Today was a day of mixed emotions, my North Coast 500 adventure was finally coming to end. By the end of the day a week's worth of exploration would be little more than a memory and I'd be preparing for the long journey home. But that was still all ahead with the East Coast stretched out before me begging to be discovered. So pushing those grey thoughts and clouds behind me I turned the key in the ignition and set off down the coast.
NC500 Day 4 – John O'Groats to Inverness
There was a 131 miles of coastline between me and the end of the NC500. The A9 feels likes a motorway after the twisting single track roads that dominate so much of the west coast. Although it is not without its moments, with several steep sections and sharp bends, that on more than one occasion created the disturbing illusion I was driving down into the sea. But before all that their was one small detour on a single track road, Duncansby Head.
Duncansby Head
As previously noted this is the true north eastern tip of the UK, with the single track road leading to it also making it the furthest point for Lands End by road as well. The headland, on which the obligatory lighthouse sits, separates the Pentland Firth from the Moray Firth.
The lighthouse itself was built in 1924 by David Alan Stevenson, part of Scotland's Stevenson engineering dynasty. His grandfather Robert Stevenson built the Cape Wrath lighthouse in 1828. While his cousin Robert Louis Stevenson the famous author produced the classic novels Treasure Island, Kidnapped and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekell and Mr. Hyde, amongst others.
Yet another of Scotland's Sites of Special Scientific Interest, a short walk across what was a rather damp and windswept headland this particular morning will reward you with jaw dropping views. First of the Geo of Sclaites, a deep cleft carved into the cliffs, teeming with birdlife and then its outstanding natural feature, the Duncansby Stacks. A dramatic sea arch behind which two jagged spires jut defiantly out of the sea.
Badbea Highland Clearance Village
There are many historic archaeological sites to be explored along the east coast, but few can be more moving than the ghostly remains Badbea (a clifftop village approximately six miles north of Helmsdale). First settled in 1770's, the last resident left in 1911.
Today a memorial erected by David Sutherland, the son Alexander Robert Sutherland who had emigrated to New Zealand in 1839, stands guard over the ruins and commemorates the lives of those who lived there. The memorial is built from the stones of John Sutherland's (bedbea's most famous resident) house and stands where his longhouse once stood.
During the infamous Highland clearances families were evicted from their crofts to make way for sheep farms. Forcibly relocated to the dangerous cliffs above Berriedale. Here they built their own homes from scratch, using whatever materials they could find, behind a great stone wall built to stop the landowners sheep from falling off the cliff.
Standing on these barren windswept cliffs its hard to see how 28 families could have scraped out a living here, with small gardens and a handful of cows and pigs. So perilous were the conditions that children had to be tethered to posts when playing, to stop them being blown off the cliffs into the sea.
The wind whistling through the overhead power-cables above the parking bay provided a sad and haunting lament for what was, without doubt, the most poignant moment of my NC500 trip. Today the descents of Badbea residents maintain a website in memory of their ancestors to ensure they are never forgotten.
Dunrobin Castle
A few miles down the east coast Dunrobin Castle sits at the other end of the scale. A fairytale castle with a 189 rooms, overlooking the Dornoch Firth and North Sea. Its is the most northerly of Scotland's great houses and the largest in the Northern Highlands.
It has been seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland for centuries. They first acquired the land in 1211 although the Earldom of Sutherland itself wasn't created till around 1235. It's believed an early medieval fort may have once stood here. Although the imposing building and gardens that stand here today were built between 1835 and 1850.
The gardens and 1850 extension were added by Sir Charles Barry, designer of the Houses of Parliament, who took his inspiration from the Palace of Versailles in Paris. More recently the Castle was pressed into service as a naval hospital during WWI and served as a boys boarding school between 1965 to 1972.
Today its a popular tourist attraction with parts of the castle and gardens open to the public between March and October. Sadly photography is not allowed inside the castle or museum. A brief guide to the rooms accessible to the public can be found on the official website. Its boasts a library with over 10,000 books, as well as two nurseries (one for the day, another for the night) and the obligatory haunted room, the seamstress's room.
You may also catch displays of Falconry in the impressive gardens and grounds, where the summer house has been converted into a museum. Where you'll find the heads of numerous animals shot by the family on safari and ethnographic items collected from around the world. Plus an impressive and important collection of Pictish Stones dating back some 1,500 years. The museum retains its Victorian-early 20th century arrangement and may shock some modern sensibilities.
The End of the NC500 but not the road
So that was it, the last stop on the NC500 then on to Inverness to complete my first, but hopefully not my last, circuit of the North Coast 500. After a quick stop to fill-up it didn't feel right to spend the night in the bustling centre of Inverness after exploring all those wild places. So with a few hours of daylight to spare I decided to press on southwards and find a quiet place to spend my final night in the Highlands.
And I found the prefect place to spend the night Dalraddy Holiday Park, 3 miles south of Aviemore, on the edge of the Cairngorm National Park, another part of Scotland on my yet-to-do-list. A relaxed and eminently peaceful end to my great adventure. It took me a while to realise why it was so quiet and peaceful, then I realised it was the absence of the wind. Whether it had been the melodic whistle of the Highland air though the vans air intakes up the west coast, the brisk north winds that rocked me to sleep on the north coast, or chased me down the east coast providing a haunting lament for Badbea. It had been the ever present soundtrack of my journey and I was going to miss it.
So that's was my 6th and final day on the NC500, a day of extremes, from the wilds of nature, to the ruthlessness of man, to the opulence of Dunrobin. A day that in many ways encapsulates what the NC500 is all about, nothing in moderation, just the very best of the Highlands in all its unmoderated glory.
All that remained now was the journey home, with one final detour on route, but that's for another blog.
Skippy goes to Scotland Index
Part 1 Getting there
Part 2 North Coast 500 Inverness to Applecross
Part 3 North Coast 500 Applecross to Ullapool
Part 4 North Coast 500 Ullapool to Lochinver
Part 5 North Coast 500 Lochinver to Durness
Part 6 North Coast 500 Durness to John O'Groats
Part 7 North Coast 500 John O'Groats to Inverness
Part 8 The Jounrey Home (Samye Ling Monastery)
Postscript