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 Balintore Harbour |
 Dornoch Castle Hotel |
 Croick Church |
Lairg is located centrally in the far north of Scotland, at the south-eastern end of Loch Shin and surrounded by a vast heather and conifer clad landscape. Its railway station serves the whole of the sparsely populated far north west, and it tends to be a focal point for all the major (though mostly single track) inland roads in the region, both north-south and east-west. There are a number of shops and other facilities in the village.
Long before a bridge was built across the Dornoch Firth closer to the sea, Bonar Bridge, named after the Thomas Telford bridge built in 1812, was the old crossing point of the Kyle of Sutherland linking it with Ardgay. The settlement had been an important industrial centre in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, having a large iron foundry. Local oak woodland was felled for fuel and laid the landscape bare.
Today, Bonar Bridge is surrounded by spruce plantations: though there are some more ancient trees, thanks to James IV. Visiting Bonar Bridge on one of his many pilgrimages to the shrine of St Duthus at Tain, he was so angered by the damage inflicted on the forests that he decreed new trees should be planted. Some still remain.
Ten miles west along Strathcarron from Bonar Bridge and Ardgay is the tiny settlement of Croick. Croick Church was the site of a particularly sad and unusually well publicised episode during the Highland Clearances. South west of Bonar Bridge you come to the tiny village of Edderton, on the south shore of the Dornoch Firth. A mile further is the beautifully preserved Old Edderton Church.
The largest settlement on the south side of the Dornoch Firth is Tain, a Royal Burgh with a history which dates back to Viking times. St Duthus was born there in AD1000. During the Clearances, Tain was an important administrative centre.
East of Tain, the shoreline passes through military ranges before curving round via the attractive village and harbour of Portmahomack to the north-pointing Tarbat Ness. South along the Easter Ross Seaboard brings you to the ancient fishing villages around Balintore, while inland is Fearn Abbey.
A short distance north-west of Tain lies Glenmorangie Distillery, complete with its Visitor Centre and shop. The distinctive range of single malts produced here are the most popular in Scotland itself.
Dornoch is eight miles north of Tain beyond the bridge built in the 1980s and sits on a headland facing across the Dornoch Firth. It is surrounded by sand dunes and is a popular tourist destination. Its centre is dominated by its Cathedral which dates back to 1239; and which itself achieved international fame in December 2000 through the activities of a 21st Century Madonna and child... The town also boasts a championship golf course and is a regular halt on the golf-tour circuit of Scotland.
On the coast north of Dornoch is Loch Fleet .Inland from Loch Fleet and on the road back to Lairg, is Rogart, a fascinating widely dispersed community. North from Loch Fleet on the coast are the towns of Golspie, and Brora. Both are well worth a visit. Golspie boasts Dunrobin Castle and Brora is home to Clynelish Distillery. Between them is Carn Liath, a well-preserved broch.
