DINGIES HOWE TO ROSE NESS 04/07/18 The haar was swirling in on the easterly breeze, but I felt the need to get out as I had had a lazy day yesterday, so off I went with my dog, Tess; my destination for the day the clifftops to the south of Dingies Howe, and the Rose Ness headland further south still.
Dingies Howe is one of the best beaches on Orkney Mainland, and I am lucky enough to live nearby, so no need for the car. Not at it’s best in the mist, though. From the beach I headed SW beneath some crumbling cliffs along a stumbly rocky shore; impassable at high tide; visibility poor with the cliffs looming out of the mist. Spotted some very long lichen growing on the rocks, a sign of good air quality.
An inauspicious start Lichen
Also spotted a lot of plastic pollution, and, feeling zealous, I started picking up drinks bottles, only stopping when I could squeeze no more into my rucksack - 17 in all! I could easily have picked up twice as many from this short section alone. Although light; they did not make good walking companions - they creaked and scrawked as they rubbed against one another with every step that I took!
After passing below Stembister Farm, I climbed up a grassy bank and followed the coast southwards; the cliffs gradually increasing in height. I soon left the arable land behind and entered the land of cottongrass and heather; the haar may have hampered my attempts at photography, but it certainly added an extra feeling of remoteness to the clifftops.
Mist shrouded cliffs
The cliffs are home to breeding birds, fulmars and guillemots, and higher up I heard the call of geese, and was delighted to see goslings in the grass by the cliff edge - an example of why it is so important that people keep their dogs on a lead. These were Graylag Geese, which visit Orkney in huge numbers in winter before most of them head north in spring - but a few remain to breed.
The cliffs were at their highest here, some 45m, and I descended southwards, following a flock of sheep (and their accompanying flies) that I drove before me along the clifftop path. Eventually some farm buildings appeared out of the mist, and, shortly afterwards, a path heading inland through the fields to my right; my return route.
I continued southwards along the shore, the haar thinning somewhat. I was now on the Rose Ness headland, which juts out into the North Sea at the southern extremity of Orkney Mainland. I passed the old stone navigational beacon, a strikingly geometric shape looming out of the mist, and then the current lighthouse; solar powered with an LED lantern, as are most lighthouses nowadays.
The old and the new
And then, as if by magic, I was out of the mist! I continued round the headland, the cliffs being replaced by a cobbly shore, and then the beautiful Sands of Cornquoy; not a soul in sight.
A farm track headed inland, and became a road. It was starting to get hot now, so I gave Tess (and myself) some water at a minor crossroads - she can drink a lot! I took the minor road to the north, before picking up the path that I mentioned earlier and returning to the coast.
Looking back to Rose Ness, the beacon on the skyline, South Ronaldsay beyond
Although I was retracing my steps, the walk back was an absolute delight, as the haar had lifted from even the highest cliffs, and I was able to indulge myself with the phone camera; the cliffs and sea stacks, of which there are several, are spectacular.
The cliffs at their highest
Castle of Claisdie
The cottongrass looked even more lovely in the sun, quite the densest that I can ever remember seeing. Passed several sea stacks, and spotted a black backed gull squabbling with a bonxie (great skua) - the black back won, but we were buzzed by the bonxie!
Just after Stembister, I headed inland past a duck pond (Tess drank her fill, but the duck made a sharp exit). This route is useful if the tide is up and it is not possible to pass beneath the cliffs back to Dingies Howe. The minor roads took me through arable farmland; waving fields of barley; cattle and buttercups, with fine views to the north.
A couple of hundred yards of walking along the main road took me back to Dingies Howe beach; just a few tourists about (normally I have the place to myself). There is a public toilet here, and it is a good place to (semi) wild camp.
The route described from Dingies Howe to Rose Ness and back again is about 9 miles long; I walked somewhat further as I walked directly from my house - how lucky I am to have this on my doorstep!
Tess on home turf