The North West Route

Friday 16 September

4 degrees this morning and totally freezing in the van so on went the heater. Packed up fairly quickly and headed off for a 4 hour drive to the very north of Scotland. Much is made of John O'Groats being the most northern tip however on the map Dunnet Head seems to pip it at the post, so that's where we're heading. Plus there's a Caravan Club camp site there and not much at John O'Groats.

Near Dunnet Head is Thurso, which is the start of the North West Tourist Route, which runs from Thurso in the far North East of Scotland, to Durness in the far North West, and then down the West Coast to Ullapool, through some of the most remote mainland areas in the United Kingdom. Having travelled up along the East Coast to Dunnet Head, we will basically do a complete loop of the top of Scotland. First we have to get up to Dunnet Head.

The road out of Cannich was one lane with “Passing Places” but we had a few hairy moments with vehicles coming the other way and were very glad when we finally turned onto a major road.

Going over a long bridge over the Crommarty Firth, we could see some oil platforms in the Firth in the distance. This area was opened in 1972 and are an important north sea oil service centre, fabricating and maintaining the rigs, and there is always one or two in harbour. They tower above everything else, and while the region welcomes the related income, they also lament the eyesore factor.

Once we reached Golspie we were on the coastal road. It's quite a windy day but we guess this area gets a lot of wind continually, judging by the direction the trees grow. The country is absolutely gorgeous with lots of green fields and enormous trees.

We stopped at Brora for lunch and then continued on towards Wick. Much of this area was once home to the Crofters from around 1746. Following the Jacobite defeat at the hands of the English, Clans had been forbidden to have chiefs, forbidden to wear tartan, play the bagpipes or own firearms of any kind. They no longer had a need for large tenantry and encouraged emigration to America from the early 1800s. Some tenants were forceably moved to tiny plots to farm as Crofters (tenant farmers). So driving along this area we saw many small stone houses, abandoned and in states of ruin.

Incredibly, we also saw a lot of fanatical people riding bicycles along the road. Some with full protective gear on but some with just lycra shorts and tops. In this wind and rain we're not sure how much fun that must be.

Once at Wick our GPS took us inland so we didn't get to John O'Groats and will have to come back tomorrow.

Arriving at our camp site, the Dunnet Heads Caravan Club Site, it is a fantastic location right on the edge of the cliff with a long beach below and great view of the headland. However with the cold weather, wind howling and intermittent heavy rain, we'll be staying in with the heater on. We put the gas fired central heating on tonight, as it is going to go down to 4 degrees tonight.

Saturday 17 September

Overcast, rainy and windy today but it's a balmy 11 degrees. The day starts badly with Australia losing to Ireland in the Rugby World Cup – Bill may have to draw upon his irish heritage if this continues. So we drive to the Dunnet headland for a look at the most northerly point of the mainland of Great Britain.

There's a lighthouse built in 1831 by the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson and many buildings in ruin built during World War II as minor fortifications. The weather was so dismal that we just drove to the different points without getting out of the vehicle. We saw about 6 campervans from France obviously doing a group tour of Scotland, similar to what we saw in Champagne with the American tourists.

The next stop is the village of Mey where the Queen Mother has what was her Autumn residence - the Castle of Mey - since she bought it shortly after being widowed in 1952. We stopped to look at the outside, and to have scones, cream and jam, but we skipped the castle tour. Apparently Prince Charles now stays here for some time in August every year. It is a small castle and might need some freshening up on the outside but apparently the gardens are magnificent and used to provide all the fresh fruit and veg needed when the Queen mum was in residence.

On towards John O'Groats which got its name in 1496 from Dutchman Jan de Groot who started the ferry service to Orkney. 

He had built an eight sided house so each of his eight quarreling sons had their own entrance. This was replicated in the octagonal tower of the much photographed John O'Groats Hotel 1875 but we didn't get to visit as it's actually now being demolished to make way for a new Nature Reserve housing development. The local graffiti artists seemed to have had a field day painting it in garish colours but it was a shame to see this grand old building in such a state.

Visiting the First and Last House (the first and last house you see when you arrive and leave by sea) which is now a museum, it was interesting to see how many ships had run aground around the nearby Island of Stroma. There were also lots of relics from sea and farming life and a German flag that washed ashore following a wreck around 1931.

There really is nothing much to this village and it has received some very average reviews over recent years. It is just a shamble of old buildings. Maybe this new development will bring new life and tourism opportunities. We are sure almost all who visit would be disappointed, and in any case, it is neither the most Northern point of the UK, or the most Eastern point of even this headland.

Our next stop was Thurso which is the most northerly “town” on the British mainland. It's a lovely little place with Victorian architecture and all the modern shops you could ask for as well as a great expanse of beach, again probably more favorable on a nice sunny day. We just had a quick look around, had a coffee, did some grocery shopping then headed back to our camp site.

Not a bad way to spend such a miserable weather day and the bonus was that the overcast conditions kept the temperatures higher – around 14 degrees.

