[This walk was completed on Monday, the 15th May 2023]
I’m back at the car park above Armadale Bay, locking up my bike, pulling on my rucksack, and about to set off for the second part of today’s walk. First, I stop to breathe in the delicious scent of gorse, and to look at the view. Beautiful.
The trouble with walking the coast is the logistics involved can be rather tedious. So, having ended my previous section of the walk in beautiful Armadale Bay, I had to climb into my van and drive back to Kirtomy to pick up my Scooty bike. Then, resisting the temptation to call it a day, I drove onwards to my next finish point (a place called Strathy), hauled Scooty out of the van, and cycled back to Armadale Bay.
I’m actually covering each section of this part of the coast 4 times. First time: I drive the route in my van to park at the end-point of the walk. Second time: I cycle back to the starting point on my bike. Third time: hooray, now I’m actually walking – all the way back to my van. Fourth time: I drive back the way I’ve just travelled to pick up my bike again!
So, trust me when I say this next stretch of road is very, very boring.
The slog up the hill is worth it though, because the views from higher ground are amazing. Here, I’m looking down at Aramadale Bay (hidden from view) and across to the headland and… check my map… Ardmore Point.
Ardmore Point sounds familiar. There are other places I’ve passed with the same name. Scotland is very economical and does tend to recycle names.
At the top of the climb is a turn off – a dead-end road leading to some scattered settlements. And here proudly stands a bin, a post box, and an iconic red telephone box.
Many of the phone boxes in these remote areas of Scotland are still in working order. Sadly, this one is not. The phone is missing.
Onwards. Round the bend and down again. I’m now a mile or so away from the sea. The road is long and straight, with the only colourful thing in sight being the gorse bushes that line sections of the tarmac.
Past another dead-end turn off, to somewhere called Aultiphurst. But I’m sticking to the main road, and here is a loch. Loch Gainmhich. Bright blue water reflecting the sky.
Gainmhich means “sand” in Gaelic, apparently, but I don’t see any sign of a beach.
A short distance later, and here is another blue loch. Lochan Ealach. Lake of the swan. But there are no swans on the water today.
I pass a little quarry on my right. A bright yellow digger competes with the gorse to add a splash of colour to this rather dreary landscape.
At the top of the next rise, I spy a distant figure on a motorbike… no, he’s on a quad bike. He turns off before I reach him, and I see him chugging along a narrow road that leads to a place called Brawl. What a name!
There is a mast off to my right, with a service track leading towards it.
An information sign invites me to to “Explore the Flow Country”, and another sign tells me this area is known as Strathy Pools. You can walk along the track and view some dubh lochain (or black pools) and enjoy a panoramic view over the Sutherland peatlands.
I decide not to take the diversion to look at a panoramic view of a bog. To be honest, I’m not finding the Flow Country particularly exciting and I’m mourning the beautiful mountain scenery that I seem to have left behind.
[Back home in Manchester, I recently read a book called Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane, that included collections of ancient and colloquial names to describe features in the landscapes. In it, I learned the acronym MAMFA. Miles and miles of eff all. It succintly sums up the Flow Country for me!]
But, the end is near. Over a rise – and there’s a welcome sight. The sea. At last. That is Strathy Bay.
The road curves down the hill. I’m approaching the turn off to Strathy Point, where my van is parked in the car park near to the little church – another welcome sight.
I was planning to carry on walking to Strathy Point itself, but I feel overcome with fatigue again. After only 7 miles or so. Really, I must be getting old!
So, I climb into the van with relief and pull out my OS map. My normal practice is to make a few notes about the day’s walk by writing on the map, while the memory is still fresh in my mind. On this stetch of the A836 I simply write, “A long boring slog.”
Miles walked today = 7.5 miles
Total around coast = 4,991.5 miles
Route (first part in black, this part in red):
Ruth's Coastal Walk (UK) 
It might have been long and boring but at least you had good weather. I like the MAMFA acronym, I must try to remember that one 🙂
It’s a brilliant acronym, isn’t it!
It’s a much better road going west because you keep getting glimpses of the mountains ahead.
That’s true. I’m really missing those gorgeous mountains.
Lovely to see your post Ruth and I too like the new acronym!
Thank you .
