The
North of Scotland (Sutherland and Caithness). The county town, and only
burgh of the county, is Dornoch. Other settlements include Lairg, Brora,
Durness, Embo, Tongue, Golspie, Helmsdale, Lochinver and Kinlochbervie. The
population of the county as at the 2001 Census was 13,466.
Living on the North coast of Scotland really is "living on the edge" of
Britain – you are nearer to the Arctic Circle than you are to the south of
England. This coast is home to some of the hardiest people you could find,
generations who have had to innovate and improvise to earn a living. Cape
Wrath Cape Wrath is one of the last untouched wilderness areas in Britain.
Between the Kyle of Durness to the lighthouse on the tip of the Cape, where
there was once a small community, there is now just rough terrain populated
by deer and sea birds.
The Royal Burgh of Dornoch is a town and seaside resort in the
Highlands of Scotland, on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, close to
where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east. The town is within the
Highland local government council area, and within the county of Sutherland.
Dornoch boasts the thirteenth-century Dornoch Cathedral, the Old Town Jail
and a notable golf course, the Royal Dornoch Golf Club, named the 5th best
golf course out with the United States in 2005 by Golf Digest magazine.
Lairg is a small town
in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. It has a population of about 900.
Situated at the south-eastern end of Loch Shin, it is unusual, if not
unique, in the northern Highlands in being a sizable town that is not
situated on the coast.
Brora is a small village in the east of Sutherland, in the Highland area of
Scotland. The village is on the A9 road and has a railway station on the Far
North Line. Small industrial village having at one time a coal pit, boat
building, fishing, salt mining, fish curing, lemonade factory, distillery,
wool mill, bricks and a stone quarry. Stone from the quarry was used in the
construction of London Bridge, Liverpool Cathedral and Dunrobin Castle.
Durness is a remote township in the northwestern Highlands of Scotland,
lying on the Kyle of Durness. There is only one single track road in and one
road out of the village. The main sources of employment in the village are
crofting and tourism. It is the largest village in the northwestern corner
of Scotland (with a population of around 400 residents) on the main
A836-A838 road between the towns of Thurso (116 km / 72 miles to the east)
and Ullapool (109 km / 68 miles to the south).
Tongue is a coastal village in northwest Highland, Scotland (in the western
part of the former county of Sutherland. It lies on the east shore above the
base of the Kyle of Tongue and north of the mountains Ben Hope and Ben
Loyal.
Golspie is a coastal village
in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. It has a population of around 1,600
people. It is located picturesquely on the shores of the Moray Firth under
the shadow of Ben Bhraggie (394m). Golspie boasts award winning beaches to
the north and south of the tidal pier, where families can have safe bathing;
there is a public swimming pool in the centre of the village for those who
prefer warmer water. The excellent golf course provides a mix of links.
Helmsdale is a village on the
east coast of Sutherland, in the Highland region of Scotland. Settled by the
Norse, and once the site of an impressive medieval castle, the modern
village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed
from the surrounding straths as part of the Highland Clearances. A fishing
port, it lies at the estuary of the River Helmsdale and was once the home of
one of the largest herring fleets in Europe.
Caithness has a land boundary with the equally historic local government
area of Sutherland. Otherwise it is bounded by sea. The land boundary
follows a watershed and is crossed by two roads, the A9 and the A836, and
one railway, the Far North Line. Across the Pentland Firth ferries link
Caithness with Orkney, and Caithness has also an airport at Wick. The
Pentland Firth island of Stroma is within Caithness.
In 2001 Caithness had a resident population of 23,866 and settlement centres
include those of Berriedale, Burnside, Castletown, Dunnet, Halkirk, Haster,
Reiss, John o' Groats, Latheron, Mey, Reay, Sibster, Thurso, Watten and Wick
Thurso is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council
area of Scotland. Historically, the town is one of two burghs within the
county of Caithness.
The port of Scrabster lies about 1½ miles (2 km) to the west of the estuary
of the River Thurso. Scrabster has deep water in the shelter of Holborn
Head. The harbour includes a berth for the M.V. Hamnavoe, a roll-on/roll-off
ferry operated by Northlink linking the Scottish mainland with Stromness on
Orkney.
From June 2007 a summer-only weekly ferry service connects Scrabster with
the Faroe Islands, Shetland Islands, Iceland, Denmark and Norway. The
service is operated by the Faroese company Smyril Line.
Wick is an estuary town and a former burgh in the north of the Highland
council area of Scotland. Historically, it is one of two burghs within the
county of Caithness. Wick was the county town. The town straddles the River
Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay. It has a population of about
9,000.
The Far North railway line links Wick with southern Britain and with Thurso,
the other burgh of Caithness. Wick Airport is on Wick's northern outskirts.
The airport has two usable runways. A third is derelict.
John o' Groats is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. Once a
part of the county of Caithness, John o' Groats is usually regarded as the
most northerly settlement of Great Britain. The actual location of the most
northerly point, however, is at nearby Dunnet Head. |
