Latheron to Golspie

It was a good cycling day. No wind, no rain and fairly cool. We were in cloud/fog most of the day and we were riding down the A9 that has a lot of traffic. Luckily the large trucks are patient and pass wide of us. It is only a two lane road. We had to walk up a couple of steep hills - one was Berriedale Hill with a 13% incline. We stopped at Helmsdale for a bowl of soup at a funky but quite famous cafe/restaurant.  By the time we reached Dunrobin Castle the sun was shining again! We cycled about 60 KM to-day.

How is this for a lampshade?

 

Dunrobin Castle has been opened to the public since 1973. It has a magnificent collection of paintings (mainly of Dukes and Duchesses of Sutherland). There is a huge collection of ancient books which we were told have been catalogued and available for student study.  

The dining room.

This was a wedding present to one of the Dukes in the mid 19th century.

There are decorative gardens but do not have the roses and other flowers that would have been featured in the past.

The library.

Forse of Nature

Neil’s grandfather owned the house and adjacent land when it was called Forse house. Now it is our B&B this evening. He and his sister Anna remember being here when they were children. It later became an old peoples home and then a home for those with mental illness. Neil had twice later visited but had never been inside since his childhood. The present owners acquired the property 15 months ago and have turned it into a B&B plus there is an adjoining cafe and craft store. Neil’s sister Anna has joined us from Shrewsbury plus a cousin Carol and her husband AJ who live near Aberdeen.

 

A perfect cycling day

We managed to find a route that avoided going down the A99 from John o’Groats through Wick to Latheron. It was a perfect route for cycling and avoided Wick. We were on mostly a single track road with very little traffic, virtually no wind and only overcast and later sunny. It took us through Canisbay, Slickly, Luth, Watten, Badlipster to Lybster, Forbes and Latheron. We cycled about 55 KM to-day. 

 

Seen along the way.

The Castle of Mey

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother bought the Castle of Mey in 1952 after the death of her husband George VI and she then did extensive renovations so that she could live there part of the time. I was interested in visiting in particular because I had sung at George VI’s funeral in 1952. There was an excellent guided tour with lots of interesting stories told. The part occupied by the Queen Mother has been designed to show exactly what it was like in her time. (She died in 2002 aged 102). When she lived in the castle she was clearly very gregarious - visiting and supporting many local institutions such as schools. She also loved collecting bric-a-brac from local stores. Unfortunately we could not take photographs inside the building.   

This flower was in the Garden - not sure what it is but it was the Queen Mother’s colour. 

This 1926 Bentley was with two others likely travelling the North Coast 500 route.

Two wire haired Dachunds for the interest of Penny and Lucy. 

Here was a Taurus seen on the road to John o’Groats to stay at our next B&B.

We cycled about 53 KM to-day.

A foggy day

It was a foggy day and there was a foggy dew. We were heading south from Kirkwall to St Margaret’s Hope to get the ferry to Gills Bay which is close to John o’Groats. 

Scapa Flow was established as the base for the British Grand Fleet in 1905. When Winston Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty in about 1912, in order to compete with the German Kaiser’s building programme, he managed to get the British Parliament to build a large number of ships including the Dreadnaught Battleships. This is documented in a book I am just reading "Churchill Warrior: How a military life guided Winston’s finest hours" by Brian Lavery. The Grand fleet sailed from Scapa Flow  prior to the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Although that battle did not create a victory and the British lost more ships than the Germans it resulted in the German Fleet never making it into the high seas during WWI. After WWI the German Fleet was interned there while awaiting a decision of the 1919 Versailles peace conference. However after nearly a year the German commander ordered "the grand scuttle" as it was called and 53 of the 74 ships of the Imperial German Navy’s fleet were scuttled.    

In WWII a German U Boat entered Scapa Flow and sank the British Battleship HMS Royal Oak. After this the defences were strengthened by building the Churchill Barriers which we cycled along in the fog before getting to the ferry at St Margaret’s Hope. 

This is a block ship placed as party of the defences of Scapa Flow. 

One of the Churchill Barriers.

A fairly young foal seen along the way.

The ferry to Gills Bay.

The Orkney museum

Having only cycled 22 KM we had time on our hands! We could not get into the Hostel until 5 pm. The next stop was the Orkney museum. Much to see tracing Orkney history back to Neolithic times until the 20th century. Amazing artefacts from as long as 5000 years ago. It is partly funded by a Lottery grant so like many museums in Great Britain it was free. There was a well kept garden out the back. I was glad of an afternoon nap under a tree!

