Melvich

Where the people are warm and hospitable

Melvich and Portskerra, gateway villages to the east of Mackay Country, are found in a small area of fertile land in the middle of peat moorland on a sandstone base rich in natural lime, making this an important area for wild flowers.

Melvich Beach with its stretch of unspoilt golden sands at the estuary of the salmon river Halladale, takes you to the Harbour and shores of Porkskerra where whales are glimpsed and seabirds flock on the accessible rocks circling the bays. The peace and tranquillity of the surrounding hill walks gives time to think of the local culture and heritage nurtured for so long in communities that rely upon each other to give the visitor an experience that will exceed all expectations.

Portskerra was home to the Bard, Hugh Macintosh, known throughout the communities for his love and understanding of his homeland and its people, writing over 200 poems in his native Gaelic as well as in English.

Outside Melvich to the east is the Old Split Stone, source of many legends. It is said some will not pass this large rock without quoting ancient rhymes, and which also is the boundary between the hills and mountains of Sutherland and the green and fertile county of Caithness.

Driving towards the coastline along the bewitching A897 single track road from Helmsdale to Melvich, avoiding the many red deer seen en route, you get your first glimpse of The Bighouse, nestling at the mouth of the Halladale river. Dating from the 1760s, and made up of The Lodge, The Barracks, the Walled Garden, the Garden Pavilion and the semi-subterranean Ice House Store, kept in use until the mid 1980s to store salmon catches, at times yielding hundreds of fish in a day taken from bag nets set out in Melvich Bay and across the river mouth to catch the shoals sighted from a look out post high above the men waiting for the shout of ‘Iomair-ooooo’ the call to ‘row’ the net across the river traditionally given in Gaelic even when English became the dominant language.

From Bighouse or Portskerra Peir a beautiful coastal walk takes you west along high cliffs, looping round Allt an Cleite Burn towards the award-winning Beach at Strathy and on to Strathy Point protruding into the North Sea like a thumb. With its rare Primula Scotica and Puffin colonies, this exposed peninsula is an experience not to be missed, nor are forest walks such as along the Strathy river to Strathy forest by the foot of Beinn Ruadh.