In the Highlands - 29 August 2008
We had a very long journey ahead today so set out early to drive all the way to the Castle of Mey in Caithness.
It was the most beautiful journey with astonishing views
at almost every turn.
Much of the road was the standard width, but there were quite long stretches that were single lane with parking places.
We made our first stop at Smoo Caves at Durness. Archaeological excavations have established that the main cave and three of the adjacent small caves have been both workshops and home to many generations of seafarers. There’s evidence of a past life at Smoo, possibly as long as 7,000 years ago when the first hunter-gatherers arrived in the north of Scotland. Here’s the view looking down at the caves below.
Viking evidence including deposits of ship nails, rivets and metal slag indicates not only fishing but also boat building and repair. Also recovered during excavation were pieces of worked bone and antler fashioned into pins and possibly knife handles dating from 12-13 centuries.
Tongue where we saw the beautiful Castle Varrich in the distance.
We passed absolutely heaps of cyclists laden with panniers and back packs, but it was often impossible to know where they were coming from or going to
Living as we have in a rural area in New Zealand, we’ve always been very impressed by the huge area our postie covers. When we passed posties in rural Scotland, we had to believe that rural posties in New Zealand had an easy life by comparison!!
Having passed black rocks on the side of the road, we passed some beautiful pink ones too!
Our next stop was at the Dunnet Head Lighthouse, just north of Thurso. It’s the most northerly point of mainland Britain (further north even than John o’Groats!).
Although this building is high above sea level, we were beset by flies which apparently come out of the kelp on the sea shore below. They didn’t bite – they just landed – in droves!
Dunnet Head lighthouse was built in 1831 by Robert Stevenson, grandfather of the author Robert Louis Stevenson. The stone was taken by horse and cart 3.2 km overland from Brough Harbour. Three keepers staffed the lighthouse until 1989, when it became automated.
Despite standing 105 metres above sea level, windows in the lighthouse have been broken by stones hurled up by waves. To the seaward side of the lighthouse stands a tower housing the now unused foghorn.
Erosion and subsidence caused two earlier foghorns to fall into the sea.
Dunnet Head is formed from layers of old red sandstone which, over the millennia, has worn away to create these cliffs with their numerous ledges. These ledges now form ideal nesting conditions for thousands of seabirds including guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes and puffins. Overhead, marauding skewers patrol.
Moving back from the cliff edges, a rich fringe of heathland quickly gives way to blanket bog and dubh lochans (black lochs). Here, among the rarer semi-arctic and common moorland plants, can be found discover spring squill, orchids and insect-eating sundews.
Leaving Dunnet Head we headed for the highlight of the day, the Castle and Gardens of Mey, the late Queen Mother’s home in Caithness, the most northerly castle on the UK mainland.
The Castle stands in a magnificent setting on the Caithness coast with glorious views across the Pentland Firth toward Orkney. The Castle of Mey was built in the late 16th century by George Sinclair, the fourth earl of Caithness and was occupied by his descendants for over 300 years. This colourful period in the Castle’s history embraces the dark deeds of the earliest owners as well as the eccentric activities of later occupants, such as the 14th earl who brought the first steam car to this part of Scotland in 1860. The 15th Earl of Caithness was the last Sinclair to live at Mey. When he died in 1889 the Castle entered a period of decline until it was bought by the Queen Mother in 1952. She then restored the Castle and Gardens to their former glory.
When the Queen Mother first saw the Castle of Mey it was in a poor state of repair. Recently widowed and looking for somewhere to escape from the public eye, she decided to save it from ruin. This she did and in the process created a much loved holiday home to which she returned every summer for the rest of her life. Today the Castle is kept as it was when the Queen Mother was in residence. With the help of knowledgeable guides, visitors gain a fascinating insight into her personality, her interests and her love of life.
The Queen Mother established the Queen Elizabeth Castle of Mey Trust in 1996 and transferred ownership of the Castle to it later that year, It was her wish that the Trust should maintain the Castle for the benefit of the local community. As President of the Trust, Prince Charles takes a keen interest in events at Mey. Since his grandmother’s death in March 2002 he has stayed at the Castle in early August each year and was there two weeks before our visit.
By the time we’d meandered around the Castle and the Gardens, we were too late to take in Dunrobin Castle at Golspie so we took ourselves off to Shin Falls. Situated in the heart of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland, the Falls of Shin are a truly wonderful experience.
For us, the most wonderful sight was the famous salmon leap where you can watch salmon hurl themselves up the Falls. It was remarkably difficult to take photos of the salmon as they jumped. They were very small compared to the huge volume of water cascading down the Falls. I hope you can see this one?
Once again we were incredibly lucky with our choice of accommodation for the evening. The Golf Links Hotel in Golspie proved to be an excellent choice and we had dinner there, splendid company with the locals and WiFi access so that we could check our emails and sit with them in the lounge and go through our photos. It was a Friday night and the three guys who attached themselves to us (mostly to Suzi if the truth be known!) became more and more noisy as they downed their ‘wee drams’!!