SCOTLAND DISCOVERIES (Part Two) and More

Beech Trees

Besides the Wildlife Park and the Muir of Ord Golf Course we also “discovered” Fort George.  

Fort George Entrance

We’d seen the fort often from Fortrose & Rosemarkie GC which is directly across the Moray Firth from the fort and we’d driven by the signpost to the fort probably a dozen times over the years, but we’d never visited the site.

Fort George is a working army base.

Cannons to the right of me….

The fort, located just outside Nairn and only 11 miles northeast of Inverness, was completed in 1769 and was built as the ultimate defense against further Jacobite (Catholic followers of the Stuarts) uprisings after the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden in 1745.  The name Fort George comes from Gaelic An Gearasten meaning “the Garrison.”  The fort has been continuously used as a garrison since being built.  

The Armory

In fact, it is the only ancient property of Historic Scotland (a trust) still functioning as intended, a working army barracks.  The fort is currently home to the Queen’s Highlanders and I wandered amongst the barracks and armory buildings and looked for dolphins in the firth from the fort’s viewpoints.  Through binoculars and telephoto camera lenses we could watch golfers at Fortrose across the water.  

The Chanonry Point Lighthouse with the Inverness Bridge in background from Fort George.

At the fort we met three senior gentlemen who had been stationed together at Fort George sixty-three years earlier (1951). 

This was their first visit since their army years.  One commented at the entrance, “It still looks the same.”  

As the men started their tour, two pipers piped the orders in front of the HQ offices.

Again, we wish we’d stopped before as our friend Marcia had suggested.

A MODERN DAY MOLLY MALONE

Nairn Harbour

As we wandered from the boats harboured at Nairn toward the tearoom recommended by the Harbour Master, we noticed a van with its back doors open displaying an array of fresh seafood.  It was the local fish monger making his rounds.  

Modern Molly's Wheelbarrow

People came to the van, selected their fish, and went home with dinner ready for the pot.

We chatted with the traveling merchant.  He used to be an army piper (he would have been one piping the orders of the day at Fort George), 

but now brings fresh fish to the locals two or three times a week.  We had a look at his products and selected an Arbroath Smokie (haddock smoked at Arbroath on Scotland’s east coast) and some brown crab claws for our dinner--direct from a modern day Molly Malone.

ONE OF THE BEST 9-HOLE COURSES WE’VE EVER PLAYED

It’s the most northerly golf course on mainland Britain and it is one of the best small courses we’ve ever played.  

Anne walking up to the first tee at Durness GC.

Durness GC rivals St Medan in the south of Scotland along the Solway Firth, St Fillans in the Highland hills of central Scotland, and Cruit Island in County Donegal, Ireland on the Irish Sea for interesting golf shots and quality oif the layout.  

Starting up the second hole with Balnakeil Bay behind.

On a good day it surpasses all of the them for beautiful and spectacular views.

Built in 1988 on the raised ancient dunes on the southwest side of Balnakeil Bay on the Pentalnd Firth (the meeting of the North Atlantic and the North Sea), Durness GC is not only a testing track but is testing to get to as well.  

Hit down to the green at the third.

From Ullapool on Scotland’s northwest coast Durness is more than 70 miles of mostly single-track road.  From Inverness at the edge of the Moray Firth (in the center of the north) Durness is more than 80 miles with at least half of it single-track road.  It is probably the most isolated course on the mainland.  

Looking back at the fairway of the sixth which goes around the loch.

I tee off at the eighth.

That isolation is part of the charm of Durness GC.  Several other qualities help make the course great.  The challenges are many: blind shots (drives and approaches), almost constant wind, heavy marram (dune grass) rough, strategic bunkers, a loch to play around or over, and the ocean is in play on the last two holes.  For such an out-of-the-way track the course is kept in excellent condition. 

Anne teeing off at the eighth.

The variety of the holes is another attraction--they play uphill, downhill, around hills, and around and over loch and sea. the views from the course are without rival.  When you’re not viewing the nearby mountains (not necessarily tall but still dramatic) you are viewing the sea, Balnakeil Bay and Beach backed by an expanse of bracken, fern, and marram covered dunes. a final charm of Durness GC is its friendly members and players.

On the final hole you hit over the crashing waves and avoid three bunkers to find the green.

Durness is not easy to get to nor easy to play, but it is a course I would love to play every day.