Other in Caithness

John O'Groats occupies a unique place in the British imagination as the northeastern terminus of the most famous end-to-end journey across Britain, the 1,407-kilometre route from Land's End in Cornwall to this remote corner of the Caithness coast in the far north of Scotland. The name alone has come to signify both geographical extremity and personal endurance, and thousands of charity walkers, cyclists, runners and even wheelchair users complete the journey each year, drawn by the particular satisfaction of traversing an entire island from tip to tip. The settlement itself, it must be said, is smaller and simpler than the mythology might suggest. A cluster of buildings around a small harbour, the famous signpost, a hotel, some craft shops and a visitor centre: John O'Groats is a destination that rewards for what it represents rather than what it contains. The signpost pointing to distant cities and the mileage to Land's End is the mandatory photograph for those completing the journey, and the sense of accomplishment felt by those who have walked, cycled or driven the full length of Britain to reach this point is visible and genuine. The landscape surrounding the settlement is what gives the location its real character. The coast here is wild and dramatic, with grey cliffs, grey sea and the constant presence of wind that shapes everything from the stunted vegetation to the stone walls of the farms inland. The Pentland Firth between the mainland and Orkney is one of the most dangerous stretches of water in Britain, with racing tidal currents and standing waves that can challenge even experienced sailors. On clear days the Orkney Islands are plainly visible across the firth, close enough to seem reachable but surrounded by waters that demand respect. The nearby village of Duncansby, two kilometres east, provides access to Duncansby Head, the true northeastern tip of mainland Britain and, many would argue, a more dramatically beautiful destination than John O'Groats itself. The lighthouse here overlooks sea stacks, natural arches and spectacular cliff scenery that constitutes some of the finest coastal walking in the far north. The Duncansby Stacks, particularly, are among the most photogenic geological features in Scotland. Regular ferry services to Orkney depart from nearby Gills Bay and from the ferry terminal at the town of Thurso, making John O'Groats an excellent staging post for the short crossing to explore the remarkable prehistoric and Norse heritage of the Orkney Islands.

Skara Brae on the west coast of Mainland Orkney is the finest Neolithic village surviving in western Europe and one of the most remarkable prehistoric sites in the world, a settlement of eight stone-built houses connected by covered passages and preserved in extraordinary completeness by the sand dune that covered and protected it for five thousand years until a storm in 1850 exposed the site to the modern world. The houses, their stone furniture, hearths and fittings still largely intact, provide a uniquely direct and intimate insight into daily life in a Neolithic farming community of approximately 3100 to 2500 BC. The stone furniture of Skara Brae is the feature that most immediately distinguishes it from other prehistoric sites. Because the settlers had no timber available for furniture on the treeless Orkney landscape, they built their beds, shelves, dressers and hearths from the same flat flagstone that provided their building material, and this stone construction has preserved household arrangements that would normally have long since decayed. The dresser of the largest house, a stone cabinet of two shelves facing the entrance, is one of the most vivid surviving objects from prehistoric domestic life anywhere in Europe. The site lies at the edge of the Bay of Skaill, the beach immediately adjacent, and the proximity of the Neolithic village to the sea it would have overlooked five thousand years ago gives the site a quality of temporal compression. The stone walls of the houses, their interiors visible from the viewing path above, feel inhabited rather than abandoned, the permanence of the stone construction creating a sense of presence that the decayed remains of similar settlements elsewhere rarely achieve. Skara Brae is part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site, which also includes the Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness and Maeshowe chambered cairn.