North to Lybster on Sunday

Up for breakfast by 8:30. European style again with breads, fruit, yogurt, meats and cheeses. We had a nice long chat with the owner. Originally from Belguim he had worked for 15 years for IBM starting in Ediburgh and the last 6 years in Dubai. He loved the coding, but the last 3 years of sales, convinced him that he should start his own business. Found this shuttered roadside Inn in possesion by the bank and has been refurishing it as his new business venture. Small out of the way town, but his business has been good since he opened in May. He mentioned with an embarassed grin that the fire alarm last night was just the alarm being tripped due to a toaster.

We debated finding an old ancient fort on the hill above, but instead opted to work our way out a few miles away to travel the Pictish Trail in search for more Pictish Stones. Weather was glorious, warm (21 C) and mostly sunny until later in the day.

Our first stop was the Pictish stone at the Nigg Old church southeast of Tain [ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigg_Stone, http://www.niggoldtrust.org.uk/index.asp?pageid…] . Quaint older church with a moss overgrown graveyard. The stone itself is safely stored in an anti-room off the main church. Deeply incised on the cross side. Unforfunately, the backside was damaged by enthusatic "reformers" years ago.

The second stop Shandwich is located further up the coast East of Tain. A large 2+m tall stone, is now encased in plexiglass by the locals for protection [ http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/record/rcahms…] . Has been retained in the original position since it was a landmark for the fisherman. It was side that deseased babies were buried between it and the sea on the hillside. Very impressive scrolling on the edges.

We then moved North up the coast to Hilton to the ruined site of St Mary's Chapel, where there is a reproduction of a standing stone that now sits in the National Museum of Scotland [ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton_of_Cadbo…] . The reproduction, in the original location is an impressive thing by itself. Again, incredible scroll work.

We didn't have enough time to visit the rest of the stones on the Pictish Trail, but went into Tain to see if the museum was open with hopes we could see another stone before we worked our way further North. Tain is a quaint small town full of hanging baskets of flowers. Unfortunately, the museum was closed, but we were able to get a cup of coffee and a few biskets in the Royal Hotel bar to tide us over until dinner. Had a chat with a few Canadian folks, one from Nova Scotia and a couple from Calgary who were also getting a small refershment. They wanted to know if we were going to join them in Canada after the election. There was a short bit of intersting conversation between Peter and the younger Canadian about politics, guns, etc before it was time for us all to move on.

We headed up North to Helmsdale before taking a one lane road to the Northwest in search of the Learable sanding stones, cairns, etc. Diane had noticed on the map [ http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=1066] . We found a lot of free range sheep, but no signpost for the site on the map. Diane noticed a feature that looked like it could be a bit of a small defensive fort with a ditch around it, now a pile of rock. I guess the main features were across river from us. Had I researched better before we started up the road, I could have picked them out. Oh, well, but by now, it was getting late add it was starting to rain. But it had been a nice drive.

Our B&B for the evening was just North of Lybster in a little farming cluster of houses called Occumster, the Antlers, a newer house in and amongst several older houses that overlooked the sea. Our room was upstairs, no locks on the doors except the front door and we were encouraged to enjoy the front sitting room. We had asked for a recommendation for a place to eat and the wife said she would give us a recommendation after we were settled.

A small, spry older sea dog (probably our age) dressed in denim work clothes came in squatted cross-legged on the fireplace front piece on the floor, talked with us for quite a while, telling us storis about the local place and his experiences. Turns out he was the owner and the woman we had met with the teeage son is his second famly. He was a fisherman before a rope trimmed a few of his fingers. In addtion to fishing, he has made stockings for kilt uniforms and still makes cheese and tans sheep skins.

When Diane asked him about her noticing that folks don't see to make much eye contact, he mentioned that things in the past 10-20 years have really changed. So many English have moved up this way. You can tell an Englishman's house by his closed gate. The locals never close their gates in case someone wants to recover something borrowed or needs something. He says that now they are only locking the front door since foreigners will find it locked and go away, but locals will know the back door is always open. He bemoaned that that soon will change.

He told us that there are no farmers left up here under the age of 30 and only 5 under the age of 40, with his son being one of them. So much of the land is now owned by bigger farms and farming is a way of life, but not a way to make a living. We also asked about the clearances [ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Cleara…] that had gone on in the late 1700's and early 1800's bringing a lot of Scottish emegrents to Canada and America.

He suggested dinner at the Old Owl restaurant down near the castle, but when we called for reservations, we were told they were fully booked. So instead we opted for dinner at the Lybster Palace Hotel, Sunday roast pork with potatoes 2 ways and mixed veggies.

After dinner we continued our conversation with the owner until other guests arrived that needed his attention. Peter was interested in the coarse stucco-like outside surface feature. Turns out it is cement that's mixed with small gravel that is trowel flung onto the surface. The owner decided a few years ago that they needed a more stable income and built the house over several years. He only knew how to lay block so the house is block. Complaints the EU building regulations make it nearly impossible to build to code. They hate the EU up here.Läs mer