The Pictish Trail runs through Easter Ross Peninsula. I’m hunting mysterious carved stones.
First, I must cross the Cromarty Firth, the sole passenger on the small ferry passing the mothballed rigs, more colourful than the shadowy grey outlines glimpsed through the rain yesterday.
The road to Nigg is quiet, initially shadowed by a towering oil rig berthed in the Port of Nigg next to rows of wind turbine components awaiting assembly, past and future side by side.
Today is about the past, beginning with the marvellous Nigg Stone, intricately carved in the 8th century.
Having cancelled my plan to wild camp at Tarbat Ness and hike to Tain over two days, it will be a challenge to reach the town for the train back to Inverness. I don’t mind the road this time to speed my progress, especially when the views are so pretty.
The Easter Ross Seaboard hosts three villages: Shandwick, Balintore and Hilton. The first is overlooked by a striking futuristic structure that protects the Shandwick Stone against the wind, rain and nefarious visitors.
The villages themselves are a little dull after Cromarty, lacking a central focus, sprawling along the seafront. It’s so quiet. Is this where people come to retire? The highlight is the lonely Mermaid of the North, deep-rooted in Easter Ross folklore.
A fisherman stole a beautiful mermaid away to be his wife and hid her tail. Years later, after bearing his children, she found her tail and escaped back to sea, returning regularly to the shore to bring fish to her hungry children.
Have I heard that one before?
A replica of the Hilton Stone is my gateway back into the open coastline. The nearby Glenmorangie Distillery adopted the bottom right panel as its logo.
I’m not the only hiker on this trail. Room for one more?
The OS app refused to plot a route along the coastline and, sure enough, the path vanishes into long grass and a stony shore, slowing my pace.
A track reappears for a gentle stroll into Rockwell. I’m out of time to continue on the 10 km coast route round the Tarbat Ness peninsula, forced to start the long journey west. The roads are straight and stretch for miles. Road walking is one of the few times when I’ll resort to listening to music on my new Sony wireless earbuds — my Americana Spotify playlist. Sometimes I catch up with the 21st century.
Tain finally sighted!
My scheduled train is cancelled. Fortunately, there’s another in 40 minutes and the station has a convenient beer garden. I’m weary and in need of refreshment.
Having squeezed two days of hiking into one, I now have the benefit of a rest day tomorrow before what should be the toughest and most interesting day of the trip, completing my last remaining gap on the John O’Groats Trail.
Total distance: 5,254 miles.
I somehow missed those stones.
The first is hidden in a church but the other two are hard to miss if you follow the coastline.
Wonderful, I enjoyed that stretch on the NC500
This bit of coast I don’t know at all.
You certainly covered a lot of distance on this walk! I am glad that ferry is still running, it had only just resumed after being suspended for a time when I walked here (I think the previous operator went bust), though it did take cars then, not sure if it still does.
I loved those stones as well, I remember passing the one in the glass box! As to Tain station I thought the restaurant was the ticket office and went wandering in only to discover it was a restaurant.
Yes, further than I would have liked, but as you know the bus service round there is very limited. The ferry is passenger only.
Never heard of the Nigg Stone but what a beautiful example of stone carving – you wouldn’t have thought they had the tools. The Mermaid of the North is a little more brazen than The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. 🧜🏻♀️
She is indeed. 😂
I missed this section of coast because I headed inland from Tain through Morangie Forest because, well, I just felt like it. I’m rather sad to have missed those Pictish Stones, though even if one is a replica, they look splendid!
Nice to see you had company for part of your walk and that you weren’t too sheepish about joining them.
Something is seriously off with the mermaid’s proportions; she is well into the uncanny valley.
Well you learn something every day. I’d never heard of the term “uncanny valley” apart from the song by Flynn and Macfarlane that I like and clearly misunderstood. 😂