The north and northwest Highlands - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 245

Kinlochbervie
North of Scourie, the road sweeps through the Highlands at its starkest - rocks
piled on rocks, bog and water, and a bare, stony coastline that looks increasingly
inhospitable. For some that's a call to adventure: sailor and adventurer John Ridgway
established an outdoor school on an isolated sea loch off Loch Laxford in the 1960s
(see below). The largest settlement here, reached on the B801, is KINLOCHBERVIE ,
where a huge fish market and harbour reveal this as the premier fishing port in the area,
reduced in stature since its heyday in the late 1980s, but still serviced by trucks from
all over Europe. Otherwise it's a scruffy, utilitarian place, usually visited only as a
launchpad for Sandwood Bay (see p.248).
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE KINLOCHBERVIE

By bus Kinlochbervie is on the summer-only Inverness-
Durness service of D&E Coaches ( T 01463 222444) via
Ullapool and Lochinver.

Destinations Scourie (late May to Sept 1 daily Mon-Sat,
plus Sun 1 daily in July & Aug; 40min); Ullapool (same
times; 3hr).

ACTIVITIES
Cape Adventure International T 01971 521006,
W capeventure.co.uk. Your place for proper adventure in
the company of Rebecca Ridgway, the first woman to canoe

around Cape Horn. It operates sea-kayaking day and
weekend trips plus courses, and runs guided walking
weekends around Cape Wrath (p.249) from Sandwood Bay.

ACCOMMODAT ION AND EATING
Old School Restaurant and Rooms Inshegra, 1 mile
before Kinlochbervie on B801 T 01971 521383, W old
schoolklb.co.uk. By far the most comfortable accommoda-
tion option in the area, with a handful of rather smart rooms,

including a cute separate en-suite single. Guests are treated
to good-value evening meals of home-cooking: expect
haddock chowder then braised lamb sha nk, v enison casserole
or veggie lasagne (£12-16). May-Aug. £60

4

Sandwood Bay
A single-track road continues northwest of Kinlochbervie through OLDSHOREMORE ,
an isolated crofters' village above a stunning white-sand beach (a magic spot to wild
camp), then on to BLAIRMORE , start of the four-mile walk to Sandwood Bay . he
shell-white beach beyond the peat moors is one of the most beautiful in Scotland,
flanked by rolling dunes and lashed by gales for much of the year. Vikings beached
their longships here over a millennium ago - the name is a corruption of “sand” and
“vatn”, meaning sand and water. A later bearded mariner who perished on this
dangerous coast (undercurrents are too treacherous for swimming) is said to haunt the
beach - two crofters in the early 1940s said he tramped across the sand in a buttoned
tunic and bellowed at them that the beach was his - and Britain's most recent sighting
of a mermaid was recorded here in 1900; apparently she had red hair, green-blue eyes
and a 7ft yellow body. Good luck with them both if you decide to wild camp here.
It's possible to trek overland from Sandwood Bay north to Cape Wrath (see p.249),
the northwestern tip of mainland Britain, a full day's walk away. If you're planning to
meet the Cape Wrath minibus to Durness (see opposite) contact them first since it
won't run if the weather turns bad.

The north coast
A stream of sponsored walkers, cyclists and tour groups makes it to John O'Groats ,
yet few visitors travel the length of the wild north coast . Those who do rarely return
disappointed. Scotland's rugged northern shore is backed by superb mountains in the
west and by lochs and open rolling grasslands in the east. Between them is mile upon
mile of crumbling cliffs, sheer rocky headlands and perfect white beaches that are nearly