Day two: John O’Groats to Aviemore – Part III
From Dunnet Head (most northerly point in mainland UK, see previous post) I drove the 13 miles to Thurso.
In Thurso I made my second fuel stop of the trip, and boy was it expensive. Down in Glasgow I was paying around 94p per litre, in Thurso it was £1.04 per litre.
I decided I did not want to stop in Thurso but to continue to explore.
The night before, in the Seaview Hotel in John O’Groats, I had read a small ‘local attractions’ leaflet that talked about ‘The Grey Cairns of Camster’. This sounded kind of interesting so I thought I would try and find them.
From Thurso I drove 13 miles south in search of the Cairns (driving directions). On the first attempt I got it wrong, I missed Watten, and ended up in Wick, having missed the turn. On my second try I found the right road, no wonder I missed it as it was a narrow single track road heading off across the moors.
The Grey Cairns of Camster, Scotland
The Cairns are billed as ‘two of the best preserved chambered tombs in Britain’, and are reported to be over 5,000 years old. From the road they do not look overly impressive, more like two very large piles of stones. The other thing that strikes you is why on earth would Neolithic man build these two tombs in the middle of nowhere relatively high up in a piece of boggy moorland. Considering it was July the place still felt cold and damp, and in the middle of winter the climate would be deadly! Did ancient man deliberately build its tombs away from anywhere anyone in their right mind would want to live?
View from the Grey Cairns of Camster, Scotland
Luckily, for me, there was a very informatics plaque at the site. It appears that 5,000 years ago the surrounding land, which is now a peaty bog, was fertile and ideal for growing wheat and raising cows and sheep. This was mainly because the climate was a lot warmer.
The walk out to the two cairns is along raised boards and when you get closer they are rather impressive when you consider their age. The larger cairn has a number of chambers and I was surprised to find that when you looked in to through the barred gate at the entrance the inside of the chambers appeared to be lit. I was even more surprised when I discovered it was possible to open the barred gate and crawl in to the tomb.
The Grey Cairns of Camster, Scotland
The Grey Cairns of Camster, Scotland
The Grey Cairns of Camster, Scotland
The inside was kind of eerie and had a very old feeling. The light was coming through two glass blocks in the concrete ceiling…. Hang on, Neolithic man using glass blocks and concrete? Now, I am not a historian, but even I know that Neolithic man did not have glass blocks and concrete….
Entrance to the Grey Cairns of Camster, Scotland
Entrance to the Grey Cairns of Camster, Scotland
When I returned to my car I re-read the main notice board and saw that “Historic Scotland has recently excavated and restored them to give visitors a better impression of their original appearance”. I call foul! I say that is Disneyland!
From the Grey Cairns I drove north back to Thurso feeling slightly dirty that I had been to Disneyland….
Grey Cairns, Scotland, United Kingdom – Map it
