Thurso, in case you don’t know, is mainland Britain’s most northerly town. It sits right at the top of Scotland looking out across the sea to the Orkney Isles.
The north coast of Scotland is absolutely stunning and has so much to see and do, you might be tempted to just pass right by Thurso. I wouldn’t blame you for taking one look at that gorgeous coastline and thinking ‘town? – meh! – I can see towns any time, why would I waste my time visiting one now?’
I take your point, but before you make the decision have a read of this post as I think you might find it worth your while stopping off for a few hours.
People visiting or passing through Thurso tend to be there for one of two reasons (I have done no market research on this whatsoever, but still believe I’m right). The reason they’re in Thurso is either because they are driving the North Coast 500 route or because they’ve just got off the ferry from Orkney. Okay, maybe a third reason could be they’re waiting to catch a ferry to Orkney, but that’s so similar to the second reason I’m not going to count it as a separate reason.
If you get off an early ferry you’ll find yourself in Thurso before 8am and long before anything opens. This is really annoying. The most recent time I went to Thurso was a lovely morning. Lots of people who’d obviously come from the ferry were strolling around looking for breakfast or things to do and then leaving before anything opened. Thurso – why don’t you open earlier??
The first time I visited Thurso was way back in 2003 and was for a pretty unique reason. It wasn’t just my first time in Thurso, but my first time in the real north of Scotland. I’d gone specifically to witness an annular eclipse which is an eclipse where a bit of the sun is still visible all round the edges of the moon. It’s a really rare phenomenon – the previous one in the UK was in 1921. I started my trip in Thurso, staying in a hostel for a few days, and then made my way along the north coast to Durness in the west in time for the eclipse.
Because it had been so long since I’d spent any time in Thurso I thought I was due another visit. Fortunately, it was such a nice day I was able to spend time wandering the streets and having a bit of a walk along the seafront whilst I waited for everything to open up.
Here are some of the things I found.
There are lots of shops in Thurso spread throughout several streets. I suppose it’s not surprising considering this is the main town not just for a huge swathe of mainland Scotland, but it’s also the biggest and easiest town to get to from Orkney.
Most of the shops, actually most of the shopping streets in general, weren’t anything special if you’re used to living in a place with shops. Though I can see how amazing they must seem if you live in a tiny hamlet in the middle of nowhere with just a small local store. The photo above is the nicest part of the shopping area I could find.
Close by the shopping area I found this rather pretty church. The round tower particularly caught my eye, but I couldn’t find out anything about it. And of course it was closed so I couldn’t go inside.
As I continued my stroll around town I came across another round building. This one was much shorter than the church tower and not attached to any other building. It turned out to be the old town well.
Known as the Meadow Well, it was Thurso’s main water supply for centuries. The current water pump, which can be seen if you peer through the glass, was installed in 1850 and continued to be in use right up until the 1920s.
A few minutes walk from the centre of town I came across this old ruined church. Known as Old St Peter’s Church, it’s thought to date back to 1125. It fell out of use in 1832 following the building of a new church. One thing that struck me about it were the strange altar-like gravestones or markers surrounding it.
I couldn’t recall seeing any like this before and there wasn’t just one or two, but lots of them. I’ve tried to find out more about them, but all I’ve found is that they’re known as table tombs and are really rare as they are prone to collapsing. Why there are so many here I have no idea.
As it was still quite early I walked out along the promenade for a while. It was windier here and the sea was quite choppy. I had to be careful in a few places not to get an unexpected shower as the waves breached the coastal wall.
Finally it was late enough in the morning for things to be opening and I could do what I’d been waiting to do.
I went to the museum.
The Caithness Horizons Museum opened 11 years ago and I’d heard good things about it and wanted to visit for a while. But like everything else it opens too late in the morning to make a drop-in visit after getting off the ferry a viable option. Especially if you have limited time in this part of Scotland you don’t want to waste a chunk of it wandering the streets of Thurso waiting for it to open.
This time, I’d decided I was going to visit no matter that I had to hang around and wait.
And you know what? It was so worth it. It seems such a shame that so many people who would like to visit and would enjoy it are unable to do so.
The museum is housed in Thurso’s old town hall and has the local tourist office and a room of standing stones and other antiquities on the ground floor.
As you move up upstairs you find all aspects of local history represented from Picts and Vikings up to the modern day.
Here’s a bit history I copied from the information boards.
Who were the Norsemen?
