Category: Sutherland
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Dun Dornaigil
In the heart of Strathmore lies Dun Dornaigil, a broch of ancient origin, dating from around 400 to 200 BC. These brochs, or stone roundhouses, are unique to Scotland, and predominantly found in the northern and western regions. Dun Dornaigil, at its heyday would have been a formidable structure, and may have been the stronghold…
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The Ruins of a Colby Camp
For the second morning, we stirred from slumber to the majestic sight of Ben Klibreck presiding over the loch, its reflection a perfect mimicry under a regal Elizabethan ruff of cloud. As the forecast suggested a cloudier day, it seemed a propitious day for ascending its heights. Yet, as the day unfolded, any fleeting clouds…
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Rosal—Echoes of Highland Clearances
In Strath Naver, Rosal’s historic community fell victim to ruthless evictions in 1814 by one Patrick Sellar, driven by profit from sheep farming, displacing families and destroying homes, leaving a haunting legacy of Highland suffering and exploitation.
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Ben Klibreck
Amidst the banter of hill-walkers, there arises a spirited debate over the most northerly hill on the British mainland. The Munro enthusiasts make a compelling case for Ben Hope, indisputably crowned as the most northern Munro, with Ben Klibreck, pronounced ‘kee-bree’, coming a close second. As fortune would have it, I beheld that illustrious peak…
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Càrn Liath
An Iron Age broch, a hollow dry-stone walled roundhouse between Golspie and Brora. Once thought to be purely defensive, the modern thinking now is that brochs were a status symbol, the stately home of their day. They are found throughout northern Scotland and were of considerable height. The tallest one standing today is 13 metres…
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Seannabhat
I was last here 20 years ago but I can’t for the life of me remember the 6½ km walk in. But I have the photo to prove it so must have. Sandwood Bay is far more popular today but I wonder if the wild campers that were there know of the ghostly stories associated…
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Cranstackie from Beinn Spionnaidh
The two most northerly Corbetts. 45 minutes earlier I was on top of Cranstackie in the distance in 70 mph winds, rain with no visibility. I had decided to call it a day and abort an attempt on Beinn Spionnaidh, but by the time I made the col the mist had cleared and the rain…
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Stacks of Duncansby
A pair of dramatic sea stacks just off the north-easterly tip of the British mainland. But we almost lost them. Apparently in 1953, in what seems like a bizarre Monty Python sketch scientists from the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment had proposed to test a nuclear bomb on top of one of the stacks. The Stacks…
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Badbea
I’ve seen before the deserted black houses of communities in fertile straths that were cleared by absentee landlords to make way for vast sheep farms. I had thought the villagers were often provided with a small croft on the east coast in towns such as Wick and left to make a living from the sea.…