Caithness Field Club
Main Field Club Index Page
Bulletin Index

The Caithness Field Club produces an annual bulletin with article produced by its members and others.  The bulletins have been published since 1973 and the articles cover many topics relating to Caithness and the north of Scotland.    The bulletins are reproduced on Caithness.org with the kind permission of the Caithness Field Club and its members with whom copyright remains.

Caithness.org is grateful to Janet Mackenzie for her assistance with these pages.
Thanks to Ken Butler the new editor who has supplied copies of various later Bulletins.  Ken Butler died 5 October 2017.

2019

2018

Field Club Activities during 2017 (by Tony Bradford)
Botanical Report 2017 (by Francis and Margaret Higgins)
Ranger Wildlife Notes 2017 (by Paul Castle)
Strathmore Flora (contributed by Keith Gerry)
Allan’s Reminiscences (by Allan Abernethy)
Place-names - Nottingham and Snottergill Burn (by George Watson)
St Donnan - Patron Saint (by Audrey Munro)
Thusater Dig (by Caithness Broch Project)
Caithness Field Club Trips (by Anna Rogalski)
Heads of Heroes (by Geoff Leet)
Tale of a Carriage (by Tony Bradford)

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

Caithness Field Club Bulletin Vol 8 No 1 April 2013

Eyebrights Of The North by Ken Butler

An Unusual Door Support (by Geoff Leet)

The Battle of Altimarlach (by Malcolm, Earl of Caithness)

Mr Clark, A Caithness Remittance Man (by George Watson)

Hetty Munro's War Diaries (by Elizabeth Rintoul)

Some Thoughts on Castle Varrich, Tongue. (by George Watson)

2012

2011

2010
History of the Cabrelli‘s Cafe at the Camps in Wick by Lyndall Leet

Hetty Munro's War Diaries by Elizabeth Rintoul - July 1942 - February 1943

2009

2008
Caithness Field Club Summer Programme 2008
Some Highlights of Natural History in 2007 (by Mary Legg, and Ken Butler)
Field Club Activities in 2007 (by Marion Owen)
A Survey of Aspens on Dunnet Head (by David Glass)
The Congash Symbol Stones (by Geoff Leet)
A Circular Tour of Old Wick (by Eleanor Leishman)
Beware of Lyme Disease (by NHS Direct)
Caithness Plant is new to Science (by Ken Butler)
Hetty Munro’s War Diaries (by Elizabeth Rintoul)
Biodiversity and Fungi Conservation (by David Savage)
Two Winter Solstice Observations (by Geoff Leet)
CAT Chronicle (by Gordon MacLachlan)
Sir Patrick Sinclair of Lybster (1736 – 1820); the Army Years (by Dr George Reeves)
The Juniper Survey Project 2007 (by Myra Wilson and Ken Butler)

2007 - Under Construction
Caithness Field Club Summer Programme 2007
Some Highlights of Natural History in 2006 (by Mary Legg, Donald Omand and Ken Butler)
Field Club Activities in 2006 (by Marion Owen)
Raising the Wreck of SS Great Britain (by George Watson and Geoff Leet)
GPS for FieldClubbers (by Ken Butler)
A Walk at Strathy and Baligill (by Ken Butler)
Telfords Mill Lade at Wick (by Jenny Bruce)
Spoked Wheel Stones (by Geoff Leet)
The Leodebeste Rocky Outcrop (by Ken Butler)
Hetty Munro’s War Diaries (by Elizabeth Rintoul)
Grassland Fungi in Caithness (by David Savage)
Birnie and the Early Bishopric of Moray (by Ian Keillar)
The Rodney Stone (by Ian Keillar)
The Juniper Survey Project 2006 (by Myra Wilson and Ken Butler)

2006 
Jack Saxon 1924 – 2005 An Obituary
Hetty Munro’s War Diaries (by Elizabeth Rintoul)
Two in a Boat (by Geoff Leet)
Skinnet Chapel and the Origins of Halkirk Parish (by George Watson)
Tree Counting at Badryrie (by Ken Butler)
The Distribution of the Water Vole in Caithness (by E Fraser D Glass and S Hogg) Published Biodiversity Pages
The Great Caithness Meteorite? (by U Keith Gerry)
Report on Caithness Archaeological Trust (by Gordon McLachlan)
A Carved “Celtic” Head (by Les Myatt)
Thurso “Spoked Wheels” Stone (by Geoff Leet)
A Juniper Survey Project (by Ken Butler and Myra Wilson)
A Geological Tour of the North (by Jack Saxon)

