Durness Scotland Balnakeil beach
Some footage I've put together, please subscribe to my channel, some shakey camera work as I didn't have a tripod, hope you enjoy the video. PLEASE GIVE ME A THUMBS UP, I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT
Balnakeil is a hamlet in the parish of Durness, Sutherland, Scottish Highlands, and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. It is on the north coast of Scotland around 0.75 miles (1.21 km) north-west of Durness. The ruins of Balnakeil Church are a scheduled monument. The Kyle of Durness is west of Balnakeil which gives its name to the 2-mile-wide (3.2 km) Balnakeil Bay which the Kyle opens into. The peninsula of Faraid Head is to the north of Balnakeil. It was the site of a 1950s radar station and remains the range control for Ministry of Defence bombing operations in the Cape Wrath Training Area to the west
Places to see in ( Durness - UK )
Places to see in ( Durness - UK )
Durness is a village and civil parish in the north-west Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north coast of the country in the traditional county of Sutherland around 120 miles north of Inverness. The area is remote and the parish is huge and sparsely populated covering an area from east of Loch Eriboll to Cape Wrath, the most north-westerly point of the Scottish mainland. The population is dispersed and includes a number of townships including Kempie, Eriboll, Laid, Rispond, Sangobeg, Leirinmore, Smoo, Sangomore, Durine, Balnakeil and Keoldale.
The area has been inhabited since stone age times and there are many places of historic interest. Durness was formerly a part of the bishopric of Caithness and the old house at Balnakeil was originally the bishop's summer residence. The church at Balnakeil dates back to the Culdean monks but the existing ruined church is said to have been built by the monks from Dornoch Cathedral in the 13th century. On Faraid Head is Seannachaisteal, presumably a broch, but it is now completely enveloped in sand and no dig has ever been carried out to see what it was and from which time in history. A few years ago, the body of a young Viking boy was discovered exposed by the erosion of the sand dunes at Faraid. At Sangobeg beach, the body of a Pictish boy was discovered.
At Ceannabeinne lies Clach a Breitheanas or the Judgement Stone. This was said to be where judgement was meted out to malefactors and those found guilty were thrown over the cliff to their doom below. The parish of Durness was for centuries a part of Dùthaich MhicAoidh, the land of the Clan Mackay, who held their title to the land extending from Melvich in the east to Kylesku in the west.
The main sources of employment in the village are crofting and tourism. It is the largest village in the northwestern corner of Scotland, has a population of around 400, and is on the A838 road. It is located on the north coast between the towns of Thurso 72 miles (116 km) to the east) and Ullapool 68 miles (109 km) to the south. This area is notable for being the most sparsely populated region in Western Europe.[citation needed] Until some 50 years ago, Durness was a predominantly Gaelic speaking area.
Tourists are catered for by a campsite spectacularly sited on the cliffs above the beach (with easy access down to the beach), an SYHA hostel, housed by some converted army buildings, bed and breakfast accommodation and two hotels and restaurants, Mackay's and the Smoo Cave Hotel. The village is also used as a base by visitors to Cape Wrath.
The main attractions in Durness are Smoo Cave, a conjoined sea cave and freshwater cave with a small river running through it and a waterfall in wet weather, unspoilt beaches backed by cliffs and the local sea birds, seals, porpoises and minke whales. The surrounding coastline is some of Europe's most isolated and spectacular, with the nearby Clo Mor Cliffs being the highest on the British mainland, at some 922 feet (281 m) high.
Balnakeil Old Church, is a scheduled monument with the grave of Donuill Mac Morraichaidh, a serial bandit and murderer, inside one wall of the church so, it is said that his enemies couldn't walk over his grave. The area around Loch Croispol and Loch Borrallie abounds in archeological interest, from brochs to round houses to medieval and pre-clearances settlements. The Balnakeil Craft Village can be found approximately one mile outside Durness and is a collection of former MoD units dating from the 1950s, which now house various independent shops.
Durness is on the A838 road. This links the parish to the A836 at Tongue to the east and loops around the coast through Rhiconich near Kinlochbervie to meet the A836 again north of Lairg to the south. The road is single track along most of its length. Bus services are sparse in the area, although one bus a day links Durness with the Far North railway line at Lairg railway station. This provides rail services north to Wick and south to Inverness.
( Durness - UK ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Durness . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Durness - UK
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Scotland Part 6 - Durness, Inverewe Gardens & Ardvreck Castle
Our 2-week tour of Scotland continues as we travel from Balmacara to Ullapool and then on to Thurso. We visited Durness, Inverewe Gardens and the ruins of Ardvreck Castle, saw peat being dug, more Highland Cows and wind turbines facing out over the North Atlantic.
Music by Troy MacGillivray from his album Eleven.
Available on Amazon here:
SANDWOOD BAY SUTHERLAND WINTER MORNING 2008
Early Sunday morning, February 2008. Big Waves
Blethering Ben - 68 - Return to Sandwood Bay
Four miles from the nearest road, Sandwood Bay in NW Sutherland takes some beating for setting. With a mile of sand, a freshwater loch, a romantic ruin, towering cliffs, a rock stack, huge Atlantic breakers and even a resident ghost....it is considered by some to be among the finest, least spoilt beaches in the whole of the UK.
