Date of walk: 5/8/2019
The Slates II, Thurso, Caithness, Scotland.
Thurso Castle, Caithness, Scotland.
The Slates I, Thurso, Caithness, Scotland.
For Sale, Thurso, Caithness, Scotland.
The Slates III, Thurso, Caithness, Scotland.
Dunnet Head from Pocket’s Geo, Caithness, Scotland.
Anchor base I, remains of a former US Navy Cold War wireless station, West Murkle, Caithness, Scotland.
Mast base, remains of a former US Navy Cold War wireless station, West Murkle, Caithness, Scotland.
Anchor base II, remains of a former US Navy Cold War wireless station, West Murkle, Caithness, Scotland.
Dragon’s tooth at Murkle Bay, Caithness, Scotland.
Thunder clouds above Murkle Bay, Caithness, Scotland.
At Murkle bay, I’m taken by surprise as a clap of thunder booms overhead while I’m in the middle of an exposed beach. I run with my pack to a ruined building a few hundred metres away, climbing in through the window with my leg shaking as lightning arcs through the sky overhead. I wait inside this old croft for thirty minutes after hearing the last clap of thunder as I feel the adrenaline subside.
Dragon’s Teeth (WW2 anti-tank defences) at Murkle Bay, Caithness, Scotland. Caithness was on the front line due to the proximity of the fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow and the perceived threat of invasion from Norway.
Murkle Bay, Caithness, Scotland.
Dragon’s teeth along the shoreline at Murkle Bay, Caithness, Scotland.
Dunnett Head from Murkle Bay, Caithness, Scotland.
After the thunder storm I, East Murkle, Caithness, Scotland.
Dunnet Head from East Murkle, Caithness, Scotland.
After the thunder storm II, East Murkle, Caithness, Scotland.
Dusk over Dunnett Head, Caithness, Scotland.
Caithness flagstone field boundary, East Murkle, Caithness, Scotland.
After the thunder storm III, East Murkle, Caithness, Scotland.
Old Windmill, Castlehill, Caithness, Scotland.
Castlehill Harbour, Caithness, Scotland.
In Thurso
I ran in here in desperation when the thunder was getting alarmingly close in this flat landscape, not being grounded I’m not sure it would have done much good!
Another strong sun day – when it wasn’t a thunder storm.
Camp, Dunnet, Caithness, Scotland.
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Lightning,or so they say,goes for the highest point so you probably would have been ok in that stone house even if it got struck. stone, unless I suppose it’s got iron in it, doesn’t carry electrical power very well.Lightning is an induced current and not DC or AC although it packs the huge voltages of AC and might be enough to make that roof fall in?Still better to have a roof fall on you than have a million volts pass through you!
I wasn’t in the mood tor any conductivity experiments!
I remember watching sand yachting on the beach at Dunnet when I was a kid. It looked exciting and more than a bit hairy! Glad you were able to find shelter from the lighting in that open landscape – I can’t imagine there was much else about!
It felt scary at the time – I was running at full pelt – as much as is possible carrying 20kg
I can remember being told ‘Don’t stand under a tree if there’s lightning’, but there aren’t that many trees in Caithness, so probably an unnecessary warning. But I really wouldn’t have liked being out in the open with lightning starting…yikes!