We had planned a nice quiet route today – well away from the A9 and all the traffic that comes with it.

It was a nice sunny morning as we left Tain – whose name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning ‘flow’. The Gaelic name, Baile Dubhthaich, means ‘Duthac’s town’, after a local saint also known as Duthus. On our route out we passed Mansfield Castle Hotel on the way out of town – a sign of the type and size of buildings we would see throughout the day.

Our route took us past swathes of arable land before taking us through Morangie Forest, very peaceful and enjoyable as the trees afforded a break against any wind and toned down the sunshine (hot sunny days are not a walker’s friend).

Wild Scottish Raspberries taste fantastic – a pity today’s find was so small – hoping for larger ones as we keep moving inland. So many fields full of sheep just enjoying being sheep in the sunshine and quite a few bridges over small rivers – wonderful sound of running water on a quiet day. Then we had our first view of Cromarty Firth and all the oil rigs stored there. Due to Covid and the decline in oil consumption many oil rigs were closed down. To disassemble the machines is not just costly, it also might prove to be a mistake should the market rise again, so the massive rigs, weighing around a thousand tons each, are towed into the bay of Cromarty Firth from the North Sea. This is not popular with the local residents!

The first castle of the day came into view – Newmore Castle. It was once a three storey building with the remains of a stair turret which once led to the top floors being visible from the road. The castle is mentioned in records from as early as 1560 and belonged to Andrew Munro, 5th of Milntown and remained in various branches of the Munro family until falling into disrepair during the 19th Century. The combine harvester in the picture was so loud that we couldn’t hear any traffic noise and were very surprised when a skip lorry “materialised’ about 5 yards behind us. Then a momentous milestone as we approached Alness – we passed the 100 Mile mark of our journey – at that stage only 774 to go!

More nice river views as we meandered on – at this stage it was sunny and hot and we were starting to feel it – day 4 being the first time of 4 consecutive days walking – added to the tiredness. We walked past the entrance to Novar House. This is an 18th Century building built on the site of an earlier castle. As befits the area this was also, and still is, owned by a branch of the Munro family. The current house is the creation of Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar. Early maps call it ‘Tenuer’ (Gaelic Tigh ‘n fhuamhair – house of the giant). Then on the way to Dingwall we passed the Evanton War Memorial to the residents of Evanton who died in the First (32) and Second (8) World Wars.

Getting every closer to our destination, we passed by Foulis Castle – a white washed mansion that incorporates an old tower house with gun loops. The castle is mentioned briefly on records that date back to the 14th Century although the original Tower of Foulis was believed to have been built in 1154. and, yes, it was and still is, owned by a branch of the Munro family, starting with Robert de Munro of Foulis. As we passed Mountgerald the views of Cromarty Firth were quite stunning – handily there was also a cafe here and ice creams were very welcome in the heat.

Finally we reached Dingwall and our residence for the night – Birches Bed & Breakfast.

Today was a tough day, as mentioned before, even though it was “only” 37k, and little niggles, aches and pains are starting to appear. Hopefully a good nights rest will see us raring to go again tomorrow. The scenery and overall tranquility of today was really enjoyable and we really enjoyed the change of scenery and the lack of traffic.

Total donations are creeping up steadily, £32,459 at the time of writing. Please donate if you haven’t yet done so (or donate again – it is allowed) and encourage friends and family to do the same.

Having driven up the A9 from Inverness to John O’Groats and seen the volume of traffic and narrowness of the road in places, today was a day where we were all slightly apprehensive – but more of that later.

As you can see, despite being exhausted yesterday, we were in good spirits this morning and raring to go!

The town we stayed in, Brora, has its name derived from the ancient Norse meaning “River with a Bridge”. When operational it had the most northerly coal mine in the UK and has the Clynelish distillery and a baronial style clock tower serving as a war memorial which was dedicated in 1922.

After an hour or so we passed by Dunrobin Castle on the “outskirts” of Golspie – it even has its own railway station.

Dunrobin Castle is a stately home in Sutherland and is the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland. It’s origins are in the Middle Ages but most of the present building and gardens were added by Sir Charles Barry between 1835-1850. It is the largest house in the north of Scotland and is open to the public.

Next up, Golspie itself (name in Norse means”gully village”) – what is noticeable is how much pride folks up here in Northeast Scotland take in their houses and gardens – quite beautiful to see as we walk past. The 30m high statue on the hill, erected in 1837 on the summit of Ben Bhraggie and known locally as “The Minnie” is that of George Leveson-Gower, Marquess of Stamford and first Duke of Sutherland – he became notorious through the part he played in the Highland clearances.

Through yet more countryside (we didn’t see any otters) and past The Mound to an area called Clashmore – some nice scenery and time for a selfie. Interesting how varied the scenery was today, mountains, seaside, estuary and arable land.

We then walked across the Dornoch Firth bridge – very long and a strong headwind – nice views either side though and then entered into Ross & Cromarty.

Passing the Glenmorangie Distillery (unfortunately closed until tomorrow) we finally arrived in Tain and the Royal Hotel.

