Before heading home from our last van trip, we visited friends in Inverness and in the morning, had a walk to Chanonry Point. It sits on the Black Isle at Fortrose with Fort George which we visited in 2019:
on the opposite shore. We parked some distance away from it and walked down to it. The lighthouse was designed by Alan Stevenson and first operated in 1846. It was automated in 1984. The point is well-known for being a good spot to see dolphins but we were not fortunate to see any on our visit.
There is a memorial stone to Coinneach Odhar who was known as the Brahan Seer close to where he was brutally killed.
He lived in the 17th century and is said to have been from Lewis or Kintail. The seer was said to be able to predict the future by looking through a hagstone: a pebble with a hole in it. He worked at Brahan Castle near Dingwall which was home to the Earl and Countess of Seaforth. He was boiled in a spiked barrel of tar which was said to be punishment for witchcraft but was actually for seeing Countess Isabella’s husband’s infidelities in Paris. We wandered around, noticing some ruined cottages
and what looked like former ice-houses with the gorse in full bloom.
The former ferry pier dates from the 1700s and a ferry ran from here until 1935 because it is the shortest crossing point over the Moray Firth.
We then made our way on the coastal path which runs alongside the golf course.
There is a campsite nearby but we did not stay there in 2019 on our tour of this part of the country for some reason.