From the mid-9th century, much of Northern and Western Scotland including Caithness together with much of Northern England and Western Ireland, was settled by newcomers from Scandinavia. At first worshippers of gods such as Odin and Thor (Thurso possibly means ‘Thor’s River’ in Old Norse), they had converted to Christianity by the end of the 10th century AD.
Caithness became part of the Earldom of Orkney, ruled from Norway, and its wealthy aristocrats had a mixed Gaelic-Scandinavian culture.
Caithness remained at least partially Norse in outlook until the region finally became part of the Kingdom of Scotland in 1196 AD (and possibly long afterwards). The Norn language, derived from Old Norse, may have been spoken in Caithness until the 16th century AD.
And a bit more
Who were the Picts?
The people whom we call the Picts lived in most of Scotland but their cultural monuments largely survive east of the Highlands and north of the Firth of Forth, as far as Shetland. It is likely that this region was divided into several Pictish kingdoms, ruled by kings and warrior aristocrats. Theirs was the dominant culture from the 5th-9th centuries, and from around 600 AD they were influenced by both Irish and Northumbrian Christianity. Their language was probably most closely related to Welsh.
No confirmed Pictish manuscripts survive, but their sculpture provides plenty of evidence that they developed a literate and sophisticated Christian culture.
From the late 9th century AD onwards, the Picts lost political power to the Gaels coming in from the west and Scandinavians from the east and north. The Pictish people were assimilated by these new cultures and their language disappeared.
People from more recent times are celebrated in the museum too. There’s a permanent exhibition on Robert Dick, local baker and botanist. When he finished his baking in the morning he would spend the rest of the day exploring the countryside. He found the first fossils to be discovered in Caithness and also discovered Holy Grass growing on the banks of the River Thurso. This plant had previously been thought extinct in Britain.
There are also exhibitions on local crafts and industries such as the quarrying of Caithness flagstone. It is a hard-wearing stone that splits easily into slabs which are ideal for paving, walling and roofs. As you travel around Caithness it’s common to see walls made from the local flagstone.
One of the most fascinating parts of the museum to me was the exhibition on Dounreay nuclear power station. It has been decommissioned and removed from its site about 5 miles west along the coast.
The last time I was here the building was still intact and housed a visitor centre. I walked to it (not realising the distance) with a girl I’d met in the hostel. It was an enjoyable walk even though we stuck to the road. The roads this far north are quiet and so much nicer to walk along than those further south. We noticed things we wouldn’t have done had we been whizzing by in a car and were most surprised when we came across a field of lamas.
When we finished our visit at the power station one of the workers was finishing her shift and heading back to Thurso so offered us a lift. Of course we said yes. She stopped off to visit a friend along the way and directed us down to the beach where we could have a bit of a walk and see an old disused chapel gripping the cliff whilst she visited with her friend. It was a lovely walk and I immediately started wondering how I could renovate the old chapel and move in, it was such a gorgeous spot. Without that lift, we’d never have known this lovely little place was there.
I don’t like nuclear power stations and yet something draws me to them. I even wild camped outside one when walking the Suffolk coast path. It was really interesting in the museum now to read up about Dounreay’s history and the decommissioning process. Star of the exhibition is the actual control room from the station. Not a replica, not a picture, but the actual real thing! The only thing not real about it was the cup of tea and bourbon biscuit.
Whatever your thoughts are on nuclear power I can understand why a remote community like this welcomed it and were glad of the work and increased population it brought.
This whole museum is definitely up there among my favourites and I really think it’s a shame more people don’t get to see it.
As I was writing this post, I looked up the museum to find out it’s recently closed! Apparently due to lack of funding. However, it does seem that recent talks with the local council have been positive and so I’m hoping it does get the funding it needs and reopens soon.
Just in case anyone involved is reading this can I offer a couple of suggestions?
- Adjust the opening hours so all those people getting off the ferry can visit rather than just passing straight through.
- Ensure the food served in the cafe meets different dietary needs. When I visited there was nothing vegetarian, not even the soup. I ended up going back to my van to eat, when I would happily have spent some money and sat in the cafe to have lunch.
And so that’s Thurso. A great place to use as a base for exploring northern Caithness and good for shops and stocking up if you’re passing through on the NC500 route. But until the museum reopens, not that much reason to make a special visit.
I’ve got my fingers and toes crossed.
Have you been to Thurso? Have you discovered any wonderful, yet little-visited museums? Are nuclear power stations places you feel drawn to like me, or would you rather avoid them? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below.
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