Ralph Cox•Follow

September 1, 2022

Corner to Corner, Day 32: Alness to Altnaharra

https://www.cycling4charity.org.uk We started today's route at 11.36 after Lorraine's iPhone was mended. Route was once again continually breath-taking. I need to revise the section from Ardgay, removing 48 steps over Shin Railway Viaduct. The rest was good. Midges became apparent as we arrived at the superb Altnaharra Hotel.

2022 Scottish census data will be released in 2023. According to the 2011 census recorded in Wikipedia, Alness' s population is 5186. The article says Highlands Council's 2016 estimate was 6101. 1843 CofS church in Alness. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alness_Parish_Church_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1234671.jpg I checked out this and other POIs in the town whilst waiting for Lorraine's phone repair. Read in Lorraine's blog for the day about Kal, proprietor of the Phone Store which would officially open for business four days after we left and who spent at least an hour fixing her phone, then would not charge a visitor to the island for his time. https://phonestorealness.co.uk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alness#cite_note-4

Ruined Alness parish church from 1625 onwards and burial ground. The church was renovated around 1775 and last used around 1943.
https://her.highland.gov.uk/Monument/MHG8121
and for more recent photos with a roof:
https://canmore.org.uk/site/13662/alness-alness-parish-church

Look at the hedge at 21 Novar Road, Alness

Look at the top window at Victoria House, 28 Novar Road.

Looking east at the River Averon, which flows into the Cromarty Firth. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Averon

4.7 miles out of Alness, I took this photo for the "Road closed snow" gate on the B9176 Struie Road, and the smoothness of the road. If that is possible this far north, then it is possible on the A74 and NCN Route 74 in South Lanarkshire on Day 25. The horizon consists of l>r the forested edge of 2270ft/692m Beinn Tharsuinn, Beinn Tharsuinn Wind Farm 1673-1791ft / 510-546m high, 1749ft/533m Meall Meadhonach, 1729ft/527m Meall a' Bhreacain with the forested 1214ft/370m Meallan Dubn hill on the right. Beinn = Scottish Gaelic for hill, mountain, pinnacle. https://www.wordsense.eu/beinn/#Scottish_Gaelic

Looking north east towards Tain we cycled through on Day 39, with in the foreground l>r: edge of forested 984ft/300m Druim na Gaoithe, in the valley: Casan Fuara (river), and in the middle and to the right Gleann an Oba which climbs to 1204ft/367m above sea level. Another view of the river course: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3438548

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Best seen on a large screen. Looking beyond Edderton to Dornock Firth.

Looking to the immediate west: Trying to capture the enormity and beauty of each rolling flap of 1791ft/546m Croc Muigh-bhlaraidh. Alas, the sky looks bigger, but when there, all you can see is hill!

Looking over rough grassland and forest to Cambuscurrie Bay, and beyond that on the south bank to the Ness of Portnaculter spit, Dornoch Firth Bridge (6.3 miles away) we'd cycle over on Day 39 and beyond that on the north bank Dornoch Point and beyond that on the south bank Whiteness Sands then Tarbat Ness (c18 miles away)

Hills on the left l>r: 1224ft/373m Struie Cairn nearest the road > 1086ft/331m Struie Hill with radio transmitter, possibly looking as far as 2060ft/ 628m Beinn Dhorain in the Northwest Highlands, even though this is on the east coast. https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/ullapool/struie-hill.shtml https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beinn_Dhorain

1056ft/322m Cnoc an t- Sabhail https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst24804.html Cnoc = Scottish Gaelic for hill. https://www.wordsense.eu/cnoc/#Scottish_Gaelic

The lighthouse on Tarbat Ness 17 miles/28km away.

1224ft/373m Struie Cairn to our left at the time. More photos to come, trying to capture its magnificence.

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L>R: range immediately to our left is 1568ft/478m Beinn Clach an Fheadain, above the tree is 1276ft/389m Cnoc an Liath-bhaid with Struie Cairn right of the B9176. WordSense Dictionary < https://www.wordsense.eu > gives these interpretations of Scottish Gaelic words: Beinn = hill, mountain, pinnacle Clach = stone, rock Liath = grey, mouldy, pale No entries for the other words.

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Recording the path. The camera felt the best shot also was to record the Angus bulls! Recording the path as an unsuitable NCN route path, when actually I chose this route option knowing there would be steps, though I had not appreciated the difficulty we were about to encounter. The NCN route had another option.

This is to be removed, along with the 31 steps this side and 17 the other side of the metal footbridge beside the Shin Railway Viaduct over the Kyle of Sutherland.

1868 Shin Railway Viaduct and 2000 footbridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Railway_Viaduct

Photo taken from the A836 we would come off then return to for the last 20 miles.

Sudden view of the River Shin on the B864. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Shin

B864. Many Scottish B and some A roads are like this: they've lost the top layer binder smoothing out the surface, so there is either a constant change or just relentless hammering over stones.