This is the reason I came to Sutherland - a Google Earth view of Sandwood Bay - a bit of a hike but I had it all to myself. Furthest North West you can go without entering the Cape Wrath Range
Views from ground level - its pretty isolated - so I was carrying full survival gear and my PLB
Then a rapid yomp back to the car and a long drive across the top of Scotland - almost no one lives up here. 2 people per square km - along with Outer Mongolia and Western Sahara - where I live it is 9,600.
This is Ben Hope - the most Northerly Munroe
Then driving from rugged Sutherland into bleak Caithness...
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| It its so safe why do they put it "as far as it is possible get from Surrey and still be on the mainland? |
It is NOT John o' Groats but Dunnet Head that is the most northerly point in mainland Britain - and for a few minutes I was the most northerly inhabitant - really good 3G signal as well - so why can't I get the same in Birmingham?
This is the scene at John o' Groats - what a disappointing end to so many 900+ mile charity rides/walks/pushes. Sad memorials to folks that were killed on the way from Land's End and an abandoned and derelict hotel.
The have not even bothered to put the sign up - you have to pay!
There is still a mad building boom - this is a 5 bedroomed house going up right on the cliffs to the west of John o Groat's. Caithness is very bleak in the spring - in midwinter it must be dreich. Later in my Inverness hotel I learned that many farmers have lost money developing 'executive' homes that have not sold.
Time for bed (The Castletown Hotel - which cost me only £25, I got a fantastic carvery meal, free WiFi and only 15 minutes drive to the ferry next morning).
Sadly the Queen Mum's castle (close by) does not open until April
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