This is an Orkney Island chair.

 

Later we walked around the harbour. This classic boat was hauled out to paint its bottom. However it needed a lot of maintainance and made me think that I was glad I did not own a boat any longer that was beginning to need a lot more maintainance.

Kirkwall is an attractive town to visit with its narrow streets - some of which are pedestrian only. 

St Magnus Cathedral

Magnus Erlendsson was the Earl of Orkney in the early 1100s. He was a pacifist and refused to fight his cousin Hakon when they had a disagreement. Hakon ordered his cook Lifolf to kill Magnus, while he prayed, which he did with an axe to his head. Magnus became a saint and St Magnus Cathedral was founded in 1137. To-day the Cathedral is owned by the Orkney Islands Council (because the people raised the money to complete the building). It has a Church of Scotland congregation but can be used by any denomination.

The building is made of sandstone. It is a remarkable example of a 12th Century Cathedral with its narrow nave and hugh pillars. It is the center piece of attraction in Kirkwall.

 

Each year there is a St Magnus International festival. This year it is June 22nd to 28th. Of special interest to me is that the first concert is Rachmaninov Vespers sung by a group called Sonoro conducted by Neil Ferris. The same music that the Victoria Philharmonic Choir have just sung!

 

Sternness to Kirkwall

Another fine day! It was an easy ride to Kirkwall - about 22KM. There is lots to see in Kirkwall. First stop was the Highland Park distillery which was first established in 1798. Said to be synonymous with rich,succulent,single malt whisky. Firstly the germinating barley is laid out to dry.

 

The it is cooked using peat that adds flavour and then (coaling) coke.

 

Then water is added to make a beer like solution. Then the yeast is added and after the fermentation (when it has the alcohol content for beer) it is distilled. Varying strengths of distillate are made but then finally mixed to make about 40 % alcohol.

The casks are made in Spain and filled with sherry before being sent to Kirkwall to be filled with whisky. The casks can also be made with either Spanish or American oak. 

After whisky has been in the casks for as long as 25 years they are shipped to Glasgow where the Whisky makers bottle them in different forms - either as single malt of in a blend.   

We enjoyed a sample of 12 yr old Highland Park single malt before setting off for our next visit in Kirkwall.

 

Strathy to Stenness (Orkney Islands)

A great sunny day. We had to leave at 8.50 to get the ferry (35KM away) at noon. On the way we past Dounreay nuclear power station which is being decommissioned. Neil remembered visiting there when he was at Gordonstoun school 60 years ago. 

We were now in Caithness. The terrain changed to much greener and a lot of cattle farming, particularly Aberdeen Angus. 

We only just made it to the ferry because we found that we were expected to be there half an hour early for the noon ferry from Scrabster to Stromness on the main island of the Orkney Islands. Another very modern and comfortable Scottish ferry taking about an hour and a half. On the way we passed "The old man of Hoy" which is about 1000 feet high. 

Here is the small boat marina at Stromness.

It was about a 5 KM ride to our B&B at Stenness. After a cup of tea and some energy building Orkney fudge we decided to go to Skara Brae. On the way we stopped at the ring of Brodgar - one of many rings around Scotland, whose purpose and origins are uncertain but were probably built around 5000 years ago.

  

Skara Brae is the site of a 5000 year dwelling were there was a community that lived there for about 600 years. It was before the Iron Age.

 

Close to Skara Brae is Skaill house. The house dates back to the 1620 when it was built for the Bishop who had become the laird after the previous laird had been executed for treason.

When Captain Cook’s ship Resolution returned (after he had been killed in Hawaii) the laird acquired some of the china from the his ships.

This room had a visitors book which the present Queen had signed in 1983. 

This is the bedroom of the last Laird’s second wife who lived in the house until she died in 1991.

This is the bishop’s bedroom with original furniture.

The dining room with furniture and settings that would have been used by the last laird.

All this managed by "Historic Scotland".

Some statistics. We cycled about 65 KM to-day (a record!). We have now cycled 593 KM in 12 days for an average of 49 KM per day. This was the 14th day of ours 26 day adventure which includes 23 cycling days. It is our 12th cycling day.  It is a relief that we have both found that our bodies are coping well with the daily exercise!