Golspie and Dunrobin Castle

One of these new growing places was Golspie, which was little more than a collection of fishermen's huts when the ambitious 1st Duke of Sutherland set about transforming his lands. His agents ruthlessly evicted 15,000 tenants. Crofts were burned, and the hapless farmers were harried from their homes in one of the most sordid chapters of Scottish history.

The Duke largely created modern Golspie, and still dominates it today, in the form of an immense statue that casts a brooding shadow from the towering summit of Beinn a' Bhragaidh. A road, 50 feet wide, was built parallel to the shore, and the area alongside was divided into individual plots, 40 feet wide and 110 feet long. These were rented to displaced crofters for an annual rent of five shillings. The tenants had to build their own stone cottages on their particular plot.

The walk sets out from the west car park, along the shore. The sea can be wild here, pounding relentlessly on the harbour wall. By contrast, the clear Golspie Burn pours from a wooded gorge in a flurry of tiny rapids and currents. Beyond the burn, dense conifer woods run parallel to the shore on a raised beach. There are vistas of the restless North Sea through alleys in the undergrowth. To the right is a well preserved Dovecote.

Ahead of you, as you leave the dark canopy, is the fantastic spectacle of Dunrobin Castle, perched high on the cliffs. This is the most northerly of Scotland's historic houses. Parts of it date back to 1401, but its most flamboyant, ostentatious features were added between 1835 and 1850 by Sir Charles Barry, one of the architects of the Houses of Parliament. The magnificent formal gardens are also his work.

Intimidating cannons, mounted on gate posts, guard the route as it continues along an estate road past a 17th century ice house, buried in dense woodland to the left. The way back passes Golspie Mill, a handsome derelict building which dates from 1841. Though no longer used, its wooden wheel is still swollen with water from the nearby millpond. The mill, however, has served a range of artisan crafts since the millennium, such as an organic bakery between 2001 and 2022.

St Andrew's Church, founded in 1300, was rebuilt in 1737. It boasts many fine woodcarvings; the canopied pulpit and box pews date from the 18th century. Towards the front of the graveyard is a memorial to the last of the Gordons of Carol, while the elegant fountain near the end of the walk, in Fountain Road, commemorates Elizabeth Gordon, the wife of the first Duke.