Day 116 Rest Day 18 Dunbeath

I hadn’t really planned a rest day. The guidebook said it would be two days from Helmsdale to Dunbeath but because I took the road it was only one day so I had an extra night.

I didn’t have high hopes for my rest day. Dunbeath seemed to be a closed village without much going on when it was open. How wrong I was.

I left the B and B this morning after a late (8.30) and leisurely breakfast to see Louis vanishing into the distance. I called after him but he was too far away to hear. I turned round and made my way into the village. First stop, the Spar shop. Cheese and ham sandwiches and an apple. The shopkeeper pressed a leaflet about a local broch on me. “It’s not far” he said. Well, you know my feelings about walking on rest days. “How far?” I asked. He said it was less than a kilometre from the car park. Maybe… I thought.

Then I realised that the Dunbeath Heritage Centre would be open as it would be between 10-3 on Friday by the time I got there. It was fascinating. I had no idea there was so much of interest in and around Dunbeath-archaeology, medieval coin hoards (and there’s a record of the robbery in which they were stolen), social history -fishing, clearances- geology and literature-Neil Gunn who wrote The Silver Darlings amongst other books. As well as a really interesting board with a map (I’m a sucker for a map) explaining the Gaelic place names and how some of them came about. Oh, and a 7th century carving of a cross on a stone. You can tell I was in my element. I was there for an hour and a half before heading to my campsite.

Rhona, the owner was a little stressed, as the fuses kept blowing and there was no electricity. I am camped in the back garden in a sheltered little spot.

There was a suggestion of drizzle in the air so I took my waterproof jacket and my lunch and headed to the broch (An Icon of the North no less -yes, I’ve been reading information boards again.)

From the car park I followed a well-trodden path beside the river which I crossed on a very wobbly suspension bridge.

The path then took me up some steps to an enclosure which surrounded the broch.

I ate my lunch there then headed for the harbour. (I know, a lot of walking for a rest day.) There weren’t many boats in the harbour but it was very picturesque.

I walked round the corner and saw dolphins. They were quite far out but spent a surprisingly long time swimming around. It was great. I walked back slowly, pausing to look at the restored herring boat in a shed belonging to the Heritage Centre

After all this excitement I headed for the pub where I have been for the last hour and a half with a pot of tea and a scone making use of their WiFi to write some blog posts. I’m back later on for my dinner.