Ralph Cox•Follow

September 3, 2022

Corner to Corner, Day 34, Part 2: Duncansby Head to Thurso

https://www.cycling4charity.org.uk Wind behind us. Checked out route options in Castletown and near the end in Thurso. A road, with respectful drivers. Good route. Saw several local cyclists.

Look back to JOG and its colourful hotel.

The above water part of MeyGen, the largest tidal energy plant, being constructed between Ness of Quoys on the mainland and the now uninhabited Island of Stroma in the background, viewed over Canisbay parish church graveyard. It is estimated to provide sufficient power for 175,000 homes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeyGen & https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/meygen-tidal-power-project/ & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_Stroma

Canisbay parish church, by which we had lunch.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canisbay_Parish_Church

Queen Mother prayed here when using Castle of Mey, 1959-2001. Family tombstone of De Groot family of JOG founder is in the entrance. Thank you for the bench we sat at for lunch. https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/johnogroats/canisbaykirk/index.html

Plaque to the Queen Mother who prayed at this church when staying at Castle of Mey, 1959-2001.

De Groot family tombstone, found under the floor during renovations, is in the entrance. The Wikipedia entry says John De Groot is buried in the church's graveyard.

What does it say?

Google Translate cannot detect the language and set to Dutch does not translate it.

Perhaps: Donald, son of John, was laid to rest on 13th April 1568, and maybe a son or daughter also on 13th April 1586.??

Gills Bay for Pentland Ferries to South Ronaldsay, one of the Orkney Islands linked to the main island by causeways built during WW2 to protect Scappa Flow and now a roadway. https://pentlandferries.co.uk/ & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Ronaldsay

Castle of Mey, which tne Queen Mother bought in 1952, restored then used as a holiday home between 1955 and 2001. Since 2002, parts of it have periodically been open to the public. It also has a B&B. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_of_Mey & https://www.castleofmey.org.uk

We were interested in these sand dunes at Dunnet Links, bordering Dunnet Bay.

We found no signs indicating what they are, which is a national Site of Special Scientific Interest. The dunes and their specific grasslands stretch 1.9 miles / 3 km inland:
https://sitelink.nature.scot/site/572

Other side of the dunes. I tried a route alternative, exploring how NCN Route 1 went through Castletown: a beautiful way.

Yonder on the other side of Dunnet Bay is Dunnet and Dunnet Hill. The overall name for the land is Dunnet Head.

"Old building on an A836 bend near Castletown, by the turning to its harbour. I want to find out what it was for.", I wrote at the time: Castletown Mill, built 1818 or 1819. See this Highland Historic Environment Record for more, and the Canmore entry in its links for photos when it was roofed: https://her.highland.gov.uk/monument/MHG1876 I learnt it was a mill from the Castletown Heritage Centre website: https://www.castletownheritage.co.uk

$Castlehill Harbour, built in the early 1820s by James Bremner for the export of flagstones from 1825. Bremner was a renowned naval architect who also created a method used to refloat grounded ships including SS Great Britain, we saw on Day 17, in 1846 and again in 1970. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bremner \u0026 https://www.scotlandguides.org/tour/harbour-castletown-castlehill-2090.htm https://www.castletownheritage.co.uk - see Flagstone Trail download$