Whaligoe lies on the northeast coast of Scotland a few miles south of John o' Groats. When the famous 19th century engineer Thomas Telford was asked to survey sites for fishing settlements to which farm tenants evicted by the great landowners could be removed he described the site as a 'terrible spot' for a fishing village - so the local laird promptly developed it. To access the 'harbour' the new residents built 365 steps (some just visible in this picture) down a vertical cliff face to a narrow, wave-swept bay.
The boats were kept on the grassy platform just visible here, and launched by being pulled across the rocks by a series of winches. It was insane yet the people adapted and survived.
Today a few descendants of those hardy souls still live there, some making themselves available to tell visitors the history of the place. On our visit - we had set off for a road trip to the Wick area - the haar came in and ruined the views, and the remaining 330 steps, much to our relief, were out of commission as they were being repaired.
So we wandered along the cliff top enjoying the one thing which was visible, the abundant bird life. Gannets appeared out of the mist....
....guillemots shot low across the sea surface while....
....below us fulmars performed acrobatic feats along the cliff faces.
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