I first visited in 2003 when I camped above the dunes and walked to Cape Wrath. It was a key 'wilderness' experience in my life, and so 13 years later I make an overdue return to Sandwood to see if the beach is still as wonderful as I remember it....
Balnakeil beach
Balnakeil beach, Scotland
Old Photographs Durness Sutherland North West Highlands Scotland
Tour Scotland wee video of old photographs of Durness, Scottish Gaelic: Diùranais, in the old county of Sutherland in the North West Highlands. Durness is a village and civil parish on the north coast of the country in the traditional county of Sutherland around 120 miles north of Inverness. The area is remote and the parish is huge and sparsely populated covering an area from east of Loch Eriboll to Cape Wrath, the most north westerly point of the Scottish mainland. The population is dispersed and includes a number of townships including Kempie, Eriboll, Laid, Rispond, Sangobeg, Leirinmore, Smoo, Sangomore, Durine, Balnakeil, and Keoldale. Smoo Cave is a large combined sea cave and freshwater cave in Durness. Emigration from this parish began in 1772 when 200 people left for South Carolina. This was before the notorious clearances when people were forcibly evicted to make way for sheep farming. Despite having been on the government side during the Jacobite Uprising of 1745, the Clan Mackay were hit by the economic downturn which crippled the Highlands in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden. Poor management of the Mackay estates did not help and in keeping with elsewhere in the Highlands, sheep farming was seen as the salvation. The first enforced clearance was in 1820 in the West Moine district of the parish, followed by the Keoldale Estate clearances and in 1841, the Rispond Estate Clearance. The latter was, however, a clearance too many and it sparked off a series of events known as the Durness Riots, the first real resistance to clearances in the Highlands. The population, however, peaked in 1881 with 1109 people and then gradually declined. The biggest drop came in the aftermath of the First World War when emigration to the Scottish Lowlands, England and Canada was particularly popular. This was the home of the powerful and warlike Clan Mackay, and as such was named in Gaelic, Dùthaich 'Ic Aoidh, the Homeland of Mackay. Even today this part of Sutherland is known as Mackay Country, and, unlike other areas of Scotland where the names traditionally associated with the area have become diluted, there is still a preponderance of Mackays in the Dùthaich. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day
Durness, Balnakeil beach in the first Atlantic storm of 2013
EXPLORING : BALNAKEIL CHURCH RUINS
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Balnakeil is a hamlet in the parish of Durness, in the north of the county of Sutherland,[1] Scottish Highlands, and is in the Scottishcouncil area of Highland. It is located on the north coast of Scotland around 0.75 miles (1.21 km) north-west of Durness. The ruins of Balnakeil Church are a scheduled monument
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Scotland - Durness
Durness, Scotland, June 2006 -
Durness is at the north coast of Scotland, large beaches and dunes -
Music: Gong - Emotions; Armand Amar, Levon Minassian - Amen hayr sourp
Cows on the beach, Balnakiel Beach, Durness, Scotland.
Sandwood Bay - Scotland
The Four and a half mile walk to Sandwood Bay, not all of it, the video would be nearly 2 hours long, lol.
Four and a half miles there, Four and a half back, 9 miles in one day?!! we must be off our rocker, worth it though.
Durness Wild Camp July09
Wild camping spot just south of Durness
Smoo Cave, Durness and The Cave of Bones, Inchnadamph
The second video of some of the highlights of our trip around the north of Scotland this Easter. Some views from Sango Sands camp site at Durness, a trip down Smoo Cave and a walk to The Cave of Bones near Inchnadamph.
There's more details on my blog...
moder-dye.blogspot.co.uk
Thanks for watching!
Sango Bay Durness
Picturesque views of Sango Bay at the remote northern Scottish coastal village of Durness, within the county of Sutherland. Video and photography by Alistair & Jan Campbell of UK City Images (ukcityimages.com).
Durness, kyle of durness
kyle of durness looking toward cape wrath, october 2008
Durness to John O'Groats
From Durness to John O'Groats. on the way visiting Smoo Cave, beaches in the North and Dunnet Head. At least John O'Groats, most North-West of whole Scotland. Opposite point of Land's End in Cornwall. Video of Land's End see here:
Durness Scotland GBR
Oh! Thou Art the Lad of my Heart, Willy, Opus 108 Moccia Alessandro
Cape Wrath and Durness Cycling
Photos taken by myself on a recent cycling trip up to Cape Wrath in Scotland. Most of the shots are taken when we'd stopped cycling. Durness beach, then onto Kearvaig beach and back over to Durness. Atlantic Ocean shots, golden beaches, Mountain Bothys and Random Wellies feature :). ELP is deliberately missing the H ;-)
Music is a couple of Mike Oldfield tracks that I rather like.
Going full screen will cause some softening of the pics.