Travelled:69km
Stay:Helmsdale- free harbour parking N58.1152 W3.6510
Visited:Hilton of Cadboll (Pictish cross slab), Carn Liath, Helmsdale
Our guide books and even the Visit Scotland website have little information on places to see around this area. So we are now relying on the NorthCoast500 (a touring route around the top of Scotland) and Historic Scotland websites to find inspiration. As it turns out just at the northern end of Balintore was the turf covered remains of Hilton of Cadboll Chapel.
In which they also found the base and top (having been separated in 1626) of a 800 year old Pictish cross slab that had significant designs carved into the stone.
Our next stop was Carn Liath which had been a Scottish broch from the Iron Age settlement, which we found very interesting.
In Helmsdale we slipped into a vacant spot on the harbour and decided to wait the rain out.
In between showers we managed to explore the port and the village and learnt about the local history on well placed panels.
The port had once had one of the largest herring fleets in Europe. We enjoyed chatting to a few interesting characters on the pier.
We also went to have a close look at the Emigrants Monument dedicated to the scots that were resettled from here in what they call the Highland Clearances. They went to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
It was a very poignant statute of the man looking towards his unknown future, his son looking up at him for reassurance and the mother with her baby, looking back to her homeland she is leaving behind.
We were a tad surprised how realistic the statue was...showing us what Scots actually wear under their kilt! Ooh lala! (Close your eyes girls).
Having it on good authority that the fish and chips were the best for miles around we decided we would get some for dinner. We were not disappointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We would love to hear from you...leave us a message below.