Queen 'must have been impressed by her first sight of Caithness'
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On the day she visited Caithness for the first time, wearing a plain headscarf and dangling a small camera from a strap in her right hand, the 29-year-old Elizabeth might have been mistaken for an ordinary tourist – had it not been for the fact that she had just arrived by motor launch from the royal yacht Britannia.
It was Friday, August 12, 1955, and the Queen – accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Princess Anne and Princess Margaret – had stepped ashore at Dwarwick pier to spend time with the Queen Mother, who had bought the nearby Castle of Mey three years earlier following the death of George VI.
A report from the time noted that Her Majesty "must have been impressed by her first sight of Caithness" as hundreds gathered in the sunshine to see her. It was only two years after the coronation.
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An account of the visit was given in The Queen Mother and Family at Home in Caithness, published in 1990 by North of Scotland Newspapers, consisting of photographs by John Adams and edited news reports from the archives of the John O'Groat Journal.
“The Queen saw Caithness for the first time in the full glory of a beautiful summer's day," the report stated.
“As this was not an official visit, the public were not aware which part of the coast the royal visitors were to land. However, many hundreds of people gathered on the main road at Dunnet along which the Queen and party would pass on their way to the Castle of Mey.
"A fairly large crowd who had made the right guess were assembled on the hillside above the shore at Dwarwick pier. The Queen Mother was at the pier awaiting the arrival of the Queen and party.
“The Queen must have been impressed by her first sight of Caithness, for Dunnet Bay, with its majestic sweep of sandy beach glimmering in the hot sun, is one of the most beautiful places in the north.
“On the way to the waiting motor cars, the Queen smiled and waved in response to the cheering crowd.”
A plaque at Dwarwick commemorates the day the Queen and the other royals came ashore there while the Britannia lay at anchor in the bay.
