Golspie's Climate

When we decided to move to Golspie its climate (graph above) wasn't a matter of too much concern. We were aware that it would be....

....wetter than Felixstowe, above, which it is, with an annual precipitation of 734mm to Felixstowe's 560mm, and colder - its mean annual temperature is 2 degrees lower, less because of cold winters than because of cool summers, but neither of these are significant. In fact, we've been surprised at how temperate the climate here has, so far, turned out to be, mainly because it lies in the lee of the Highlands.

Golspie is very different from our previous home in....

.... Kilchoan, above, where the main impact was the amount of rain the place enjoyed, a hefty 1,723mm annually. We can recall weeks, not necessarily in winter, when we hardly saw the sun and endured an almost continuous diet of what was called 'Kilchoan sunshine'.

This was brought to mind because today, by the standards to which we are becoming accustomed, was a wet day in Golspie, yet we managed to walk this afternoon along the beach without returning to the house soaked.

The highlight of our walk was a few minutes spent watching this redshank which had allowed us to approach remarkably close. Redshanks are very pretty little birds which bob up and down when they're worried, and then fly off with a plaintive call, as if scolding the intruder: "Really, shame on you, you shouldn't have disturbed me!"