Inverness – Wick – Thurso

The starting point for this itinerary was to spend midsummer’s day on the north coast. Without that, I’d almost certainly have picked a different route, though would have visited the same locations. Technically, the moment of the summer solstice was 21:51 BST on the 20th, but everyone thinks of it as being on the 21st and that’s enough for me (plus getting there by the 20th was going to need a lot of luck.)

Small B&Bs are funny places. I’ve not been in one for a while and had forgotten. The one here was incredibly well reviewed. Everyone commented on how friendly the owners were, but also about how good the breakfast was. It only had 5 or 6 rooms but there were enough home-made pastries laid out to serve 20 people. We were repeatedly invited by the host to take a paper bag and help ourselves to anything we wanted for the day. I’d already had scrambled egg on toast so didn’t want anything now, but took an apple turnover (and a banana) for later.

I could see my train in the platform (the front 2 carriages at platform 5 in the picture below) when I arrived at Inverness Station. I made sure I was promptly at the gates as they were unlocked (you’re not allowed to board until a few minutes before departure, for some reason.) The train filled up but I had my preferred forward-facing table seat so was happy.

The first part of this journey is a reverse of the one from Kyle of Lochalsh the previous day. Just north of Dingwall the lines diverge and I was into new territory. I know this part of the world very well from when Kayty and Chris lived in Brora, but never visited by train.

The last time I was up here at all, Cromarty Firth was full of oil rigs being maintained. This time there was only one, but there was also a cruise ship, which is not something I recall seeing before. The Firth is well sheltered and deep, so perfect for such jobs.

For much of this section the road and railway are very close together. The scenery is lovely and it was nice to be able to enjoy it without needing to keep an eye on the road. I caught my first glimpse of Golspie and Brora around Tain, and in the other direction could just make out Portmahomack and Tarbat Ness Lighthouse.

Beyond Tain the road and rail routes diverge. The relatively new (1990s) bridge over the Dornoch Firth cuts miles off the drive, but the railway still follows its historic route inland for some way, only returning to the coast at Golspie.

For all this is a lovely line, it is evident that there is not the money to maintain anything more than the bare minimum. At Lairg, the old station building has a plaque commemorating its historic role; the modern replacement is a wooden shelter. The beautiful footbridge is rusting away and the rest of the site has simply been levelled.

I’d always promised myself that when I finally came up here by train, I’d spend at least a night at Rogart, home to Sleeperzzz, a set of converted carriages. Sadly when the time finally came I found a message on their website saying that they had called it a day.

South of Golspie on top of Ben Bhraggie is the statue of the Duke of Sutherland, infamous (and still locally despised) for his central role in Highland Clearances. The statue, locally known as the “Wee Mannie,” is one of a pair with its companion being at the south end of the lake at Trentham Gardens, near to Stoke-on-Trent, built and owned by the Duke. I’ve walked up to that one many a time but this one would be more of a challenge. Others have been more determined, with attempts made to deface or even topple it, as well as a campaign to have it dismantled a few years ago, though the outcome was that many local people felt it should remain, as a reminder of those times.

Golspie Station is another reminder of how station buildings have been downgraded, with the lovely original being replaced by a bus shelter. This is far from unusual, I’ve seen them all over the place, but it still makes me sad.

Dunrobin Castle is a request stop, but quite a few people got off. As we arrived there was an announcement I heard for the first time (but repeated several times at subsequent stations) about the platform being very low. I had to take a look as we stopped. Happily, this station is beautifully maintained, presumably by the Castle staff.

The railway passes through the centre of Brora and then hugs the coast all the way to Helmsdale. We used to walk on the beaches and see the trains so doing the reverse was fascinating. I shot video all the way through this section so that I could share with my friends but will take photos on the return trip.

At Helmsdale we turn inland, and do not return to the coast again. The line climbs alongside the river and emerges onto moorland. This landscape is almost entirely bare, but for occasional roads or tracks, and a number of tiny settlements, each with its own request stop. I found myself wondering why here, as in many other places beside both railways and roads, snow fences have been left to fall apart. Presumably they did a job, or no-one would have built them in the first place so why are they left to fall apart?

When reading about this trip in advance I discovered that at Altnabreac, Network Rail were in a battle with the new owners of a former station building who have (illegally) blocked access over their land to the platform and line. The station has temporarily been closed, though services are still timetabled to stop there. However, ours went through at 75mph, so I wasn’t able to properly see the disputed site. There are lots of online references to this, for anyone interested; here’s an example.

At Georgemas Junction, trains reverse, going first down a branch to Thurso, then come back through the junction to terminate at Wick. I was staying in Thurso but remained on board as there would be an hour to look around Wick before it returned.

It’s a short walk from the station to the town, entered over a river bridge. You get the clear impression that Wick was once a thriving town, but like most places is struggling. Once impressive buildings have mostly been turned into bargain shops, or been closed. I did enjoy the wooden sofa outside Sam’s sofa shop though.

Walking down to the harbour gave me my first chance to stand next to the blades of an offshore wind turbine. They are immense, the cross section of one was way higher than I am. My head height was somewhere around the “e” of “Vestas” on the sign behind me.

I returned to the station a different way, through an area known as Pultneytown. This used to be a separate town to Wick, but merged just over a century ago. It was planned and laid out by Thomas Telford, specifically to service the herring industry. The buildings here are of a distinct design. I wasn’t able to visit the museum, which had closed for the day, but it does seem to be interesting, and perhaps gives a reason to return to Wick, which I hadn’t expected to say!

I spotted a number of carvings into the paving stones, some of which were based on L. S. Lowry characters. He visited a couple of times and set a couple of paintings here.

I returned to the station for my train back to Thurso. The two stations are almost identical in appearance, though both are recent and evidently budget builds.

Thurso station is a bit of a walk down a dead straight road. I dropped my bags at the B&B and after a short pause (for rain) went to explore. As I walked along the seafront I started to hear music. It got louder as I walked and I realised it was the local Pentland Brass Band (Facebook page link.)

I subsequently discovered that it was a thing that they do on Fridays – evidently even if it is drizzling. Wonderful!

I continued to the end of the promenade then a short way along the river before returning to the town centre. Rather like Wick, you can see that it used to be more than it is now. The castellated Freemason’s Hall was rather impressive.

Being midsummer, I wanted to see the sunset. I was in John O’Groats around midsummer a few years ago and saw the most incredible red skies at sunset. Unfortunately on this occasion, it was not going to happen. The rain mostly held off and it was light well after 11pm, but barely hint of the sun setting. As I returned to my room, the lights of the town were just starting to come on.