OUT AND ABOUT WITH RALPH: Praying for a turn in fortune as e-bike takes the strain
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The ice had melted and the roads were no longer covered in salt, it was good morning to try out the new e-bike!
At least potholes are reasonably easy to avoid on a bike, provided you look where you are going. There’s a particularly bad stretch at Durran, but otherwise they weren’t too bad.
I stopped by the Olrig woods and, yes, the first snowdrops were showing white, always a lovely sight at this wintry time of year.
A big swell was rolling into Dunnet Bay, the tide well up and still rising, waves breaking high against the Dunnet Head cliffs. On through Dunnet where, sadly, the days of the church are numbered. It is a lovely old building but has no facilities at all and the congregation continues to dwindle, services are now held only every fortnight.
New houses built by lifestyle migrants continue to go up along the Brough road. The first campervan was perched on the way to Dunnet Head but the car park was deserted, a digger was laying cables – could it be the first of high-speed fibre optics we have all been promised? I doubt it, dream on.
I looked from the clifftop over the rolling breakers smashing into the stony bay far below, glad I was not out in my kayak.
Putting the e-bike into "turbo" mode made for a very easy ride up to the top of the headland, for the views across to Orkney and Stroma and out west. Old snowdrifts still whitened the Caithness moors, mountains and the hills of Hoy, but the wind was mild.
The road across Dunnet Head gives a grand ride, especially when not busy with tourist traffic. Eastward, see the white water churning around the Swilkie north of Stroma. Look out for a surprising stunted apple tree covered in blossom in May!
Now I turned east through Ham where the road has completely broken up, creating a challenge for the service bus which comes this way. On past Crossroads and down the long straight to Scarfskerry, another place where many new houses have been built with views out across the Firth to Hoy.
At Harrow I like to take the road and track which passes below the Castle of Mey. Many years ago I was questioned by a security guard who suddenly appeared from a bush. The Queen Mother was staying but once he had checked I was just a passing rambler I could continue on my way.
There used to be a covered bench here where she could sit. The track curves round above the beach and slabby shore, worth exploring, there are "groatie buckies" and a tiny swimming pool in the rocks at low tide.
A steep muddy track (turbo mode again!) emerges on the East Mey road, where the view to the churning Merry Men of Mey is spectacular. They get really merry when the tide flows westward but a kayak may be able to sneak through close to the rock stack and it is actually trickier when the tide is east-going, as a very rough race develops just offshore and you need to go well out to avoid it.
I coasted down to Gills, enjoying the views of Stroma and across to Orkney, then on past the white Canisbay Kirk, very similar to Dunnet and Reay. One of the finest church halls in the county is just across the road – after it was first mooted it took a hundred years before it was finally built!
The church has a reprieve, at least for the time being. It’s a big landmark when crossing the firth from Stroma and I’ve paddled past it many times.
A little further on, at Huna Mill, there is a new, well-made path which takes you to John O'Groats avoiding the road. It’s a big improvement, like the new access to Armadale beach and the improved path at the Castle of Old Wick.
The major outstanding path in the county is now a link from Halkirk to Sibster Forest which would be a huge asset to the village. This has been talked about for years, now is the time to make it happen!
The coffee-shop advised ‘take-away only’ but I needed a warm-up and fortunately there were still a couple of tables to enjoy my cappucino and cake. It was still 20 miles to cycle home, but with a bit of electric assist I no longer needed to worry about a slog into the head-wind and could enjoy the ride through Upper Gills and Barrock and the always-fine views out across the firth as the cloud broke to gleams of sun.
