Caithness. County of Caithness until circa 1890 Caithness (Scottish Gaelic: Gallaibh [ˈɡ̊al̪ˠɪv], Scots: Caitnes,[1] is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. Caithness is one of the Watsonian vice-counties, subdivisions of Britain and Ireland which are used largely for the purposes of biological recording and other scientific data-gathering.
The vice-counties were introduced by Hewett Cottrell Watson who first used them in the third volume of his Cybele Britannica published in 1852. He refined the system somewhat in later volumes, but the vice-counties remain unchanged by subsequent local government reorganisations, allowing historical and modern data to be more accurately compared. They provide a stable basis for recording using similarly-sized units, and, although grid-based reporting has grown in popularity, they remain a standard in the vast majority of ecological surveys, allowing data collected over long periods of time to be compared easily.
Caithness.Org :: Caithness Community Web Site. Home page | Caithness Glass Paperweights. Caithness Horizons | Museum, Exhibition Gallery, Cafe, Shop. View the Caithness Broch Centre online - The Caithness Broch Centre. Old Roads of Scotland. Bower OSA No particular mention of roads NSA No particular mention of roads Canisbay OSA Roads, Inns, Traffic etc. —The public roads in the parish are those leading from Huna to Wick and Thurso, both lying along the coast, the one in a southerly, and the other in a westerly direction. NSA Parochial Economy.
There are two post-offices, one at Mey and one at Huna. Roads.— The length of good and passable turnpike road in the parish is twelve miles. Fairs. Inns and Ale-houses. Fuel. Dunnet OSA No particular mention of roads. NSA The parish, with a trifling exception betwixt Dunnet and Brough, is well provided with roads...... Parochial Economy. Fairs. Fuel. Halkirk OSA The writer notes that bad weather makes it difficult to make roads and keep them in good condition as they deteriorate very quickly. He says this bridge is quite old and so well built that it has withstood severe floods. Means of Communication. Inns.— In the village of Halkirk there are three inns, and four in other parts of the parish. Caithness, Wick and Thurso. Caithness is the northeastern extremity of mainland Britain. Everyone has heard of the tiny village of John o'Groats but this county has a stunning coastline, from Dunnet Head, the most northerly headland, to the Great Stacks of Duncansby and the remarkable Whalligoe Steps.
The area is rich too in archaeological remains with some of the best-preserved surviving brochs and chambered cairns to illustrate the distant past. The towns of Thurso and Wick are surprisingly amongst the largest in the Highlands, with Thurso's port of Scrabster being the main gateway to the Orkney Islands beyond. Home - caithness-sea-watching.co.uk. Caithness Seacoast - Exhilarating Sea Tours Round The Fascinating East Caithness Coastline.
John O'Groat Journal | Home. Wick, Highland. Coordinates: Pulteneytown, which was developed on the south side of the river by the British Fisheries Society during the 19th century, was officially merged into the burgh in 1902. The main offices of The John O'Groat Journal and The Caithness Courier are located in Wick, as are Caithness General Hospital (run by NHS Highland), the Wick Carnegie Library and local offices of the Highland Council. Wick Sheriff Court is one of 16 sheriff courts serving the sheriffdom of Grampian, Highland and Islands. History[edit] Geography[edit] Pulteneytown[edit] Pulteneytown is now an area of Wick on the south side of the River Wick. Pulteneytown takes its name from Sir William Pulteney, 5th Baronet, a governor of the British Fisheries Society. Pulteneytown was so named after the death of Sir William in 1805 and became a major player in the 19th century herring boom.
As created by the British Fisheries Society, Pulteneytown consisted of Lower Pulteney and Upper Pulteney. Wick Bay[edit] Map references[edit]
Thurso. Coordinates: Historically, it is one of two burghs within the county of Caithness. It lies at the junction of the north-south A9 road and the west-east A836 road, connected to Bridge of Forss in the west and Castletown in the east. Etymology[edit] The earliest recorded name is the Celtic Tarvodubron, 'bull water', which became Thjorsá in the Norse translation, but owing to the frequency of Thor in place names, this was later adapted to Thorsá or 'Thor's River The local Scots name, "Thursa", derives from the Norse, as does the modern Scottish Gaelic "Inbhir Theòrsa" (The "th" is pronounced as "h" and the "bh" as "v".). History[edit] St. Thurso's history stretches back to at least the era of Norse Orcadian rule in Caithness, which ended conclusively in 1266.