It’s very lonely up there and yet definitely MAMFA. I read his book too and thought it described the in and out Essex river estuary banks perfectly too. I’m still loving reading your adventures.
Hi Ruth
Pleased that at least the gorse brightened the boring road stretch. I think all us coastal walkers will try to remember the MAMFA acronym! 🙂
I’m guessing that in the next post (or maybe the one after) you’ll be passing your 5000 mile mark – a real achievement. I hope this was not along a boring road!
I recently passed my 4000 mile mark & I was so pleased to be on a footpath when it happened!
Looking forward to the next post & happy walking this year.
4,000 miles is a great achievement. When I do the walks, I don’t keep a tally of the mileage, so these milestones pass unnoticed. It’s only when i get home and write them up that I realise!
your commitment to your cause is amazing. Boring never lasts. You are a walking icon.
David from Sandwood bay.
Hi David. Now, that was a beautiful walk through amazing landscape. Hope all is well with you.
yes all is well. I will be walking the Shropshire way at the end of May. I grew up with a saying if you were doing something in a long winded way my father would say “oh you are going all around the Wrekin. On the Shropshire way I get to walk up the Wrekin.
Oh dear Ruth – you were obviously having a bad day. It is a long time ago now, so obviously far to late, but you were walking on a main road designed to cut through the surrounding countryside. Yes the Flow Country is a little bleak to say the least but dare I say it you seem to have lost your mojo a bit. I don’t mean to be rude or antagonise but I do wish you had tried venturing nearer the coast. Obviously you can’t with Dounreay coming up but a lot of the coast to your north is flat easy walking even without a path. You would have found it much more enjoyable, because up close the Flow Country holds interesting things like the colourful sphagnum mosses. It sounds a bit nerdy but I was blown away by the red sphagnum mosses (admittedly nearer Whiten Head) you get in the Flow Country – just Google ‘red sphagnum moss Flow Country’. They come in all shapes and sizes. There is also one of the best places to see puffins in the country just where Sutherland becomes Caithness if you walk ten minutes north to the coast from the county border road sign. Little advertised but well worth the detour at the right time of year. Wherever you are now please, please, please try to get nearer the coast and away from the main roads – I know from experience that is not always possible but try to do as I say not as I do (or rather did) !!! All best Chris
Yes. I’m sure all the road walking was the main cause of my poor mood on this day. I was just very nervous of walking through un-pathed countryside, as I didn’t feel I had the energy reserves to cope with unexpected obstacles.
The photos belie your feeling of boredom, but…
…I too hate to travel part of the walk by whatever means that I will be walking on the same occasion. Just a there and back on the same route is not so bad because you get different views each way.
It just seemed a long slog on that particular day.
MAMFA what a great acronym 🙂 I guess it could equally apply to The Wash….Ruth, carry on doing the walk whatever way you want to….I really look forward to your blog as I haven’t been able to do do any walking since last summer and probably won’t be walking again until maybe next spring as I’m waiting for a knee replacement op…. so please keep posting the lovely photos & interesting blog. Cheers
It can certainly apply it to The Wash, Mike. In fact, I have found a good term for much of Lincolnshire (not in the book I mentioned) because of the huge mono-cultural fields. “Green concrete”. I think it might have been John Merrill who said it, but I really can’t remember.
Hahaha…another excellent adjective for the wash & Lincolnshire !
Pleased to see your progress.
Thank you, John.
My LEJOG route crossed the centre of the Flow Country east to west and for me it was the highlight of the whole trip. A great feeling of remoteness and adventure with a few minor challenges satisfyingly solved.
I’m pleased to hear you enjoyed it!
Super to see your latest post and a most enjoyable read despite you not having the best of days with the boring road. I smiled at the scenic view of a bog and laughed out loud at the MAMFA acronym. As did my sister when I told her; she’s an avid walker so knows the feeling well!
Thank you Karen 😀
Yes I also didn’t find the flow country very interesting. It just conjours up miles and miles of wet bog, which I’d already walked through a lot of up to that point. But the coast part is nice and glad to see you making progress.
I think we got spoilt by the rest of Scotland!
I really like the photos you have shared, especially the first one, beautiful scenery Ruth
Thank you.