2005
Caithness Field Club Summer Programme 2005
Some Highlights of Natural History in 2004 (by Mary Legg, Donald Omand and Ken Butler)
Field Club Activities in 2004 (by Marion Owen)
A Surprising Co-incidence and an Apology (by Ken Butler)
The Caithness Secret Army in World War II (by Geoff Leet)
201 BN News (by Geoff Leet)
More Big Cats (by Geoff Leet)
The Fungi in Dunnet Forest (by David Savage)
The Pilkington Family in Caithness (by Ken Melhuish)
Caithness Cetaceans (by Marina Swanson)
Historical Letter No 1 (by George Watson)
Hetty Munro's War Diaries (by Elizabeth Rintoul)
A Letter from Robert Burns to Sir John Sinclair (by L.J. Myatt)
A Botanical Local Change Project (by Ken Butler)
News of Caithness Archaeological Trust (by Gordon McLachlan)
Highland Archaeology Week October 2005
The John o' Groats Legend: Fact or Fiction? (by George Watson)
Snippets and Stories about The Royal Hotel, Thurso (by James M Wilson)

2004
Editorial
Club Officers
Summer Programme 2004
Some Highlights of Natural History in 2003
Field Club Activities in 2003
Achavanich - A Re-assessment
The LEADER + Programme
Mey Personified
A Brief History of Foyers
Ruthwell Cross
Excavated Finds and Treasure Trove in Scotland
The Huna Vampire
Current Biological Recording Schemes
Some Rare Caithness Bees
A New Fossil Fish
Hetty Munro's War Diaries
Insurance and Safety Changes
General Rules for Conduct on Outings
Cumulative Contents of Caithness Field Club Bulletins 47

2003
Editorial
Club Officers 2002 - 2003
Summer Programme 2003
Birds and Plants in 2002
Field Club Activities in 2002
Gordon C Wilson 1935-2002 An Obituary
Castle Varrich At Tongue
A Cave Below Castle Varrich
Early History Of Strathnaver
A Classic Walk 
A Trip to Latheron & Forse Early Settlement

Badryrie Wood - 18 Years on
Dale House - A History
Achanarras - A Window on the Glorious Devonian
Excavations at Everley, Tofts, Freswick 2002: some initial thoughts
Current Biological Recording Schemes
Progress with Biodiversity
The Pennyland Mausoleum at Victoria Walk, Thurso
Fast Work

2002
Editorial
Constitution
Slips That Pass In The Night
Caithness Field Club Programme Summer 2002
An Account of Field Club Activities 2001
Biological Recording in Caithness
A Proposed Caithness Archaeological Trust
Early Flying In The North Of Scotland
WW2 Defences in Caithness - Part 2, Air Defences
Local Caithness Bird Names
Ackergill Lifeboat (1877 ‑ 1932)
A preliminary report on the 1st season of excavations at Everley, Freswick, Caithness
A Farm Flitting in 1949

2001
Editorial
An Account of Field Club Activities 2000
The Story of St John's Loch, Told and Re-Told
A New Fossil Discovery At Achanarras Quarry
The Stratifigraphic Position of the Old Red Sandstone of Sandside Bay
Bits about Building
A Wedding at Skibo
Huna Lifeboat (1877-1930)
WW2 Defences in Caithness
Dunnet Parish Church
Monuments and Water: A re-interpretation of the Grey cairns of Camster, Caithness
Heart Problem
The History of Ackergill Tower
Caithness Tales

2000
Editorial
Club Officers 1999-2000
2000 Summer Programme
Club Activities 1999
Agnathan from Spittal Quarry
Twites Wintering in Caithness
Rockets from the North Shore
Skelpick and Rhifail
Life-saving at Wick
Chapel & Graveyard at Oldhall, Watten
Coastal Landmarks
Building the John O’Groats Mill in 1901
Forests in the New Millennium
How Did it All Begin?
Dummy Airfield at Thrumster
Field Club’s First Excursion, 17 May 1902
Sinclair Clan Gathering

1999
Index 93 - 98
Account of Field club Activities 1998
Birds seen Burnside, Scrabster
Castle Sinclair and Girnigoe & the Origins of the Clan Sinclair
Early Steamship Voyages in the North
Harrow Pavement Works
Isabella Fortuna
Club Officers & Editorial
Field Club Publications
Radar in the Fleet Air Arm
Summer Programme
The Importance of Caithness Stone
The Shape of Churches

1998
Club Officers for 1997/8
Editorial
Letters to the Editor
1998 Summer Programme
Account of Field Club Activities 1997
The Devonian Fishes of Canowindra
Cannon Battery at Victoria Walk
A Second Glance at Brims Castle
Murdo Rivach's Grave
Addendum to Murdo Rivach Story
A Rediscovered Church
Defence of Britain's Project
The Gauge of Slate Quarry Track-Ways

