Clifftop Castles - Noss Head, Castle Sinclair Girnigoe and Ackergill

Herring fishing in Caithness was started at Staxigoe in 1767 by John Anderson of Wick and Alexander Miller of Staxigoe when they launched the first boats. By 1782, more than 350 barrels of herring were being exported each season. In recent years, the District Council has much improved the harbour, repairing and restructuring the old walls. A number of small, open boats still fish for lobster and crab. Wick itself is a small town which has made a Royal Burgh by King James the 4th in 1589.

The distinctive headland of Noss Head is topped by a whitewashed lighthouse, now unstaffed and not open to the public. Alan Stevenson, lighthouse builder, and father of Robert Louis Stevenson, designed the light. The original has been reconstructed and may be seen in the Wick Heritage Centre. Immediately to the west of the lighthouse, the sea has caught deeply into the old red sandstone cliffs. And there is a natural rock seat here, high above the turbulent waves. On the opposite side of the chasm, puffins nest in burrows, in the cliff face. With their firework coloured beaks and awkward nautical roll flight, they are easily recognised. The females lay a single leg and when hatched, parents desert their offspring, leaving it to stumble out the burrow and topple off, to either sink or fly. Wild flowers abound on the cliff tops: Both Alpine and Danish scurvy grass, amyweed, thrift, roseroot, wild thyme, primrose, and that most beautiful and rare of Scottish plants, primula scotica.

A few hundred yards to the west of Noss Head, a narrow track leads down to a perfect, secluded little beach. Sandy Geo. It is a small crescent of golden sand, well protected from prevailing winds, and divided by a rock shelf. Seabirds pass busily to and fro; red billed oyster catchers, bullying, black headed gulls, herring gulls, common gulls, kittiwakes, terns, razorbills and guillemots.

On a rocky promontory high above the clear waters of Sinclair Bay, stand Sinclair and Girnigoe castles. These are some of the most dramatic ruins in Scotland. Castle Girnigoe was built in the latter half of the 15th century by the William Sinclair, second Earl of Caithness. Castle Sinclair is early 17th century. The most infamous story relating to the castles refers to the murder of John, Master of Caithness, by his father. John had angered his father for failing to execute hostages taken during a siege. He was eventually trapped by his father and thrown into the castle dungeon where he remained " keiped in miserable captivity for the space of seaven years". Then, the Earl ordered that his son should be starved of food for five days. Then he was given large quantities of well-salted beef. But when the parched man pleaded for water to quench his thirst, none was supplied and the Master of Caithness died in agony, choked to death by his swollen tongue. The dark dungeon is still there. The entrance is easily discovered in the seawood wall of one of the main rooms adjacent to the old kitchen.

Westwards from Sinclair and Girnigoe castles, the high cliffs slope down to the shores of Sinclair Bay and the tiny village of Ackergill, a small community clustered round the harbour and lifeboat station. The village has a long seafaring tradition, and during the days of sail, the men of Ackergill were pre-eminent as pilots, still recalled in the street called 'Pilots Row'.

Ackergill Tower, a gaunt rectangular building, dominates Sinclair Bay. It was probably built in the late 15th or early 16th century, and during the civil and religious wars of the 17th century, was used by Oliver Cromwell's officers as their headquarters. It was once protected by a moat, filled by sea water, but these defences have long since vanished. It is a magnificent structure, almost 70 feet high, and the walls are in parts almost 10 feet thick. The original Great Hall is now the dining room with a minstrels gallery shielded by a stained glass window.

Ackergill Tower is said to be haunted. The village was once the home of the Keith family who were in a constant feud with their neighbours, Clan Gunn. In the early 14th century, tradition has it that Dugald Keith of Ackergill kidnapped Helen Gunn. In desperation, the lady threw herself from the top of the tower and to this day, her ghost is still walks in Ackergill.