bink. Here there was a winch attached to a pully which allowed the fishermen to pull there boats onshore in the bad weather or for repair. In good weather there was a stone at sea with a metal eye attached that the boats could tether to. There is what remains of a stone store which was the salt store and there would have been a wooden jetty to allow then to take the barrels for fish onto the boats for exportation.

It was the woman that would carry the fish up the stare in baskets to the top of the stairs, there is a purpose build shelf half way up so that they could have a moments rest. Then the fish would be taken to market. In 1823 nearly 1000 barrels of herring were exported. The herring fishing was only 2 months of the year however other types of fishing tool part here.

When you visit you can see the recesses in the walls that were for the paraffin lamps when working at night. There are also the remains of the “barking kettle” which looks like a well. This for used for boiling bark and cows’ urine to allow them to boil there fishing nets before hanging to dry, this helped preserve them against the salt water. The last boat to be pulled out the water was that of Willie Sinclair, a local fisherman in 1970.

Some may know the location from when Billy Connnolly visited while on tour 1990, which inspired the Jack Vettriano painting and subsequent Glasgow Mural of the Big Yin.

Worth every step.