A Great Scottish Adventure - Part 2

Kenny Baxter
May 20
3 min read

We are almost halfway through our Great Scottish Adventure; today is day 14 of 31 and I am writing this week’s update from the village of John O’Groats, the most northern village in the UK mainland.

Going Coastal

Before departing Angus last week, we got in one last seaside town on the east coast — the town of Montrose — where we enjoyed a day of very mixed weather, but a very welcoming town with an interesting dog‑friendly museum to explore.

With our new base here on the north coast, it’s fair to say that a lot of the photography opportunities have contributed to some significant progress on my coastline exploration and photography project, and I have thoroughly enjoyed ticking additional spots off on the map.

Keiss Beach was a highlight from our previous visit to the north‑east coast in 2023, and we returned to this fantastic location once again and enjoyed the unique landmarks of the Second World War anti‑tank measures which remain on the banks of the sand to this day.

Castle Sinclair Girnigoe is one of the new discoveries on this trip; a castle ruin at Noss Head with a nice little bay beside it presented some fantastic photography opportunities — especially the stacked pebbles on the small inlet “beach”.

Dunnet Bay has been another fantastic beach discovery of this trip; with its expansive beach and sand for miles, it feels like a location that one could visit many times and never get tired of.

Headlands and Lighthouses

One of the fortunes of our accommodation base in John O’Groats is that it is very close to some iconic headlands and lighthouses — something I have been very much looking forward to photographing.

Dunnet Head is the most northerly point of mainland UK and is home to a lighthouse, some fascinating derelict military buildings, and 360‑degree views over the mainland. It is also home to an RSPB site and so presents an opportunity for keen birders to spot a good variety of seabirds — another calling to that bigger zoom lens as the next investment.

Duncansby Head is probably “world famous” for its sea stacks, and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pop over with the camera. They were everything that was promised and more; I really enjoyed photographing them, and it’s a location that will certainly warrant future visits.

Noss Head Lighthouse is worth a wander if you happen to already be visiting the previously mentioned Castle Sinclair Girnigoe. It’s accessed via the same car park; just bear in mind that the lighthouse is holiday rental accommodation, and it’s important to respect the residents if on a wander with the camera.

Island Adventures

Easily the highlight of our week in the north‑east has been our day trip to Orkney’s mainland. It was a long day, but incredibly rewarding for both experience as well as photography, and we’ve both agreed it’s somewhere we would like to return to for more exploration in the future.

We intentionally planned our “taste of Orkney” experience to get a fast‑paced introduction to the island. We caught the early morning 8.45am ferry from Scrabster to Stromness and returned to the mainland via the 16.45 ferry.

This was very tight timing; it gave us a couple of hours to enjoy exploring the fantastic town of Kirkwall, which was very enjoyable — even on a day when there were 3,500 extra tourists due to a cruise ship being in dock.

After exploring Kirkwall, we enjoyed visiting two of the island’s famous stone circles at Stenness and Brodgar. It felt like a “home away from home” seeing these large stone circles, which have a similar presence to Stonehenge or Avebury.