Pescante de Hermigua

The pescante was built to load the farm produce of the Hermigua valley at a time when the sea was the only way out of northern La Gomera, and the work was completed in 1908. Four concrete pillars of the original structure remain in line on the coastal platform, a profile that turns up in almost any report about the island. The whole thing reads best from the seafront itself, where the relation between the valley, the cliff and the loading point becomes clear. It is a monument to the era of agricultural export, not a working installation.

Next to the pescante, in the Santa Catalina area, the sea comes in between the rocks and forms a pool used for bathing; the setting is rock and there is no sand. The north coast faces the open Atlantic and the state of the sea changes a great deal, so check the swell before getting in and give up on it when the water breaks hard. Access is by the road that drops from the centre of Hermigua to the shore, with parking on the seafront. For photography the northern orientation means the light works better away from the middle of the day.