Faraid Head

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Balnakeil Church
Balnakeil Church

North of Durness, a minor road leads to Balnakiel – basically no more than a ruined church, a house and a golf course – from where a beautiful walk leads out to the peninsula of Faraid Head.

We parked by the church (above) which dates from the 17th century but has been abandoned since the 19th. The grave of Elizabeth Parkes is here – she was the aunt John Lennon visited in Durness on his childhood holidays – but we couldn’t find it. (When I mentioned Lennon in my last post, I had no idea that I was actually writing on his birthday. He would have been 75 on 9th October.)

From the church, we set off across Balnakeil Bay:

Balnakeil Bay
Balnakeil Bay – Faraid Head in the distance
Balnakeil Bay
Balnakeil Bay – looking back

Once we could go no further on the beach, an access road took us up through the dunes onto the head itself, although sometimes the road disappeared under the shifting sand.

Road disappears in sand
On Faraid Head
On Faraid Head

We left the access road to walk round the Head’s western edge:

Nearly there
Looking back from the Head

When we crossed over to the eastern side, we found the road’s destination, an MOD (Ministry of Defence) training centre locally known as The Bee. I wonder why?

The Bee
The Bee
The Bee

Carrying on along the eastern cliffs we began to be bothered by midges, so our stop at the cairn was quite short. We were glad when it started to rain as being wet was preferable to being bitten. The combination of the two made our return back down onto the dunes a hasty one – the shed below is more evidence of shifting sand.

Cairn
From Faraid Head
Shifting sands

The sun returned as we reached the bay again and Balnakeil House came back into view.

Balnakeil Bay and House
Balnakeil House

The house dates from 1744 and has been owned by the chiefs of Clan MacKay and the Duke of Sutherland. In 1904, it and its extensive sheep farm were sold to the Elliot family who still own it today. It’s surrounded by these bonny yellow flowers.

By Balnakeil House
By Balnakeil House

We returned to the car slightly sad that we would be leaving the area the next day – but glad that we still had a couple of days elsewhere before returning home. Coming next: Gairloch.

This post is linked to Jo’s Monday Walks. Follow the link to catch up with everyone else’s wanderings.

Scotland, UK , , , ,

35 Comments »

  6. What a lovely walk – your writings and your ‘other half’s’ photographs really make you feel as though you are there.

    Glad not possible though for midges to pass through social media! Guess they though along with the variable weather are one of the reasons the beaches are so clean and empty.

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  7. Pingback: Jo’s Monday walk : Fabrica to Cacela Velha | restlessjo

  11. Stunning walk- I felt I was there, and no pesky midges to contend with. Been reading your comments thread and the lucky one enquiringly about midges – you missed the fact that in addition to biting they love to swarm on mass into the back of your mouth while you are trying to talk 😩😩
    Loved that sinking hut!!

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    • Yes, that’s disgusting! Fortunately, the rain came on just in time – and it was windy enough – to keep them at minor nuisance level rather than full-on swarm. Still got the repellent out though – a natural one which gardeners at one of our local garden centres swear by apparently. Hmm, it made me sneeze but that’s about it.

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  12. Everything looks splendidly beautiful. I particularly like the undeveloped nature of the beach, the natural aspect. We have a few such beaches here, but most have been developed and made to shine to tourists/visitors.

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  13. It’s all so beautiful~ except for that “Bee”…. bit of an eyesore in all that natural area… but the bay is gorgeous. How lucky you are to live so close to so many beautiful places!

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    • IT is an eyesore, but at least it’s right at the end of the peninsula and the land dips down so you don’t see too much of it till you get quite close. Scotland is beautiful – and you are never far from the sea.

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  14. What are midges? We have mosquitoes, black flies, horse flies but unsure what a midge is. This place looks so far away in some ways. I would not have thought anyone was buried in that cemetery so recent, Like form the 20th century:) The one picture looks like you are close, agian, to a cliff.

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    • Midges are tiny biting insects, smaller than mosquitos. A real pain in the summer, in still conditions anyway. Yes, I was surprised about the grave too. We couldn’t find any that looked modern enough but the info board at the gate said she was there.

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  16. Great photos, Anabel. I really like the look of Balnakeil House. It’s hard to imagine John Lennon at 75, but I guess we’ve all aged since that fateful day. I wish he had been allowed to age along with us. I love his music.

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  17. Your other half has excelled himself with these photos, Anabel! (apologies if it was you 🙂 ) I feel like I’m standing right there with a good lung full of fresh air (though the reality is the armchair with rain on the windowpane 😦 )
    Perhaps you would think about Ed Mooney’s history challenge? I know you love history. (the link was in my Medieval Fair posts). Many thanks for the link!

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