The best fish and chips….. ever!

Friday 13 July – Brora to Helmsdale – day 80

We were quite looking forward to today – it was going to be a nice short one! But we also knew that there would not be anything too exciting to see as it was mostly walking along the A9. Of course that in itself made it “exciting” at times – or should that be that it made the adrenalin pump at times, but for all the wrong reasons!

In all seriousness, the A9 has been much easier than we feared. The volume of traffic has been much less than anticipated, and of course the further north we go the less traffic there is – well, there are fewer places for it to be going to! So there have been spells of anything from 30 seconds to a minute and a half with no traffic in either direction – it’s really weird. But that does at least make our travel safer. Some stretches have been quite restricted in terms of road verges to walk on so the fewer cars and trucks the better we like it! At times the road is squeezed between the sea, the railway line and the hills – not much room for anything at all. It is great to be near the coast again though. And again today, the sea was like a mill pond.

It was a shame to only have the one night at Clynelish Farm – very comfortable, very welcoming and relaxing. As we had just a short day’s walk ahead we dawdled over our departure and were not on our way until 9.45am. Then we got delayed by a paddock full of excited lambs who all wanted to say hello – needless to say, Val stopped to do just that! The first couple of kilometres were on side roads, plus a short spell on a minor road at midday but that aside it was all on the A9.

We started the day under cloudy skies again but by lunchtime we actually had sunshine for the first time in about three days. Arriving in Helmsdale at about 3pm, we had a wander, and a coffee and then sat by the harbour in the sun for a while. Helmsdale is a fishing port at the mouth of the River Helmsdale on the east coast, and the village came in to being around 1814 when crofters were being resettled after the Highland Clearances. It seems the Highland Clearances is a term coined to encapsulate a period when many aristocratic landowners enforced a change from farming to sheep rearing on their lands, which of course lead to many crofters and their families having to leave their homes.

Highlight of the day (second to the lambs greeting me says Val) – the superb fish and chips at La Mirage in Helmsdale! Apparently voted in the top ten around the country by a celebrity chef type person some years ago – it really was very good! Our accommodation tonight is the Bannockburn Inn – average pub type set up, nothing glamorous.

Three days to go!

Distance today:  18km / 11.5 miles

 

FAVOURITE ACCOMODATIONS:

(Of course this lists excludes stays with friends and family which are always the very best!)

The Old Vicarage, St Ives – gloriously atmospheric and ornate B and B

The Lamb Inn, Sandford – pub luxury and full of character

The Belmont B and B, Bath – spacious, light and airy, guest lounge

The Falcon Inn, Painswick – 16^th century coaching inn, more pub luxury

All the YHAs – character, amazing settings, some historic buildings, friendly staff

Ebor House, Hawes – beautiful room with a fabulous view, so welcoming and friendly

Glede Knowe, Innerleithen – another beautiful room, guest lounge, friendly welcoming hosts

Bracarina House, Invermoriston – lovely room, incredibly friendly hosts, great breakfast

Old Manse B and B, Dornoch – beautiful building, well converted to B and B, lovely bedroom, massive bathroom, guest lounge

Ghlasdruim B and B, Glencoe – another spacious room and the use of a lovely garden with outstanding views of the surrounding mountains, fabulous breakfast and two lovely dogs

Clynelish Farm, Brora – another older building with lovely room, the rural setting, fabulous lounge and wonderfully friendly and welcoming hosts

 

Val makes new friends:

Walking the A9 north of Brora: