About the Area

Caithness

Caithness is the most northeasterly county on the Scottish mainland. Its landscape consists largely of open rolling moorland to the North and peat bogs – known as ‘the Flow Country’ to the south. Caithness remains a largely unspoiled and undeveloped county ringed, to the north and east by dramatic coastal scenery. This underdeveloped environment, combined with strong westerly winds provides air that is as clean as the best in Europe. It’s peat bogs along with it’s unique fauna and flora, are the largest and the generally accepted to be the best preserved in the world.

Caithness has a population of around 26,000, the main centres of population being the towns of Wick and Thurso. Wick was once Europe’s leading herring port, with a fleet of more than 1000 fishing boats. Things are a little quieter these days, but Caithness still has a deserved reputation for arguably Britain’s best sea-angling waters. Salmon fishing is possible in many of Caithness’ rivers, and there are many lochs that attract the serious trout fisher.

Thurso has a population of around 9,000 and lies at latitude 59 degrees North, the same latitude as the Alaskan capitol of Juneau. This brings long, seemingly endless lazy summer nights in June and July. Thurso was originally a Norse port, and Norse would have been the original language spoken in Thurso and much of Caithness.

The area between Wick and Thurso provides the finest farmland in the North of Scotland, producing world-class livestock.