Here are some photos from when we arrived in John O’Groats last night.
Today is our final day of rest before starting out tomorrow morning. Interesting how hotels interpret Covid regulations – we ordered breakfast (ticking items of a list) the night before and it was all set out on our table at 7:30 this morning. Given that we have another 29 hotels to stay in on the walk it will be fun to see what they all do for breakfast.
The day started out with nice sunshine but a very cold wind so we headed off to see a couple of Lighthouses.
This is Duncansby Head Lighthouse – built on the most north easterly point of the British mainland in 1924 by David A Stevenson (of Robert Stevenson decent) – it stands only 11 meters high but is 67 meters above sea level. This is one of 200 Lighthouses located on Scotland’s wild coastline.
Then we headed west to Dunnet Head Lighthouse – built on the most northerly point of the British Mainland in 1831 by Robert Stevenson – it stands 20 meters high but is 105 meters above sea level.
On the way back to John O’Groats we passed by the Castle of Mey. It, and its gardens, were closed so just a couple of long range photos. The castle was built between 1566 and 1572 by George Sinclair the 4th Earl of Caithness. The castle was used as an officers’ rest home during the Second World War and by 1950 only the tower was inhabitable. In 1952 Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother purchased the estate. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall usually stay there at the end of July, otherwise it is open to the public during summer months.
A need for some coffee and cake took us into the metropolis of Wick where we found Wickers World and a large selection of cakes.
Currently our sponsorship total stands at over £28k which is an amazing total. Hopefully more will flood in as we progress south!
Looks like a visit to the metropolis of Wick is a must for cake lovers!
Have a great start tomorrow guys. We’ll follow you from far. J.