The Top of the UK
No trip to Orkney would be complete with a small detour to the various ‘Most Northerly’ parts of the UK.
In our very brief stop in the horizontal rain at John O’Groats, the falsely advertised most northerly mainland place in the UK, we found it overpopulated with tourist shops and this was enough to force us to find a better top for the UK.
The two contenders we explored were Duncansby Head and Dunnet Head.
Duncansby Head is the most North Easterly part of mainland UK. A now familiar Stevenson style lighthouse sits by the carpark, shining lights to warn for the presumably towering cliffs below.
A quick walk following the well trodden path to the (uneventful) true NW tip, we then follow the edge south towards the Duncansby Head Stacks.
First we pass the deep chasm in the cliff that is the Geo of Sclaites. Birds flutter among these cliffs, and we push on into the wind.
Only a few minutes later, and the view of the stacks is grand. Thirle Door opens as a small cliff arch, filling the frame in front of the of the Stacks of Duncansby, standing proudly in the North Sea.
At 60 metres tall, the main stack has weathered many Scottish storms to remain so prominent next to these sea cliffs. The door and stacks are coloured like a shady forest; green and almost black today, the dark storm clouds draining the bright colours out of the seacliffs.
As we approach the stacks and round the cliff edge, the winds blow through us. We mimic the stacks, standing strong and stoic while we admire their beauty, but too soon the gale becomes overwhelming as the storm is coming. We hurry back to the car to head to camp before the deluge.
With the tent luckily set up before the rain, after a quick dinner in Thurso to hide from the wet, we made back to camp at Dunnet Bay just before sunset. The battering storm the next morning stopped us from exploring Dunnet Head – the true most Northerly point of Mainland UK. So our sunset walk at Dunnet Bay will have to do.
For less than an hour that Sunday night, the storm stopped and the air warmed as the sun dipped below the clouds and then the horizon at Dunnet Bay. Windless and peaceful, we walked the long, drawn out tidal flats of the bay. The setting sun reflected in the rippled sand and turning it an imitating shade of purplely blue.
I would not recommend an extended stop in John O’Groats, but exploring these neighbouring true top(s) of the UK were a stunning way to end our adventure to Orkney. Two shiny cherries on top of our weekend and literally, on mainland UK.
