The Far North

An overnight stay in Inverness put us in an ideal location for the first of our visits on Day 5 of our Scotland adventure. After a delicious breakfast we headed the short distance over, and then under, the Kessock Bridge to our first stop.

Kessock Lifeboat Station

We were greeted by a very blustery morning under the bridge where the Beauty Firth and River Ness meet the Moray Firth. Kessock is an unusual station design. It is a hexagonal structure with two large slipway doors which means the boat can enter the water in two different directions.

It was built in 2001 with the station being established in 1992 to house an inshore lifeboat on a trial basis, two years later the station was permanently established with a D-Class lifeboat. The new station was built to house the larger Atlantic 85 boat.

Their current Atlantic 85 is Robert and Isobel Mowat (B-873) which arrived on station in 2014.

Unfortunately, there was nobody around to meet us and so we took our evidence photos and head off to our second stop of the day.

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Invergordon Lifeboat Station

We arrived at the town of Invergordon in good time and parked in the town centre. Built around a harbour, Invergordon lies on the north shore of Cromarty Firth and is a popular stop for Cruise Ships thanks to its deep water port which was a former Naval base. The town was busy when we arrived and we went for a walk along the high street to admire the impressive murals on the buildings.

We headed the short distance to the Lifeboat Station located next to the Cromarty Firth Port Offices. Outside of the small brick station building is a large Launch a Memory Lifeboat sign showing the names of those that are remembered on the lifeboat decal. Here you can look up the names of loved ones and find their location on the sign. Whilst taking our evidence photos, the station door opened and we were welcomed inside by Mechanic Bob and Canna the station dog. Bob made us very welcome with a cup of tea before we were joined by Coxwain Andrew and Lifeboat Operations Manager, Andrew. We had a fabulous chat and a good bit of banter as we learned about the station and its location.

Before this station opened, lifeboats operated from Nairn and then at Cromarty, just across the Firth.  The Invergordon station was established in 1974 following the closure of Cromarty in 1968. The current building was built in 1992 and a pontoon was installed in 2005 to ease access to the boat.

After a good chat, Bob and LOM Andrew invited us down to the Lifeboat, a Shannon Class which is slightly unusual in these part of the country. The boat was generously funded by the Barr family, of the Irn-Bru empire, and is named Agnes A P Barr (13-37). At the official naming ceremony in 2022, representatives of the Barr family christened the boat with a bottle of Irn-Bru. Agnes Barr died in 2017 at the age of 97 and after a long history of supporting the RNLI she left more than £1 million to fund this boat alone.

Bob very kindly allowed us to sit in the Helm and Navigator positions whilst he explained in detail the controls on these amazing boats. So far on our journey we have been fortunate to see many Shannon class lifeboats, the newest design in the fleet. However, they are normally in a boathouse resting high on a launch and recovery system called a SLARS. This Shannon was moored afloat and so we got a unique perspective of how she sat in the water but also Bob kindly turned on the powerful engines for us to experience. He demonstrated the manoeuvrability of the jets propelled boat whilst we were securely moored to the jetty and it was incredible to feel how the boat handled with just a small joystick. We continued the tour of the boat and took plenty of photos.

Returning back to the station we said a fond farewell and took away some more incredible memories and experience. Thank you most sincerely to Bob and the two Andrews for your time and generosity.

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Wick Lifeboat Station

Over 80 miles up the east coast A9 route lay our next location, Wick. With history as far back as the iron age and previously belonging to Norway, Wick is a small town at the mouth of the River Wick. The lifeboat station lies on the harbour pier  and was established in 1848 by the British Fisheries Society before being taken under the management of the RNLI in 1895.

We parked nearby in the harbour and made our way to the lifeboat station. We  took our evidence photos and was invited into the station by volunteer Coxwain Andrew. We also met Lifeboat Operations Manager Ian and crew, Paul and Alan. We enjoyed a cup of tea and a good chat before heading down to the Lifeboat moored alongside the station pontoon. On the way to the kit room, we were confronted by a Viking wearing a station woolly hat!

The current station was opened in 1997 on the pier between the harbours. This followed the closure of the old slipway boathouse, just outside the harbour, in 1994 after problems with the slipway structure. The boathouse still stands and we took the opportunity after our visit to pop along and take some photos of it.

Down at the Trent Class, Roy Barker II (14-20), we were invited on board  and given a tour. The boat arrived on station in 1997. There is a great deal of friendly banter between flank stations. We enjoyed a good laugh listening to the Wick crew speak about their neighbouring  Invergordon and Thurso boats and colleagues.

We had our  photos taken on the boat before heading back to the station and saying our farewell and heading up to the old station.

On leaving Wick we headed further north to John O’Groats to take some photos of the famous signpost. Not being satisfied we had reached the most northerly point of mainland Britain, we headed along the coast to Dunnet Head, a stunning high cliff nature reserve with spectacular views across the Pentland Firth to the islands of Orkney. At this stage of our  journey we have now visited Britain’s most southerly (Lizard Point), most easterly (Lowestoft) and most northerly (Dunnet Head) locations. The most westerly location comes in our trip to Western Scotland in August.  

After a fantastic night in a beautiful B&B called Valleyview House near Thurso, and a lovely Indian meal in town, we awoke to a fantastic breakfast followed by the opportunity to feed and brush some Highland Cows. Take a look at their website for more details:

https://www.valleyviewhouse.co.uk/

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Thurso Lifeboat Station

The evening before we popped down to the Thurso Station lying in the port of Scrabster. We saw a lifeboat moored at thee pontoon but it was a relief boat. On leaving Scrabster heading up the hill we noticed a second lifeboat In the bay which we thought was a bit odd. All was to be revealed as we visited today.

After taking our evidence photo we were welcomed inside the station where we met Coxwain Gordon and crew members James, Neil, Mark, Kyle and Dave. The hospitality shown us was superb with several cups of tea and delicious cream cakes, together with some amazing banter and great discussions.

The current station facility was built in 2002 on Ice Plant Quay just a short distance from the ferry terminal servicing Orkney. The station was established in 1860 and covers the dangerous waters of the Pentland Firth. The Firth is well known for the strength of its tidal currents, among the fastest in the world. The force of the tides gives rise to overfalls and tidal races which can occur at different stages of the tide. Combined with gale-force winds, they often give rise to extremely violent sea conditions, which have caused accidents such as the 2015 sinking of the cargo ship MV Cemfjord that resulted in the death of eight crew members.

Disaster struck the station on the night of 10 December 1956, when both the boat and boathouse were fully destroyed by fire. The intensity was such that only one wall of the boathouse remained, along with the iron keel and engines of the boat. No evidence was left as to the cause of the fire.

After a tour of the station the crew took us down to their Severn Class lifeboat, The Taylors (17-42) moored alongside relief Severn, Beth Sell (17-33). The Thurso boat was due to leave for Poole for a refit and the relief boat was there to support her absence. The Taylors was the boat we saw out in the bay the night before as the crew were on exercise. We were shown around the boat before heading back to the station for another cream cake. Thurso was visit number 150 on our challenge.

After saying goodbye to the amazing crew and Coxwain Gordon, our journey continued as we took the Northlink Ferry, The MV Hamnavoe across to mainland Orkney and the town of Stromness. More on that trip and the incredible visits in Orkney in our next blog.