Grotty Groats, Magnificent Mey and Mighty Mountains

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John o’Groats - Castle of Mey - Dunnet Head - Kyle of Tongue

We woke on Friday to the mooing of cows and a bright sunrise, a good omen for the sunny day that was to follow. Over breakfast, we talked with fellow guests about their very enjoyable day trip to the Orkneys. We can’t fit that into our itinerary this time - but we always have to keep something for next time! Instead, we drove 25 minutes east to John o’Groats - a drab place with a closed hotel and an array of dowdy tourist traps. We took a few photos, including one of each other standing at the familiar signpost - it's privately owned and, for around a tenner, the owner will supply a sign pointing to your home town. He wasn’t around, so we took each other’s pictures standing next to the bare pole. Welwyn Garden City is somewhere to the south, behind the cameraman!

Strangely, John o'Groats was named after a Dutchman (Jan de Groot) who obtained a grant for the ferry from the Scottish mainland to Orkney in 1496 - and the collective term for those from this rather grotty place is Groatsers. You always wanted to know that didn't you?

A few miles back towards Murkle, we came to one of the main reasons for our visit to these parts - the Castle of Mey. Her Majesty the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother first saw what was then the dilapidated Barrogill Castle in 1952, while mourning the death of her husband, King George VI. She acquired it, restored it, installed water and electricity, and created the gardens. For almost half a century, she spent many happy summers here, her last visit being in October 2001, only five months before her death.

It’s the most northerly castle on the British mainland and, inside, it’s been kept almost the same as when the Queen Mum last saw it. It’s more a home than a castle, full of treasures bought by The Queen Mother herself or given to her by guests and staff, all brought to life by knowledgeable guides, some of whom were employed here when she was alive. Although photography is not allowed inside the castle (for security and insurance reasons, we were told - although the gift shop seems to do a good trade in postcards and guide books with lots of pictures of everything!), the exterior of the building and its gardens are all very picturesque.

Prince Charles, the Duke of Rothesay (his Scottish title), spends a couple of weeks here in August every year - and who can blame him, it’s a beautiful spot. He probably doesn’t take his lunch in the tearoom - but we did, before motoring a few miles back to the west to Dunnet Head. It is this headland that is the most northerly point of mainland Britain and not, as many think, John o’Groats. The latter is only one end of the longest journey in Britain (from Land's End). It was windy at Dunnet Head - there’s not a lot between there and the North Pole - and even the lighthouse and fog horn complex appeared deserted.

Then, it was on to our next nightstop, at Talmine on the Kyle of Tongue. The roads along this topmost part of Scotland are good but single carriageway and often very narrow. Our road atlas shows a dotted line along the edges of the A836 in some places - the legend explains: “Narrow primary road with passing places (Scotland)”. Anyway, who wants to travel at more than 30 or 40 mph when there’s scenery like this? Fantastic seascapes, sand dunes, beaches (like the one in the panorama at the top of this page), and the peaks of Ben Loyal (763m), Meallan Liath (598m) and Ben Hope (927m) forming a remarkable backdrop to the heather-clad moors and characteristic small lochs of this region provided photo opportunities around every corner.

Our SatNav took us along an apparently little-used lane beside the Kyle of Tongue and onto a causeway and short bridge between two vast expanses of sand across the Kyle itself (it was low tide, so we guessed there would otherwise have been water on both sides). Once across, we headed north for just a few miles to Talmine overlooking the Rabbit Islands, rocky outcrops in the bay joined by sandy beaches. Our stay here was at Cloisters, a B&B (one of Scotland's Best) in a modern single-storey building constructed to harmonise with a converted 19th-century church that was now the owners’ home. It has three en suite rooms and, although ours had only a view of the former church building, the view from the patio outside over the Kyle to the islands and beyond was stunning.

Tomorrow, we plan to explore the mountains we saw earlier from afar.

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Photos

The famous signpost at John o'Groats
...and the defunct hotel that adds nothing to the appeal of this spot in the background

The Castle of Mey
...looking across the fields from the lane close to the seashore

The Castle of Mey
This picture is taken from the walled garden with, at left, the Queen Mum's favourite place to sit

Dunnet Head
Done it, got the t-shirt!

The Kyle of Tongue
The Kyle of Tongue, looking inland from the causeway

Comments

[Angie & John]

A NEW PLACE TO VISIT
Before reading the Blog we'd never heard of the Castle of Mey - now on our 'Must Visit' list - Thanks.