Day 100 - Helmsdale to Badbea -10.6 miles
The trail north of Helmsdale takes some careful planning. My comfortable walking distances have been increasing over the 100 days and so I'd thought that the 15 miles to Dunbeath would not be a challenge. However, having sampled some of the gorse bushes in my approach to Helmsdale yesterday and realised how slow my progress had been, I decided I needed to think again and split my northward walk into two days of about 8 miles each - from Helmsdale to Badbea and Badbea to Dunbeath.
My first challenge would be to get back from Badbea after my walk.
The bus timetable for the north of Scotland must be devised my some higher intelligence because it seems that you can travel Southwards in the early morning or late evening but not between those times. You can only travel Northwards in the afternoon. Hmm!! A little brain teaser.
I decided that if I went northwards on the afternoon X99 bus to Badbea I could then walk back to Helmsdale at my own pace. AND....before that, if I went Southwards on the 09:45 bus that would allow me to retrace my steps to visit Brora AND.....fit in a tasting at the Clynelish distillery on the outskirts of the town before walking in the afternoon.
How clever is that and what could possibly go wrong!?!?
Jimmy, the driver of the 09:45 bus told me he'd been having a wager with his wife to lose weight before their holiday to Tenerife at the weekend. He still has 4 pounds to lose. He was slowly nibbling a cashew as I bought a ticket. At each stop on the way, as the regulars climbed aboard they all asked him how the diet was progressing. Lots of fun and teasing along the way - a real community bus service!
The brand new buildings of the Clynelish distillery
sit alongside the mothballed traditional buildings of the Brora distillery -
So much for branding!! Diageo Pah!!
Back on the Northbound bus to Badbae.
Badbae was one of the Clearance villages.
The information boards on the trail gave a lot of information....In the early 1800s, Sir John Sinclair - an 'agricultural reformer' attempted to measure the 'quantum of happiness' of the Scots! As part of his reforms he replaced jointly owned small farms with large - scale sheep farms. The information board said "Sir John encouraged people to work in the new coastal industries....." In effect, families were forcibly evicted to the seemingly most exposed and inhospitable places.
Badbae is one of those - in July, it might be pleasant but in the winter it must have felt close to the very edge of existence.
Sinclair apparently offered financial inducements to encourage emigration and there's a monument at Badbae commemorating those who left for ever.
When I asked the bus driver for a ticket to Badbae he said, under his breath.."Ah aye, that's where the English kicked us oot" !!
The bus timetable for the north of Scotland must be devised my some higher intelligence because it seems that you can travel Southwards in the early morning or late evening but not between those times. You can only travel Northwards in the afternoon. Hmm!! A little brain teaser.
I decided that if I went northwards on the afternoon X99 bus to Badbea I could then walk back to Helmsdale at my own pace. AND....before that, if I went Southwards on the 09:45 bus that would allow me to retrace my steps to visit Brora AND.....fit in a tasting at the Clynelish distillery on the outskirts of the town before walking in the afternoon.
How clever is that and what could possibly go wrong!?!?
Jimmy, the driver of the 09:45 bus told me he'd been having a wager with his wife to lose weight before their holiday to Tenerife at the weekend. He still has 4 pounds to lose. He was slowly nibbling a cashew as I bought a ticket. At each stop on the way, as the regulars climbed aboard they all asked him how the diet was progressing. Lots of fun and teasing along the way - a real community bus service!
The brand new buildings of the Clynelish distillery
though there's an air of expectation that Brora will soon be reopening. The current prices for any available remaining Brora malts range between £6,500 and £20,000 per litre !!!!!!
The brand new Clynelish distillery next door is also owned by the Johnny Walker /Diageo group.
The tour was disappointing - the guide pushed the Johnny Walker brand, the shape of the bottles, the colour of the glass and the 24 degree slant of the Johnny Walker label rather than describing the flavours and qualities of the far superior Clynelish.
So much for branding!! Diageo Pah!!
Back on the Northbound bus to Badbae.
Badbae was one of the Clearance villages.
The information boards on the trail gave a lot of information....In the early 1800s, Sir John Sinclair - an 'agricultural reformer' attempted to measure the 'quantum of happiness' of the Scots! As part of his reforms he replaced jointly owned small farms with large - scale sheep farms. The information board said "Sir John encouraged people to work in the new coastal industries....." In effect, families were forcibly evicted to the seemingly most exposed and inhospitable places.
When I asked the bus driver for a ticket to Badbae he said, under his breath.."Ah aye, that's where the English kicked us oot" !!
Rich pickings for Nicola!?
From Badbae, the trail was difficult to find
and though there were the occasional signs the trail involved hacking through bracken and gorse.
At Ousdale Burn the trail was very steep with bracken at head height.
Not easy going.
At the top of the hill there was an Iron Age Broch.
From Badbae, the trail was difficult to find
At the top of the hill there was an Iron Age Broch.
and a decent path for a mile but I eventually gave up trying to climb through any more gorse bushes and climbed out on to the road to walk the last mile back to Helmsdale where I went for a walk around the peaceful harbour.
Total distance walked so far = 1228.4 miles
Total ascent so far = 137 129 feet
If you'd like to leave a comment, correct me on any detail or just nudge, it'd be great to hear from you. If initially it comes up as Anonymous, please just add your name at the bottom so I can see who it's from.
email: david.LL.thomas@gmail.com
mob: 07850109100
If you'd like to contribute to any or all of the three great charities I'm supporting, here are the relevant links.
- Parkinsons UK - My dad had Parkinsons in his latter years and the research work this charity funds and the support it provides to patients and their families is invaluable. - https://www.justgiving.com/
- Just Wheels UK - this is a small charity set up to provide wheelchairs in a rural community in Tanzania. It does this through funding training, education and the local fabrication and servicing of bespoke wheelchairs. My nephew uses a wheelchair and as he grows I can see the life changing freedoms that proper wheelchairs can bring to both users and their families.-
- RNLI - these are the brave guys who selflessly head out to sea to help others. I volunteer at Littlehampton RNLI shop and often meet families of those who’ve had first hand experience of their loved ones being saved from the sea. Having sailed for years I can say thankfully we’ve never had to call on the RNLI's services but it’s amazing what it does to know they are there
I suspect you are there, now and what an achievement. But PLEASE don't stop blogging as you return home. Your view of life is inspiring and you capture moments in time, and place beautifully. We readers will miss it!
ReplyDeleteFantastic to see the iron age broch (settlement?) and hear of local people chatting with their beloved bus driver.
ReplyDeleteI've really enjoyed your blog to date, David, so well written and illustrated. Wish I'd done the same for some of my adventures ... I was really struck by your photo of the iron age broch, so similar to a site I visited in Sardinia in my recent holiday - I'll show you when you return ... Hope the rest of the walk goes well - what amazing weather you're having for it. Just returned from a brief visit to Pembrokeshire, where Peter explored part of the Pembrokeshire Coastal path and thoroughly enjoyed it.
ReplyDelete