Portland Stone quarry derrick

Today we were walking round the Isle of Portland leading a group of thirty. Quarrying history is round every corner. Stone everywhere. A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be adjusted over a load by adjusting its guys.

Why derrick? Throughout the 17thC Derick was used as a name for hangman and gallows, after a notorious Elizabethan executioner. Later the word was adopted as a name for less ominous frameworks or towers. We enjoyed wonderful weather. Our friend Derek was with us but he wasn't impressed with this fact. This derrick is near Portland Bill.