Gruinard Bay is in the remote North-west of Scotland. The landscape is of interest to geologists but also there is a sinister history.

Some of the oldest rocks in the world have been discovered near here and looking at the bottom of the picture you can see an example of a "Raised Beach" which was the shoreline millions of years ago. "Raised beaches are beaches which were raised above the shoreline by a relative fall in the sea level."

The sinister aspect of this location is much more recent. In 1942 the British government looked at the possibility of biological warfare and scientists travelled the length of the country from Porton Down in Wiltshire to Gruinard Island, just offshore from this remote spot to experiment with Anthrax.

Eighty sheep were taken to the island and contaminated with Anthrax spores. Unsurprisingly they started to die a few days after exposure.

The scientists made a film of what they did and it was de-classified in 1997. It's now on Youtube and can be seen here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mykjxkwwe0" rel="nofollow">www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mykjxkwwe0</a> .

After they left the island it remained contaminated, highly dangerous and no-one was allowed to visit it until, after much public pressure, it was finally declared safe in 1990 after 4 years of decontamination.