The Creel, Orkney -B&B
  • Home
  • Rooms
    • Payment Terms
  • Routes
  • Sights
    • In style
    • Slide show
  • Ask ?
  • Book
    • Privacy
  • по-русски
    • Номера
    • Добраться
    • Туризм в Оркней
    • Вопросы?
    • Бронь
  • Eating
  • Blog
  • PHOTOS

A post not even about Orkney!

12/9/2018

4 Comments

 
The season being nearly over, there are gaps between bookings. Seeing we had a few days free, son William and I decided to take our motorcycles for a spin in mainland Scotland and decided on a quick little run to Cromarty in the Black Isle.
Picture
This little town was so nice, I thought I'd write about it as a possible interesting stop for people en route to us by car from down Sooth! I would highly recommend it as a small detour off the A9 main road.
This is the detour:
Picture
An added plus is that one gets to use one of the sweetest little car ferries (we were told it’s the smallest car ferry in the UK), which runs to and fro 40 times a day between Cromarty and Nigg.  Details here.
​But here is the ferry itself!
Picture
Picture

Good eating (and staying) in Cromarty at the Royal Hotel
Picture

However, we stayed right next door in a flat with a lovely view over the Firth and highly recommend it (Seascape Holiday Apartment). Owned and managed by a lovely lady called Helen, it was cosy and so spic and span that I was almost afraid to touch anything😊. This was the view from the sitting room window (iPhone pic). That's our bikes parked on the waterfront.
Picture

On the return journey we detoured just a few miles to Dunnet Head, northernmost spot of Great Britain, as we had time before the ferry home. Great spot – and it was good to see Orkney on the horizon.
Picture
While this must be Great Britain's most northerly dwelling:
Picture
Picture

We did not get rained on once during our 2-day trip, It only started to rain when we were safely on our lovely Pentalina, heading home. And even this gave us a lovely view of Dunnet Head as we headed off.
Picture
4 Comments
Karen
13/9/2018 06:05:26 am

So that's what Dunnet Head looks like without the shroud of fog! Thank you for sharing photos of your jaunt.

Reply
David Dawson
8/12/2018 08:03:23 pm

Interesting blog. Only one tiny inaccuracy - Great Britain’s most northerly dwellings is not Dunnet Head lighthouse cottage....that award can only be given to Skaw on the island of Unst (previously it would have been the lighthouse at Muckle Flugga). Granted, Dunnet Head is the UK’s most northerly mainland point.

Reply
David Loutit link
9/12/2018 05:04:40 pm

Thank you for writing a comment. It's a pleasure to see that people actually look at this blog. I was about to respond with an admission of guilt about using the wrong term for the big island (saying Great Britain when I should have said Britain) and decided to first take a look at Wikipedia (a good but not infallible guide) in order to refresh my memory on the proper names for the various part of this Kingdom.
See here: https://goo.gl/CjybYM
So Wikipedia specifically says that Great Britain is the big island comprising England Scotland and Wales and we need to say British Islands to include Orkney and Shetland.
Feeling doubtful, I decided to check another source. And indeed, Encyclopaedia Britannica says precisely what you say- that Great Britain includes Orkney and Shetland.
See here: https://goo.gl/Pai5ew
So thank you for raising a very interesting point. I'm sure a war could (should?) be started about this.

Reply
David Loutit link
9/12/2018 05:21:19 pm

I've just had another thought. Could this lack of clarity perhaps be arising out of the question as to exactly how Orkney and Shetland, as the dowry pledge of Margaret of Denmark, have come to be part of the United Kingdom. See a Guardian article here https://goo.gl/cWubJh. Another article (Australian) I found while googling says "20 February 1472, both Orkney and Shetland became official protectorates of the Scottish crown". If that is really the case, a protectorate is not actually part of the Kingdom. See here: https://goo.gl/wp9AdP

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I like to take photos and am fond of clichés - so I'll say I find them to be worth a thousand words.

    Archives

    November 2020
    June 2020
    January 2020
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

​© David Sinclair-Loutit, 2019 – The Creel B&B, Front Road, St. Margaret's Hope, Orkney KW17 2SL
​
​Telephone 01856 831311 or 831284 (International +44 1856 831311 or 831284),  Email: info@thecreel.co.uk
  • Home
  • Rooms
    • Payment Terms
  • Routes
  • Sights
    • In style
    • Slide show
  • Ask ?
  • Book
    • Privacy
  • по-русски
    • Номера
    • Добраться
    • Туризм в Оркней
    • Вопросы?
    • Бронь
  • Eating
  • Blog
  • PHOTOS