Bettyhill and the Highland Clearances

23/11/2024

After visiting Dounreay we drove westwards along the A836. The views were becoming more desolate, this is the  edge of the Flow Country. We really want to drive inland through here but don’t have enough time on our return home. Every now and again we catch distant glimpses of snow covered mountains, probably Ben Loyal and maybe Ben Hope in the far distance.

Strathy Lighthouse

We stopped on a car park just off the A836 near Strathy Church. We were expecting a lot of rain the following day so wanted to get out on the bikes while we had the chance. The bike ride north to Strathy lighthouse was undulating and passed a number of smallholdings until it finally reached the parking for the lighthouse and associated self catering cottages.

Walkers cannot visit the private property of the lighthouse, but we left our bikes here and took a walk around the very impressive rocky headland with some spectacular rocks, arches and a couple of caves that produced deep sonorous booms from the power of the waves. We sighted deer on the sheep grazed grassy slopes and the inlets held seals bobbing in the sheltered water.

We returned to find our motorhome being watched intently by the occupant of a car parked across the road. This may have been just curiosity but we’d heard that the locals here were generally unfriendly to tourists and we were happy to be moving on.

Clearance Village

As we headed further west towards higher country the amount of snow around us increased. The road was salted and the surrounding vegetation snow shrouded. We were heading to Torrisdale where we wanted to walk around the bay. As we dropped down to the estuary of the River Naver where our parking spot was meant to be we found it full of road maintenance vehicles. Works were happening next to the bridge, maybe a new bridge or widening. Whatever was happening we couldn’t park there.

With a quick decision to be made I directed Paul straight ahead down a narrow single track road. A short way down here is the site of the clearance village of Achanlochy. Across Scotland clearances happened between 1750 and 1860, the result of several pressures; increasing industrialisation, agricultural reforms, famine and the decline of the clan system among them. In this area (Strathnaver)15,000 people were cleared between 1811 and 1821. Families were dispossessed of their farm tenancies and moved to the lowlands or coastal villages, often into some of the ‘planned towns’ we had seen earlier on our trip. Others had their emigration to America financed by their landlords.

We parked in an abandoned quarry and walked up to the site of the village. There is little to see except a lot of bracken and a few information boards. The clearances were a high handed autocratic approach to social engineering. Landlords often took a brutal approach to moving people out of their homes, often burning buildings so that they could not be returned to or re-used, it’s no wonder that the walls didn’t stay standing for long.

Site of Achanlochy

Bettyhill

With a Torrisdale Bay walk looking unlikely, we backtracked a short way to Bettyhill. We looked at the campsite but the camping field seemed rather waterlogged (there is improvement work taking place) so we drove through the village to a small car park. No one else was there and it seemed very sheltered which was good news as a storm was expected the following day. We walked in the village to see what it had to offer. There are a few facilities that must serve the local villages; a school and a sports centre/swimming pool, a local shop. The Strathnaver museum was closed, which was a shame as it would have told us a lot more about the Highland Clearances in the area. Bettyhill was one of the resttlement villages for some of the people moved by the clearances and was named for the Countess of Sutherland.

Back to Bertie we walked along to the far end of the track where there is a small inlet and spent a while exploring the coast there before hunkering down in Bertie for the evening.

Overnight the stormy weather came in. The following morning was cold and sleety, our waterproofs went on and we walked to the Stores Cafe and Bistro for breakfast. All culinary needs seemed to be served by this establishment which offers breakfasts, coffee and cake, evening meals or take-aways. We were the first in that morning and their woodburner had only just been stoked up. While we waited for our very yummy breakfast we kept our coats and hats on, but the fire and other customers soon warmed the place up.

After breakfast there was a dry spell and we walked down to Farr beach for a short walk before heading back to Bertie as the rain and wind increased again. We decided not to move on that night as we were so nicely sheltered but we had big plans for the clear weather that was due the following morning.