We walked 36.4km today and 44,500 steps so We decided, as the sun was actually making an appearance, to go to the Dornoch Beach for a paddle (Nice cold water foot therapy)

Finally back to the traffic worries mentioned earlier – thankfully the traffic was ok and not too many articulated lorries passing – only one instance where Paul had to bring out his dance moves to avoid a very close wing mirror. The politeness, and space given to us, by the vast majority of drivers over the last few days has been very impressive.

Total donations received by the end of today stands at £30,115 – great stuff. If you have managed to read this far and have already donated – a big thank you. If you haven’t donated yet, please do so and also encourage friends and family to do so as well – many thanks in advance

Today was a long one – by any standards!

Anyway, before getting into that, being Sunday, breakfast was a little later which meant we had some extra rest time and left the hotel ready for the 2nd longest (distance) day of the whole journey.

Early Sunday morning meant quiet roads from the start which was helpful. Walking through Latheron and onwards and enjoying the scenery, a rainbow and the first of many bridges.

Nice memorial to First World War soldiers and then a road sign that didn’t seem at all helpful – 30 miles still to go! More stunning scenery and then we got to the strangely named Latheronwheel.

Plodding along at a steady pace we passed through Dunbeath, birthplace of Neil M. Gunn, and a view of a huge White House built on the cliff edge and, of course, another bridge.

Neil Miller Gunn was a prolific novelist, critic and dramatist who emerged as one of the leading lights of the Scottish Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s. With over 20 novels to his name, Gunn was arguably the most influential Scottish writer of the first half of the 20th century.

Some more stunning scenery, through Berriedale Braes (a brae is a steep bank or hillside) and into Berriedale itself with views of Berriedale castle before descending a long hill and, consequently, ascending a brutal hill back up out of the valley. Berriedale Castle (meaning rocky ground) was developed from a 14th Century stronghold of Sir Reginald Cheyenne.

We then crossed the border – from Caithness into Sutherland and walked down into Helmsdale for our lunch.

Helmsdale was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from the surrounding straths (broad mountain valley) as part of the Highland Clearances.

Finally our destination, Brora, came into view at the end of a long sandy beach – what looked so close was in fact a very long way away! But, as always, we arrived at our end point – the Royal Marine hotel.

55.1km and 64,200 steps later it was very welcome to sit down and have a nice cup of tea and some huge shortbread biscuits. I’m sure we all look as fresh as when we started the day

Total donations received by the end of today stands at £29,425 which is amazing but still a long way to go to reach our target

Today started with breakfast and picking up our packed lunch and we said goodbye to the Seaview Hotel. Just about to start walking and the rain started – so on with the waterproofs. Luckily the rain didn’t last for long but the cold wind persisted so the waterproofs stayed on for a while longer. Eventually the sun put in an appearance which was most welcome.

The road was reasonably quiet – bursts of traffic on the other side which we presumed was traffic from the Orkney ferries. We kept walking, through Freswick and Auckengill with some wonderful scenery to keep us company.

Next up was a ruined castle – Keiss Castle which stands on sheer cliffs overlooking Sinclair’s Bay. The castle was built in the late 16th century by George Sinclair, 5th Earl of Caithness. The large house in the picture is Keiss House, a category B listed baronial mansion that is in private ownership and not open to the public

Continuing on our way, through Reiss and into Wick. Noticeable along the way were the numerous memorials to fallen soldiers. Lunch stop in Wick, in the salubrious surroundings of a Poundstretcher car park and then off again for the second half of the days walking

Past Thrumster and Ulbster, finally the sea was in view again and we could see the Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm dominating the horizon

The Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm is in the Moray Firth and 13km off the coast. This is the fourth largest offshore wind farm in the world and cost approx. £2.6bn to build. It has 84 turbines and generates enough power for 450,000 homes.

More scenery, many more fields of sheep, cows and even Llamas (or Aplaca – who knows) and through Mid Clyth, Occumster, passing a very lonely cemetery and finally into Lybster and the Portland Hotel.

Today was a long day – 49.2km and over 56,000 steps but good to get day one under our belt. Being Sunday, breakfast isn’t too early tomorrow, so probably setting off for Brora (approx. 53km) around 0830 in what will be an even longer day.

At time of writing, total donations are at £29,105 – thanks to all who have donated.

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!

Today was an reasonably early start at Gatwick for our Easyjet flight to Inverness. There was an Impressive amount of hand sanitizer stations at Gatwick. The flight was very full, probably because BA had cancelled our flight from Heathrow a few weeks ago. 

Flight was very uneventful and thankfully all bags arrived on the carrousel in good time. As part of being good corporate citizens we are going to take a photo of ourselves outside HSBC branches wherever they are on our route. The Inverness branch is the most northern so we ticked that one off the to do list.

Then the long drive from Inverness to John O’Groats along the A9 (looks like some scary walking moments coming up on Sunday/Monday) and then the A99 (not quite so bad) and arrived at the Seaview Hotel.

The hotel is clean, dinner was very nice and the view from the dining room of the Orkneys is spectacular (Pictures in tomorrows blog entry). Interesting sign on my bathroom door! Then I just had to try the local brewery ale – a very nice drop it must be said.