# A day in the northern Highlands



## Gardyloo (Jul 31, 2020)

This thread - The Meeting of the Three Waters - inspired me to head to the vault and post some images I took on a day trip into the northern Scottish Highlands a few years ago.  I was in Scotland visiting old friends for a few days and had a couple of additional days that became available, so I headed back to some parts of the country I hadn't visited in a long time.  On one of those days I did a loop drive out of Inverness up to the north coast, and included a visit to a couple of historic sites, with a fairly large age gap between them - roughly 2800 years.  Here's the route if interested:  Google Maps

Struie Hill, overlooking the inner Dornoch Firth







The first historic site was the old church at Croick, in an isolated spot in Strathcarron, a wide and quite empty valley.  The church (or kirk) is noteworthy from the role it played during the infamous Highland Clearances that followed the 1745 Jacobite rebellion.  Families of Highlanders, who had lived and worked on the land for centuries, were evicted to make way for sheep farming.  Many of the local families were forced to stay in the Croick churchyard while they awaited transport out of the region - often to Glasgow, or to the coast, or in many cases to the West Indies and North America.











While they were waiting for their forced relocation, some scratched messages in the window panes of the church, which are still visible.  Some of them reflect the sense of guilt the church and landlords attempted to inflict on them; they were told their eviction was punishment for their past sins (such as supporting the rebellion.)






As a result of these clearances, the region now appears almost completely depopulated, with some evidence of previous residents still visible.






Of course not everyone fared poorly from these actions, in particular the landowners.






I then headed north through extremely empty country, aiming for my second historic site, a prehistoric _broch_ or fortress sitting along the side of a road so remote and tiny that it lacks an official designation.

The landscape is beautiful, wild, and lonely.
















Broch Dun Dornaigil sits next to the road.  It was probably built around 1000 BC but nobody's certain.  It was a hollow "beehive" shaped structure, now partially collapsed.  It just sits there in a valley where the only noise is the wind and distant sheep.






The triangular keystone over the low entrance is fairly impressive when one considers it was put into place with nothing but muscle power.






I then went up to the village of Tongue, on the north coast, before turning south to return to Inverness.  Just south of the village the panorama of the countryside, with Ben Loyal and Ben Hope bracketing the various glens and straths, was impressive.


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## Space Face (Jul 31, 2020)

There certainly is a lot of stunning scenery up there and a very solemn history too.  Areas I have traveled through many times and only a few hours form where I live. 

Your photo set does it justice.


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## Soocom1 (Jul 31, 2020)

If you hadn't told of the location, I would swear it was Montana. 


Very nice scenery and a good capture of the cottages and ruins.


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## stapo49 (Jul 31, 2020)

Lovely stuff. Scotland has been added to my long list of places to visit.


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## Jeff15 (Aug 1, 2020)

Very good set......


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## K9Kirk (Aug 1, 2020)

Real nice set, thanks for sharing. I wish I could visit there and scout around on a nice adventure bike but I doubt I'll ever get the chance.


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## Space Face (Aug 1, 2020)

K9Kirk said:


> Real nice set, thanks for sharing. I wish I could visit there and scout around on a nice adventure bike but I doubt I'll ever get the chance.



You'd better watch out, there's a lot of wild men over here


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## K9Kirk (Aug 1, 2020)

Space Face said:


> K9Kirk said:
> 
> 
> > Real nice set, thanks for sharing. I wish I could visit there and scout around on a nice adventure bike but I doubt I'll ever get the chance.
> ...



I don't swing that way, no problems.


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## weepete (Aug 1, 2020)

Nice set Gardyloo! 

I'm chuffed that my thread inspired you to re-visit these photos. The commentry is fantastic, and the whole thread really well put together, something I stuggle with. It's a landscape I recognise, I think you have the mountain ramge visible on the road to Scrabster in one shot.


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## Space Face (Aug 1, 2020)

K9Kirk said:


> Space Face said:
> 
> 
> > K9Kirk said:
> ...



Me neither but he women can be a handful too.


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## K9Kirk (Aug 2, 2020)

Space Face said:


> K9Kirk said:
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> 
> > Space Face said:
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That's the kind of handful that's worth the trouble, rrrrrrrr!


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## Space Face (Aug 3, 2020)

Sometimes.


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## bulldurham (Aug 5, 2020)

You know how sometimes you scroll through a set of images and one jumps out at you and screams B&W, well, this one did for me...some day I shall return to my roots, but for now, I'll just enjoy my visits . Thanks for the reminder with narratives like this but will have to wait until the idiot in chief here gets unelected and we can get this pandemic under control...sighhhhhhhhhhhh


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## Gardyloo (Aug 5, 2020)

bulldurham said:


> You know how sometimes you scroll through a set of images and one jumps out at you and screams B&W, well, this one did for me...some day I shall return to my roots, but for now, I'll just enjoy my visits . Thanks for the reminder with narratives like this but will have to wait until the idiot in chief here gets unelected and we can get this pandemic under control...sighhhhhhhhhhhh



Thanks - that's terrific.

I agree; many Highland landscapes can be terrific either way.  On the way to Inverness the previous day (from Edinburgh) I drove down Glen Etive and through Glen Coe.  The skies were fab, and the scenery obviously the same.  Here are a couple of images from that day, one rendered in B&W to show how dramatic things can be.

Buachaille Etive Mòr at the top of Glen Etive






Two of the Three Sisters down the road in Glen Coe


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## Space Face (Aug 5, 2020)

Glen Etive is a wondrous place.  Haven't been across that way for a few years now.  That'll have to change.


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## Gardyloo (Aug 5, 2020)

Space Face said:


> Glen Etive is a wondrous place.  Haven't been across that way for a few years now.  That'll have to change.


Best visited in a DB4.


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## Space Face (Aug 5, 2020)

Gardyloo said:


> Space Face said:
> 
> 
> > Glen Etive is a wondrous place.  Haven't been across that way for a few years now.  That'll have to change.
> ...




I don't have one of them tho I do have a V8 and have driven it through Glen Shee a few times, which ain't that far from me and looks identical to that picture.  Lovely scenery and magic fun to drive in a fast car.  I used to work up in that area too.  Great office to have.


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## bulldurham (Aug 5, 2020)

Gardyloo said:


> Space Face said:
> 
> 
> > Glen Etive is a wondrous place.  Haven't been across that way for a few years now.  That'll have to change.
> ...



I do believe that was a DB5 which was first seen in Goldfinger.


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## Gardyloo (Aug 5, 2020)

bulldurham said:


> I do believe that was a DB5 which was first seen in Goldfinger.


You're right, my bad.


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## Jazz-Vinyl (Aug 5, 2020)

All great Gardy...
Love the remains of the "Broch Dun Dornaigil" - really think it was built around 1000 BC?


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## Gardyloo (Aug 5, 2020)

Jazz-Vinyl said:


> All great Gardy...
> Love the remains of the "Broch Dun Dornaigil" - really think it was built around 1000 BC?


It's unclear; probably closer to 500 BCE.  Forgive the overstatement if it is.


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