24 Hours Exploring the Black Isle, Scotland

During half term we spent 5 days exploring the Highlands of Scotland in a mid-sized campervan. We planned a circular route, the furthest point away being the Black Isles – a place I’ve wanted to visit for most of my adult life. At the time of planning, all I knew about the Black Isle is that it’s got one of the world’s best places to watch dolphins from the beach. As we discovered though, there’s a lot more to see than just this. Here’s our highlights …

Where is the Black Isle?

The Black Isle isn’t really an island, as it’s firmly connected to the east coast mainland of Scotland – but it protrudes out into the North Sea, with the Moray Firth to the south and Cromarty Firth to the north. It is just off the A9 to the north of Inverness.

We took the A9 from Inverness, across a bridge and promptly stopped at a lovely scenic layby for our lunch. Here we found a Harry Gow bakery, who makes the most amazing cakes. Huw bought a selection of four for us to fight over while we waited for the kettle to boil! I didn’t visit the bakery, but it was very popular. Huw said the pasties looked really good too. But here’s the cakes we bought …

Cakes from the Harry Gow bakery, in a layby that overlooks the Beauly Firth

Once full of cake, we got back onto the A9 and continued north until we reached a roundabout. Here we turned right, onto the A832, and onto the Black Isle.

Clootie Well (postcode location: IV8 8PE)

Just before we reached Munlochy we saw Clootie Well, and turned into the car park to explore it more. To explain more of the sight that greeted us … a forest where every branch had strips of material and clothing hanging off them. Let me show you in photographs …

Clootie Well

More scenes from Clootie Well

Clootie Well

Are you wondering why? Well, the story goes that there is a Holy well here – dating back to around AD620. Pilgrims would visit and perform a ceremony. This involved them walking around the well three times. They then splashed some of the well water on the ground and prayed. A ‘cloot’ (piece of cloth) that had been in contact with an ill person would then by tied to a tree or bush nearby. As the cloot rotted away, so did the disease that inflicted the person.

The trees surrounding the well are laden with cloots. Unfortunately, a lot of the items we saw were made of synthetic materials, so wouldn’t rot away. However, you can understand why people still follow the ritual … when a friend or family member is ill, and you feel helpless, it’s ‘something’ that you can do (often out of desperation). While we were there, we chatted to a man walking a lovely old Labrador dog. He lived locally, but told us it would be his dog’s last walk as he had severe arthritis and was booked to be put to sleep the following day. He had tied his dog’s bandana to a tree ☹ It was very sad.

Clootie Well is a mixture of emotions. Without a doubt it is a little bit creepy. It’s also rather messy. But in equal measure it’s really sad. Some of the cloots had messages written on them desperately seeking good health for their ill friends. I just hope it worked for them all …

Fortrose Cathedral

Clootie Well took its toll on our emotions, so when we left we headed to Fortrose as the tide was turning in the Moray Firth and we had a carpark to reach! But first, there was the ruined cathedral to explore.

Built in red sandstone, the cathedral dates back to the early-to-mid 13^th century. It stands in a green area surrounded by trees right in the middle of Fortrose. Only a small part remains, but there’s some good details to be seen, such as stone vaulting and window tracery remains.

Grounds of Fortrose Cathedral, Black Isle

Fortrose Cathedral, Black Isle

Chanonry Point

And then we drove down the lane through the golf course, to the ‘famous’ carpark that overlooks the Moray Firth … one of the world’s best places to watch bottlenose dolphins from the shore.

Chanonry Point Wildlife Info Board

On the day we visited there were just a handful of other spotters there, and the carpark was virtually empty. We parked facing out to sea … and we waited with binoculars at the ready.

While I sat and watched the sea, the children hopped onto the beach to search for sea glass. Huw took his camera and went to explore the lighthouse.

Chanonry Point Lighthouse, Black Isle

We visited in February. It was always going to be a longshot. As we sat and waited, the wind got up and the previously calm sea became whipped up. You need several factors to come together to see the dolphins, and unfortunately for us, they hadn’t on the day we visited. Which means – we’ll have to come back!

I should point out that there’s two campsites alongside the shores here – we’d have pitched up for the night in either of them, had they been open (closed for winter) … being located here, you’ll surely get to see them?!

Cromarty (and Cromarty lighthouse)

Leaving Chanonry Point we headed towards Cromarty. Back in the 1970s my dad worked on the construction of some of the huge floating oil platforms that have now been decommissioned and retired to Cromarty Firth, where they are dismantled. He asked me to take a look to see what ones were there. It was quite a sight driving the ridge towards Cromarty, seeing these out in the bay …

Retired oil platforms in the Cromarty Firth

We drove into Cromarty, and had a quick look around before we went off to find somewhere to sleep overnight. The following morning we returned, and we took a walk along the shore to the lighthouse.

Cromarty Lighthouse

Our Overnight Stop

Just off the A832, between Rosemarkie and Cromarty, we came across a forest car park. This is where we parked up for the night. It was very peaceful – quite lovely.

Overnight stop on the Black Isle

In the morning, when we explored the immediate area, we noticed that it was the starting point for some mountain bike tracks. It is a place where you have various natural layouts and features that help you perfect certain cycling tricks and skills. There are boards at various points explaining how to navigate that particular section; it’s a great idea. Some cyclists turned up while we were there, and they showed us some of the jumps you can do (quite high ones!)

Red Rock Trails route sign

Leaving Cromarty we stuck to the north road as our plan was to visit the Kirkmichael Trust, where a once ruined church dating back to the 1400s has been restored. There’s lots of interesting artefacts to see, as well as an RSPB reserve within walking distance. However … somehow we missed the signs for it, and were miles further on when we realised our map-reading error. Instead, we rejoined the A9 (south) for a short distance, heading to the Black Isle Brewery.

Black Isle Brewery

We will review the Black Isle Brewery in a separate post, as Huw and Toby did a tour there. It’s well worth a stop, to stock up on some lovely beers, made in Scotland’s only organic brewery.

Black Isle Brewery

What else we wanted to see (but were closed!)

Visiting Scotland in February is wonderful when the weather is good, as it was when we were there. The roads and attractions are relatively empty. However, a lot of the attractions close for winter – and we found this especially to be the case when driving around the Black Isle. We had a few other places on our list to visit, but couldn’t due to our bad timing. They are:

Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie

Famous for its display of Pictish carved stones (free entry)

Cromarty Court House Museum

Contains exhibitions about Cromarty through the ages (free entry)

Fairy Glen Waterfalls

This is a 30 minute (easy) walk through a wooded glen from the car park in Rosemarkie. There are two very pretty waterfalls at the end of the walk. Of course this wasn’t closed in February as it’s open all year round – we just couldn’t factor this in with the time we had available – next time though!

These places alone make me want to return (along with the dolphins!)