DAY 45
MONDAY 4TH OCTOBER, 2010
BRIMS CASTLE TO FRESGOE HARBOUR – 9 MILES 4 HOURS
MORRIS, GEORGE, BILL, ALEX, COLIN, DEREK, JAMES AND JOHN.
TOTAL DISTANCE WALKED SO FAR 690 MILES
After breakfast we loaded the minibus in preparation for the long journey home. Our stay in the excellent value Castletown Hotel was most enjoyable with excellent rooms (some with baths), good food, friendly helpful staff and is highly recommended by all of us. After a short drive back to yesterdays finish at the ruins of Brims Castle we were soon walking in fine weather round Brims Ness passed the graveyard. Ahead we could see the ‘triffid’ like towers of the wind farm and further in the distance the dome of Dounreay. Although there was no discernible path underfoot conditions were very good and we soon made our way round Ushat Head to Crosskirk where we stopped for a chat with Fiona and Nick who were fishing the Forss water. We crossed the river by the footbridge beside the old spice mill and walked on to the graveyard at St Mary’s chapel. Crossing the stream from St Mary’s well we walked beneath the huge wind farm turbine at Forss Technology Park. This location was previously the site of a U.S. Navy communications base and the mooring for the 12 masts (one 610ft high) are still evident. The base opened in 1962 and closed in 1992. Walking on along the cliff tops we negotiated several geos and were now close to the inaccessible Dounreay site. Just passed Oigins Geo we spoke to James a surveyor working on site in the field adjacent to Dounreay who advised us to walk inland to the disused WWII airfield runway which we did. Making our way to the car park at the Dounreay visitor’s centre we spoke to two patrolling police officers who advised us where we could make our way back to the coast. We used the minibus to transport us from Dounreay to the access road at Isauld House where we made our way down passed the edge of Reay golf course, crossing a fast flowing wide burn onto the lovely beach at Sandside Bay. A notice at the start of the beach give warning of the possible presence of radioactive particles and the presence of two vehicles which perpetually scan the sands was quite concerning. We walked on to our finish at Fresgoe Harbour. On our long journey home we had our usual stop for a fish tea at the excellent‘Trawlers’ in Golspie.
Summary; An easy half days walk with good underfoot conditions.
Highs; Some great views. The interesting wind farm site
Lows; The beautiful but sadly contaminated beach at Sandside Bay.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
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- Breakfast at the Castletown Hotel with our lovely waitress Janet
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- Outside the excellent Castletown hotel
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- Setting off from Brims Castle in lovely sunshine
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- The ruins of Brims Castle
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- The chapel ruins at Brims
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- Looking back east at Holborn Head and Dunnet Head from Brims Ness
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- Checking out the rock pools near Brims Ness
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- Making our way near Ushat Head towards Crosskirk
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- Morris on a cliff ledge near Ushat Head
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- Looking west from Ushat Head towards the wind farm and Dounreay
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- Nick and Fiona (fishers) who we had a blether to near Crosskirk
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- The old spice mill beside Forss water near Crosskirk
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- The very interesting graveyard at St Mary’s chapel near Crosskirk
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- Making our way beneath the turbines at Forss wind farm
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- The American Navy plaque at Forss
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- Colin beneath one of the turbines
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- The view skywards from beneath a turbine
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- Looking west towards Dounreay from near the wind farm
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- Gie-Uisg Geo
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- Approaching Dounreay
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- John speaking to James who advised us on our route passed Dounreay
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- The old WW2 airfield runway at Dounreay
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- On the road back to the sea passed Isauld farm
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- First glimpse of Sandside bay
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- The path down onto Sandside bay
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- The worrying notice on Sandside bay
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- Crossing the burn that runs out into the sea at the east end of Sandside bay
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- The view west over Sandside bay to Fresgoe harbour and Sandside Head on the point
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- Our warning gesture in the sand at Sandside bay
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- Making our way over the lovely but possibly radiation polluted Sandside bay
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- Looking back east from Sandside bay
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- The Dounreay buggies that continuously scan Sandside bay for radiation particles
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- Looking ahead to the harbour at Fresgoe
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- View back to Sandside bay from Fresgoe harbour
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- Fresgoe harbour with the dome of Dounreay in the background
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- Some of the team at Fresgoe harbour
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- Another worrying notice at Sandside bay
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- The end of the days walk at Fresgoe harbour
ROUTE MAP – CLICK TO ENLARGE
DAY 45 ROUTE MAP