Thurso hosted the National Mod several times in 2010.[6] Governance[edit] Thurso has history as a burgh of barony dating from 1633. There is also Thurso Community Council, which was created in 1975 when the burgh was abolished. Climate[edit]
John o' Groats. Coordinates: John O' Groats is 690 miles (1,110 km) from London, 280 miles (450 km) from Edinburgh, 6 miles (9.7 km) miles from the Orkney Isles and 2,200 miles (3,500 km) from the North Pole. It is 4.25 miles (6.84 km) from the uninhabited island of Stroma. Name[edit] The name John o' Groats has a particular resonance because it is often used as a starting or ending point for cycles, walks and charitable events to and from Land's End (at the extreme south-western tip of the Cornish peninsula in England).
The phrase Land's End to John o' Groats (LEJOG) is frequently heard both as a literal journey (being the longest possible in Great Britain) and as a metaphor for great or all-encompassing distance, similar to the American phrase coast to coast. Demography[edit] The population of John o' Groats is approximately 300 ± 10.[2] The village is dispersed but has a linear centre with council housing, sports park and a shop which is on the main road from the nearest town of Wick. Aerial view.
Whaligoe. Coordinates: Whaligoe, (whale geo or inlet of whales) is a small port which was prospected by Thomas Telford in 1786 during his tour of the Northern Fishing Harbours for the British Fishing Society – his judgement of the place was that it was a "terrible spot"! However undaunted, Captain David Brodie expended the princely sum of £8 to cut the famous 330 steps; his confidence was rewarded in 1814 with the harbour supporting 14 herring boats. Whaligoe steps[edit] The cliffs and harbour at Whaligoe. Descending the Whaligoe Steps. Just south of the town of Wick in Caithness on Scotland's most northeasterly coast lies a most spectacular creation. 'Whaligoe Steps' are a man-made stairway with 365 steps that descend to what was once a landing place for fishing boats. Probably the strangest harbour in Caithness - built in a tiny, narrow creek at the foot of the cliff, it required a flight of flagstone steps to reach the bottom, from the fish curing station at the top.
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Flow Country. The Flow Country is a large, rolling expanse of peatland and wetland area of Caithness and Sutherland in Scotland. It is the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, and covers about 4,000 square kilometres (1500 mile²). Part of the Flow Country near Maovally in Sutherland References[edit] External links[edit] Coordinates: Flow Country. Hill O Many Stanes. Hill O Many Stanes From the northern end of the rows, on a clear day, hills along the coast of Banffshire can be seen across the Moray Firth, some 80 kilometres (50 mi) away. If the night sky is clear the moon in its most southerly rising position will be seen over those same hills. In Megalithic Lunar Observatories (Oxford University Press, 1971) Alexander Thom presented evidence that the stone rows were in effect a Bronze Age lunar observatory, tracking lunar movements over a cycle of 18.6 years.
However, more than twenty similar stone rows are now known in Caithness and Sutherland and none of the others has been linked with astronomical observations. In Britain stone rows of this kind are unknown outside Caithness and Sutherland, but similar rows of much taller stones are found in Brittany. Celtic calendar Coordinates:
Castle of Mey. Castle of Mey The Castle of Mey (formerly Barrogill Castle) is located in Caithness, on the north coast of Scotland, about 6 miles (9.7 km) west of John o' Groats. In fine weather there are views from the castle north to the Orkney Islands. History[edit] The lands of Mey belonged to the Bishops of Caithness. The Castle of Mey was built between 1566 and 1572, possibly on the site of an earlier fortification,[1] by George Sinclair, 4th Earl of Caithness.
Royal residence[edit] In July 1996 The Queen Mother made the property, the policies and the farm over to the Queen Elizabeth Castle of Mey Trust, which has opened the castle and garden to the public regularly since her death.[4] It is now open seven days a week from 1 May until 30 September each year, with a closed period of ten days at the end of July and the beginning of August, when Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay usually stay at Mey.
The Castle of Mey Trust[edit] In fiction[edit] References[edit] External links[edit]
Alexander Bain & Faxes.