Date of walk: 19/6/19

Ben MacGregor, retired Dounreay engineer & nuclear physicist, signing the visitors book at Freisgill Bothy having just kayaked around the Whiten Head sea caves. Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

From Freisgill Bothy, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Ben MacGregor, Freisgill Bothy, Scotland.

Hearth at Freisgill Bothy, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Freisgill Bothy, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Stacan Bana (The Maiden quartzite sea stacks, the eastern of which was where Tom Patey was killed in an abseiling accident.) Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Water & stone. Stacan Bana on the north of the Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Stacan Bana, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Mol Mhor near Whiten Head, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Whiten Head sea arch. Mhoine peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Cliffscape I, Whiten Head, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Whiten Head with its perfect arch that makes me want to take up sea kayaking. Mhoine peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Cliffscape II, Whiten Head, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Whiten Head, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Cliffscape III, Whiten Head, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Rainbow over An Stac from Whiten Head II, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

A peaty pool on the Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Rainbow over An Stac from Whiten Head I, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Approaching An Stac, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Below Whiten Head, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

An Stac II, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Ben Hope from the Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

An Stac I, Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Looking west along the Mhoine Peninsula toward a distant Faraid Head and Cape Wrath, Sutherland, Scotland.

Sunset from the Mhoine Peninsula, Sutherland, Scotland.

Camp at Achininver Beach, Sutherland, Scotland.

Approaching An Stac on the Mhoine Peninsula.

Midnight and still plenty of light to walk by.
Midnight wandering.
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Will you have any meet ups with the CNC at Dounray?I have walked past Torness plant south of Dunbar with no encounters .Apart from Torness it looks like Scotland has two other active nuclear plants;Hunterston near Ayr and Chapelcross near Annan.Well I say active as it says Chapelcross has just begun being decommissioned whereas Dounray has been out of action for a good number of years.If I recall correctly Dounray was an experimental plutonium fast breeder fission plant,well they are all fission no success with fusion despite the media hype!,whereas those other three are uranium plants.
No, It’s another level of security up there. In fact, I made an official request to follow the beach which was denied.
It’s a decommissioned joint facility I see.A part of it called HMS Vulcan,Star Trek must have been popular there!,was run by the MOD for testing submarine reactors.So you could have run ins with the CNC and MOD Police there and possibly Military Police too who, assuming that they didn’t suspect you of any sinister motivation, would then hand you over to Police Scotland thereby collecting 4 police forces!And no doubt a stiff fine!The perils of walking!
I love the photo of Ben MacGregor signing the visitor’s book. There is so much story to this photo.
I lived about 3 miles from Dounreay. On the Dounreay site there were two main reactors there (the original DFR with its sphere, and the later, more powerful PFR) plus a smaller materials testing reactor. My father and brother, my father-in-law and a brother-in-law all worked there. I wouldn’t fancy walking on the coast right there because there were incidents of radioactive contamination, sadly even on Sandside Beach where we used to walk and swim.