Another Castle. Thurso Castle this time, which is located on the edge of the town of Thurso right up on the north coast of Scotland in the county of Caithness. Its also the town I was born in !
Sadly the castle is in a ruined state. Although not unusual for a castle, in this instance its a real shame because its not that old. The castle was rebuilt sometime in the 19th Century, and was actually quite stunning. But due to poor foundations and or build-manship started to become unstable and actually had to be torn down as it was at risk of collapse (I guess sometime in the 1900s). Its been in this state as far back as I can remember (1970s), but you can tell that it must have been some sight in its day, and you can still see impressive stoneworking.
The castle sits right by the sea and looks out over Thurso Bay and onto the Northern Atlantic Ocean. There used to be a a picturesque seawall setting just right in front of it which had two small corner turrets and around 3 cannons (from memory), which has sadly now been washed into the sea. When I was really young, that part was nearly almost intact, and you could see that the sea had battered away at just one corner - but now its completely gone (including the cannons), which is a real shame.
The castle is the seat of the Sinclair family, who carry the title Lord Thurso. There was still a section on one side that was inhabitable, and the Lord who was in position when I was growing up in the town certainly lived there. The family has quite a lot of land in the county (or used to atleast) which includes some fantastic salmon fishing stretches of the River Thurso and grouse shooting lands further out in remote parts of the county.
It really sad to see the Castle like this, and with the seawall gone, I guess the next concern is the castle itself. The tower above is located very close to the shoreline now, and with its height, it must be a considerable concern. Also noting that being the North Atlantic, the sea can be very wild, with considerable size waves at pretty much anytime of year. Caithness is known for its wind which comes right of the sea, and it can soon whip up the waves into quite a destructive force. I always tell people that its windy atleast 32 days of the month in Caithness - which gives you an idea of just how windy it is !
The pic above is taken from the foot of the Castle, looking back across the bay towards Thurso Harbour and the town behind it. In this picture the tide is quite high. When the tide is out this whole stretch of the coast is covered in rock pools, which we regularly used to go and play in as kids.
Although ruined, its still pretty and worth a visit. I do still try to go and see it when I go back to Caithness. I just hope something is done to help stop it falling into the sea at some point.
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