Helmsdale Walk

We drove half-an-hour north yesterday to take a walk along the coast beyond Helmsdale, in grey weather with an easterly breeze bringing in a moderate swell. The first section took us along the coast to a small headland where....

....a bracken-covered path led inland, steeply upwards to a small, walled graveyard with wonderful views out to sea. Highland Council must maintain hundreds of these little graveyards many, like this one, no longer in use but wonderful places to visit and read the inscriptions on the headstones, each of which offers a brief glimpse into a life and a time long passed.

In this graveyard, as in so many I have visited, there is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission stone, this one commemorating a Canadian infantryman, Alexander R Sutherland, who died in 1917. A little research tells me that he belonged to the Alberta regiment, that he "died of wounds", and his....

....Graves Registration form. The right-hand column is difficult to read but, when blown up....

....shows that he was buried in a family plot belonging to his sister who lived in Helmsdale. One can only assume that Robert emigrated to Alberta where he joined a Canadian regiment but, when he died, probably fighting in Europe, was buried near his family home.

From the cemetery we crossed the A9 and traversed the hillside, climbing steadily until we were high above Helmsdale, by which time the sun had come out and, dressed as we were in full wet-weather gear, we were rather hot.