Day 99 - Golspie to Helmsdale - 18.6 miles

Dunrobin Castle came well recommended - particularly the gardens to which you could get in for free. Well, not today you can't.....unless you want a tour of the Castle as well!

Pah! Not being in the mood for a guided tour of a stately home even if it was designed by Charles Barry  - who designed the Houses of Parliament, I walked down on to the beach

and watched a busy chaffinch and admired a nice gate catch instead!

Much more ME!!

Near Strathsteven I met Graham and his family.  Graham is a retired businessman and keen amateur geologist.

He was looking for ammonites and particularly belemnites which he told me are the fossilised remains of giant squid that once occupied the sea here. They can be found along this stretch of coast where sedimentary seams meet the coast. With his wife Susan, he'd clearly passed on his enthusiasm

 to the rest of his family who were scouring the beach and tapping away with their geologists hammers at any promising rocks. A great way to spend a morning.

The sound of those tapping hammers was clearly intriguing a matching family of eight seals who gathered close-by to watch.

For most of the route as far as Brora, the route led along level fields just above the highwater line, between the railway and shore.

Further along the beach I met Alan Mcleod.

Alan uses his professional expertise to advise Scottish companies on accessing development funding but his passion is writing and composing.
Based in Brora he was out for a morning walk along the beach towards Golspie.

We talked about the attractions and challenges of living in the Highlands where the costs of living are low but average incomes are amongst the lowest in the country. We talked about 'levelling up', intellectual exports, Internet speeds, nationalism, the challenges of research funding after Brexit, quotations of Edmund Burke, the inspiration of Scottish writers Neil Gunn at Dunbeath and George Mackay Brown in Stromness.
Alan also talked about the similarities in  the grammatical construction of Pictish, Gallic and Welsh.
A lot of rich inspiring material - and standing in the milky morning sunshine, in a warm breeze it would have been easy to have talked for longer. I promised to listen to Alan's The Jellicoe Express - a poem about the train that took local boys away to the First World War. Powerful!

I didn't stop at Brora but carried on along the coast for the remaing eleven miles to Helmsdale.

At one river crossing, I couldn't find the path or bridge so resorted to taking off boots and socks to wade across the stream.

It was nice to cool the feet as the afternoon was getting hotter.

There's obviously been coastal erosion because the path regularly peters out

on the thinnest strip of land between the railway and the sea. Because the tide was high, I was forced to walk on rocks for a number of miles.

Tough on the ankles and very slow going, I eventually gave up, walked across the railway and onto the road for the last mile into Helmsdale.

On the way in to town I passed a sculpture - The Emigrants, commemorating the thousands who fled Scotland in the early 19th century as a result of the Highland clearances.

Powerfully, alongside the Scottish saltire, the town had hoisted Ukrainian flags.

I was late arriving at the hotel and went for a late supper at the fish and chip shop next door. Recognising a tired man, instead of an ice cream for desert, the waitress recommended that I went along to the Belgrave Bar as Craig, the landlord kept a good selection of malts but I should get along there soon as he'd be closing early on a Sunday evening.
I hobled in to the bar just in time for last orders. On a large screen, Craig the barman and the only other two customers were watching a replay of the final round at the Open.
As he put my glass of Clynelish on the bar (my new favourite tipple) I looked carefully at the face of one of the two men at the corner of the bar and recognised him as John Llewelyn. John and I had been in the same class at secondary school in 1967.

This world is definitely getting smaller!!!

Geraint and John have been coming up to Helmsdale for the last 20 years to enjoy the fly fishing on the inland lochs. They know the area and the mountains off by heart.

John and I used to play in a band - he was always a very good guitarist - and said he still has a recording of us from 1978. A fine vintage!!!?

We couldn't believe the coincidence of the two of us from adjacent villages meeting up in the Highlands. The three of us talked away in Welsh for ages and needless to say...the bar stayed open.

What a great night! 

Total distance walked so far = 1217.8 miles

Total ascent so far = 134 718 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/fundraising/david-thomas215

- 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.- 

 https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/campaign/a056900002H35TDAAZ

- 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 

https://www.justgiving.com/