Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
There are antiques in the best rooms, even the
odd
marble
washstand, and spacious proportions throughout.
£110
Tongue SYHA
T
01847 611789,
W
syha.org.uk.
Another Victorian pile of the Duke of Sutherland, this large
well-equipped hostel has spacious dorms and family
rooms, plus great mountain views from its position beside
the causewa
y, on
the K
yle's
east shore. Closed Oct to early
April. Dorms
£18
; twins
£45
Bettyhill and around
Twelve miles east of Tongue,
BETTYHILL
is a major crofting village, set among rocky
green hills. In Gaelic it was known as
Am Blàran Odhar
(“Little Dun-coloured Field”).
he origins of the English name are unknown but it was definitely not named after
Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland, who presided over the Strathnaver Clearances
(whose sorry tale is told in the town museum). he village is also surrounded on either
side by beautiful beaches:
Farr beach
,
a splendid crescent of white sand, is behind the
museum, while the unbroken arc of
Torrisdale bay
sweeps west of the town beyond the
Naver river. Both receive good surf. For more cerebral stuff, the 24-mile
Strathnaver
Trail
runs south along the B873 to Altnaharra, past historical sites from the Neolithic,
Bronze and Iron Age periods, not to mention the remains of crofting villages cleared in
the early 1800s. Pick up guide leaflets (£2) from the museum.
Strathnaver Museum
In the old Farr church, east of the main village • April-Oct Mon-Sat 10am-5pm • £2 •
T
01971 521418,
T
strathnavermuseum.org.uk
he volunteer-run
Strathnaver Museum
houses the usual exhibits of ethnological and
archeological interest - crofting items including a bizarre fishing buoy made from a
dogskin, Pictish stones and a 3800-year-old early Bronze Age beaker - and also narrates
the Sutherland Clearances through a short film. It's most famous item is free to view - the
Farr stone
, a ninth-century engraved Pictish gravestone, is in the west end of the graveyard.
12
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
BETTYHILL AND AROUND
Bettyhill Hotel
Main road
T
01641 521202,
W
bettyhill-hotel.com
On our last visit, the
Bettyhill Hotel
was in the process of
bein
g renovated; sta
ndar
d rooms
were expected to go for
£90
, budget ones for
£70
.
Café at Bettyhill
Beside Strathnaver Museum, east of
the main village
T
01641 521244.
One of the only
options in Bettyhill, this small, simple café is all about
home cooking, whether daily specials like fisherman's pie
(£8) or filled baked potatoes or cakes. It serves fish and
chips year-round at weekends (Fri & Sat 5-7pm).
April-
Oct daily 10.30am-4.30pm.
Thurso
THURSO
feels like a metropolis after the wild west. In reality it's a modest administrative
service centre, most of whose visitors only pause before catching the ferry to Orkney from
THE FLOW COUNTRY
A detour inland on the A897 east of Bettyhill towards Helmsdale heads south into the
Flow
Country
. The name (pronounced to rhyme with “now”) derives from
flói
, an Old Norse word
meaning “marshy ground” and this 1544-mile squared expanse of “blanket bog” - the largest in
the world, says UNESCO, which has it filed under “possible” on its World Heritage status - is
both a valuable carbon sink and a home to a wide variety of birdlife. The RSPB's
Forsinard
Flows Visitor Centre
(Easter-Oct daily 9am-5pm; free;
T
01641 571225,
T
rspb.org.uk
reserves) at the train station in
FORSINARD
, is the gateway to the so-called Forsinard Flows.
Pick up a leaflet then follow the mile-long
Dubh Lochan Trail
over flagstones to learn about
its blanket bog being restored from forestry use. En route, you get to see bog asphodel,
bogbean, and insect-trapping sundew and butterwort; you've also got a good chance of
spotting greenshanks, golden plovers and hen harriers. The visitor centre runs twice-weekly
guided walks
through the area (May-July, currently Mon & Tues 2-5pm; 3hr walk; £5) to
explain the wonders of peat; wellies or walking boots are recommended.
