The top of Scotland

Whenever I would get out a map of the UK I would always wonder about the top part of Scotland. What was it like? On my train trip years ago, I took the train up to Thurso, but the route is inland and not along the coast, so I was really looking forward to seeing what the north coast would look like. It did not disappoint.

Again, you can click on the map to see more detail. We headed up the coast from Inverness towards John O' Groats. It's commonly recognized as the most north east point on the UK mainland, but that honour actually belongs to Duncansby Head where there is a lighthouse.

It's about a two mile drive east from John O Groats along a narrow road to Duncansby Head.

And here is the lighthouse with a ship going by. The waters in the area are quite treacherous.

The view north to the Orkney Islands which are only a few miles away. The closest island is only two miles. Map books are deceptive since they usually put the Orkneys in a separate section on the page so you never get the sense that they are so close to the mainland.

The northern coast looking west. The highest point in the distance is Dunnet Head which is actually the most northerly point on the UK mainland.

High cliffs.

The corner marks the most north easterly point you can go to.

Walking south along the cliffs for two hundred yards or so and you come across this narrow gorge.

In rough weather, this would be something to see with the waves crashing in on the rocks.

But the thousands of birds get the best view.

Another two hundred yards south and we come across the Duncansby Stacks. They reminded me of the Twelve Apostles in Victoria.

I would love to be here when the waves are high.

The Ordinance Survey Marker

The remains of the military installation of WWII. Apparently one day, a German plane attacked the lighthouse and damaged the structure with bullet holes. I suspect, the German pilot was just having fun since if you wanted to really damage the lighthouse, you would need to use a bomb.

So we proceeded west past John O Groats and went to the top of Dunnet Head where there are marvelous views in all directions.

More military installations left over from WWII. In the distance you can see Scarpa Flow where the British Fleet was based.

More old buildings with the lighthouse.

This field has to be the most northerly field on the UK mainland.

So we continued west past Thurso. This drive was just magnificent.

We passed through the little hamlet of Big House and that is the big house.

Further west and the hills get higher. Don't be deceived, the road was very good for quite some distance but eventually the money ran out and it was back to the narrow track with passing spots.

More rugged landscape.

Eventually we came to the entrance to the Kyle of Toung. Look on the map and you will see why it gets that name. The views in this area were absolutely magical. If you ever get the chance, come here.

The bridge heading west to the north west part of Scotland. It was getting late however, so we headed south. You may notice that the tide is out. After a while it seemed that thoughout our travels, the tide was always out and never in. I was beginning to wonder if there was a conspiracy or something that prevented us from seeing a high tide.

As we headed south, we passed these mountains we had seen from much further back.

Down the narrow road past Loch Loyal. There was more traffic on the road than I anticipated, probably people going home from working in the south.

For sheer driving pleasure, it would be difficult to improve on this road. Beautiful scenery, plenty of curves and hills, no radar traps and not too much traffic. Again, this is not a road to travel in summer when it might be more busy.

Loch Ness

There should always be a sense of excitement when you approach Loch Ness. Will there be a monster or not?

We decided to take a clockwise trip around the loch so we headed down the south east side. Here is the northern part of the lake.

The road down the south eastern side of the lake is another of these very narrow roads with passing spots for cars to pass each other. Consequently, most people only see the loch from the north western side. In some ways, the southern side is more dark and mysterious.

No sign of Nessie.

The narrow road, fortuantely with very little traffic. Don't drive here in summer.

The Falls of Foyers and site of the UK's first hydo electric plant.

Down at the end of the lake is Forth Augustus and the Caledonian Canal.

A couple of pleasure cruisers were coming down the locks and it was a chance to see them in operation.

Lock gates starting to close. We had gone canaling in England years ago with our friends and really enjoyed it. The canal locks in England are quite narrow and you have to operate the locks yourself. Here, the locks are designed for bigger vessels and the locks are controlled by a lock keeper.

Locks almost closed. There are six sets of gates and each set of gates would take at least fifteen minutes to pass through, so it would take the better part of two hours to pass through the complete set.

Finally, just below the locks is a swing bridge.

The larger of the two cruisers was too high to pass under the closed bridge so the bridge had to be opened.

Back in 1974, Marianne and I rented a Mini Clubman Estate for a number of weeks and drove around England, Wales and Scotland. Because Marianne had very little money, we slept two out of every three nights in the back of the Mini. One night, we camped beside Loch Ness and so this was our big chance to haunt one of our camping sites.

I used Street View from Google Maps to find the spot and the coordinates are

57°10'15.35"N  4°38'38.83"W

So we wandered down the path to our camping site and realized that after 36 years, things had changed a lot. First, there was much more vegetation.

And at some stage our pristine site of 36 years ago had become somebody's dump.

Actually, it looked like quite a few people had decided they could leave their rubbish here.

But the view of the loch was still there and I can still remember looking out and calling Nessie, but she never came. That evening 36 years ago was perfect weather with the loch bathed in late afternoon golden sun.

How am I sure this is the spot? First, it's the only likely candidate and secondly, the curious formation on the other side of the loch rings a bell.

Recently, Marianne has been scanning some of our old slides and she found this one taken back in 1974 at this spot at sunrise. If you note the slope of the mountainside on the right hand side with the prior photo, you will see we found the correct spot.

So whenever you see or stay somewhere special, treasure it in your memory because it may not be what it was 36 years later.

So we took our photo to commemorate our visit.

These small flowers ( I have been told they are beautiful English primroses) were growing at the entrance to our camping site so I picked one and gave it to Marianne. What a mad romantic fool.