For awhile we've been in Gaelic country so you often see signs written in both languages. There is also Gaelic (pronounced it Garlic) radio and TV and to our delight this year's Edinburgh Military Tattoo was on this evening. The mystery of the parade ground looking smaller then it seemed on TV in years past, is because the stands are new from this year and take up more room. We were actually disappointed with this year's event and think they may have tried too hard to incorporate new acts and it just didn't work for us.

Sunday 18 September

Awoke to a beautiful sunny day and much less cool so went for a quick walk on the beach before heading off for Ullapool. There were millions of worm sculptures all over the beach.  Unfortunately it started to rain lightly on our return to camp and stayed with us most of the morning.

After passing Thurso again, the next town of note is Dounreay which has housed a Nuclear Power Station since 1955, pioneering fast reactor technology and the first nuclear reactor to provide mains electricity. It is now closed but will take until around 2033 and, wait for it, cost 2.7 BILLION pounds to decommission the site.

Lots of single lane roads and peat covered land brought us to Tongue, another crofting village. There is the ruin of Castle Varrich of the Mackay clan from medieval times and a long causeway and bridge across the estuary which seems to have disrupted the 

natural flow of the river.

The landscape on the drive today often looks like it's been burnt, but in fact it's a lot of brown and purple low lying bushes which gives this impression from a distance. We imagine the climate here wouldn't sustain less hardy plants and in winter everything is totally covered in snow. Maybe centuries ago forests covered these areas but today it seems the only trees are those planted in fenced enclosures, scattered about here and there.

As we're still on the coastal road, we are being rewarded with magical sea views on occasion and none more so then at Durness (the most northwesterly village on the British mainland). 

Apparently John Lennon holidayed at nearby Smoo as a kid with his family and returned with Yoko in the 1960s. This deserved a plaque at the village hall which we didn't go to see. We did stop at Smoo though to have a look at the Smoo Cave, a gapping hole in a sheer limestone cliff formed by the action of the sea. It's a bit of a steep walk down to it and as the wind was up we only stayed long enough for a couple of photos but you can take organized canoe rides into the cave.

This was one of the few villages we crossed that was trying to take advantage of tourism with some small shops and cafes and modern accommodation including the perfect vantage point for the caravan park, right on top of a cliff.

The drive then crossed over more highland regions with many mountains providing spectacular scenery.

And there odd traffic hazard along the way...

A bonus just before we got to our destination was the discovery of the ruined Castle Ardvreck at Assynt of the Macleod Clan, Bill's ancestors on his mother's side. We didn't think we'd get to see it as the maps were unclear about the location. There isn't much left but an information plaque reveals the castle was quite small and the seat of much mayhem with James Graham the 1^st Marquess of Montrose being held prisoner here in the 1650.

Finally arriving at our camp site, Ardmair Point Caravan and Camping Park, after a pretty tough 5 hour drive (single lane roads are quite stressful) we were glad we made the effort as the setting is magical and the weather much warmer (and just quietly, the sun is out). We are right on the edge of a natural harbour with lovely rock beach, surrounded by mountains and quaint white washed houses in the distance.

Monday 19 September

A bit of early rain but the prediction is for mostly overcast as we up stumps for the day and head a couple of miles up the road to the town of Ullapool for a look. Ullapool took off in 1788 at the height of the herring boom and although stocks are now completely depleted, fishing boats still dock here and head further out. There is also a ferry service running to Stornoway on Lewis.

We thought we might be able to get some nice seafood here but alas no. They don't sell fresh seafood and all the menus we saw only had hot and battered offerings.

This is a cute little town with gorgeous white washed buildings, very large harbour with huge mountains pushed up and carved out by glaciers centuries ago, and plenty of shops to brouse in. In the high season it would be bustling and on a sunny calm day it would be very pleasant to sit and soak in the view, but today it's cold and windy so we didn't linger outdoors too long.

Back at camp we donned our “beach outfits” (including thermals) and went for a walk in the afternoon when the sun made an appearance. The beach is covered in smooth rocks of different sizes, testament to the constant pounding by the sea. Making it to the end of the stretch we went to have a look at an abandoned stone cottage currently for sale.  You can have it with offers sought over£80,000.  There is a bit of construction going on in the area and it really is a beautiful spot.

Returning to the beach we had a go at making a cairn which is much more difficult then we expected. It wasn't a bad effort but only lasted long enough for a few photos before the wind blew it down.

The weather is quite mad here in the Highlands with the sun coming out a few minutes after a torrential downpour, followed by heavy clouds, strong winds and more rain on and off throughout the day. We just dress for rain whenever we go out to be safe.

Others playing it safe were a couple camping in a tent across the way from us. The tent had almost blown away while they were out for the day so we were glad to see them taking it down for the night to sleep in their van. It wasn't until the next morning we saw they also had 3 dogs with them. Must have been nice and cosy!!

Just one last word for the day on animal lovers. We saw an older couple returning to camp after their day out, taking a birdcage out of the car. They couldn't have left it at camp during the day as it would have frozen in their van, but could it really be fun for it to travel in the car and be left in it while they were out exploring? We love animals, but we really don't get what we've seen on this trip regarding pets.

The North West Route took us through many magnificent areas, that sadly most UK residents don't seem to visit!  More photos here.