Ben Bhraggie

Ben Bhraggie dominates the village of Golspie as does the monumental statue of the first Duke of Sutherland, 1758-1833, which sits on top of it. We had already climbed up to it twice but, with the weather set fair for the day, decided to do it again, not by the direct route straight up from the town through the forestry but by following the track round to the right, the north side of the hill, which circles right round to approach the summit from the west.

It's the track which was used to cart up both the massive amounts of stone that were required to build the memorial and also the statue itself, in part paid for by grateful tenants many of whom had seen their friends and relations cleared from Sutherland lands over the preceding couple of decades.

About half way up the track is a small 'lay-by' with a stone water trough, presumably for the horses which were dragging the carts. Although encrusted with moss and lichen, it's still in good condition.

Along its middle section the track looks across the glen of the Golspie Burn to one of the Sutherland estate's township areas, called Backies, which, like most of the townships, retains little evidence of the old, pre-clearance structures. However, visible in this picture near the top of the hill at far right, Backies does boast....

....a very impressive broch, an Iron Age dwelling and fort with massive dry-stone walls. Unfortunately, it's rather inaccessible.

 As the track nears the top there are fine views southwards across Loch Fleet and....

 ....northwards along the coast towards Brora.

The Duke must get fairly chilly on his exposed hilltop, staring out across the Moray Firth with his back to most of the lands he owned. The area round the base of the monument is, unsurprisingly, much vandalised, though the descendants of those who were cleared from his lands who opted to emigrate to places like the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia are probably secretly rather grateful to him.

Our final view was straight down into the village but by that time a chill wind and clouds beginning to move across the sun sped us home again as fast as our tired old legs would allow.