A Bill of Material for Barn at Standstill Farm
Pattern Recognition
Field Club Publications

1997
Concentric Earthworks
Disaster Threatens at Seven Miles Up
Falkirk Tartan
Extracts from the Memoirs of Hetty Munro
Letters to the Editor
Royal national Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen
No Accounting For Animals
1997 Club Officers & Editorial
Account of Club Outings 1996
Queen Aud Sails From Caithness
Red Deer At Langwell
Robert Dick's Collection of Fossils
Summer Programme 1997
A Tacksman At Borlum

1996
Account of Field Club Activities 1995
Another Perspective on the Sutherland Clearances
Artillery Batteries Castletown and Mey
Bee Boles
Caithnessians V Rudolph Hess
Eurasian Otter
Ham Harbour
The Atlantic Salmon Life Cycle
Mary-Ann's Cottage
The Shielings Summer Camps
Wearing the Arsaidh
How Shell Tankers Were Named
Watten Mills

1995
Malthus, Ireland & Highland Clearances
Natura 2000
A Search For Uranium In Caithness
Sinking of the Bismarck
Thoughts On Clan Tartans

1994
Memories Of Halkirk From 1920
The Construction Of An Early Black House
A Fantastic Find Of Devonian Fishes At Canowindra
A Bottle-Nosed Dolphin In Thurso Bay
The Geology & Paleontology Of the Shore Section Between Thurso & Scrabster
A Remarkable Glacial Pavement
Jurassic Park In Mongolia
An Elizabethan Will
The Highland Scots Become Interested In Railways
Sweat Houses In North America
Recent Publications
The Orkney Science Festival - 11 - 14 September  1993

1993
Editorial
Chairman's Address
Bumping Into The Americas
Burnt Mounds And Sweathouses
Ships V Brochs
Cromwellian Soldiers In Cannesbay 1652 - 1655
The Seven Men Of Knoydart
Cyclic Sedimentary Structures  - North Sutherland
Westside Croft

1992
Editorial
AGM 1992 Chairman's Address
The Clan Gunn Heritage Museum - Zeno
Wintering Snow Buntings In Caithness

Holidays In Slickly
Whale Bone Cruckframe At Dunnet
Stroma: The Island That Died
Winds Of Change
Holding A Pirate's Ball

1991 
Editorial
Hang the Kaiser
AGM Chairman's Address
Cashmere Goats - A Venture For The Highlands
The Blackbird
The Passage Grave Cemeteries Of County Meath
The Baligill Outlier
The Old Red Sandstone Of Shetland
Summer Programme 1991

March 1990  
Editorial
Mammals Of the Northern Highlands
Some Folklore About Plants and Flowers
Little Boy Blue
The Wick Charter
The Tale Of The Puma
A Model Doocot
Some Census Sidelights On Victorian Caithness - Part Two

April 1989 
Editorial
Old Rural Caithness Through Writers' Eyes
The Bouilag Four-Poster
Some Census Sidelights On Mid Nineteenth Century Caithness Part 1 : Flitting Farmers and Settled Fisher Folk
Freswick House
The Village Of Captains

October 1988
Winter Programme
Thurso East Icehouse
A Plea For Industrial Archaeology
Sheep Saga - The North Ronaldsays
Mid Nineteenth Century Army Pensioners In The North Of Scotland

April 1988
Editorial
A Short History Of The Field Club
Dunnet Bay SSSI  Historical and Present Day Ecology - Part Two
The Psalm Tune "Caithness"
The Education Of A Minister In the Late 18th Century
A Brief Account Of Education In the Parish Of Reay Prior To 1870
Dounreay Castle
The Sandside Kiln Barn
The Orcadian Middle Old Red Sandstone

October 1987
Chairman's Report and Programme
Archaeology Developments
Land Use & Vegetation
Early Shopping In Scotland
Brubster Places
Hanging About The Highlands

April 1987
Editorial
Rules And Constitution
Jottings From A Factor's Scrap Book
The Voyage Of the Iris To Norway
St Drostan In Caithness
Some Results From Bird-Ringing In N. E. Caithness
Tree Planting In Caithness

October 1986
Editorial
Prison Life In Inverness Between 1700 And 1720
Dunnet Bay SSSI - Historical and Present Day Ecology
Caithness Lighthouses
Roads and Tracks Through Local History - Part 3: Tracks, Fords and Chapels

April 1986
Editorial
Roads And Tracks Through History - Part Two - Unrecorded Ways
Brief History Of Brubster
Brubster; Pre-Improvements Agriculture
Wartime Boyhood In Wick

October 1985
Editorial
ROADS AND TRACKS THROUGH LOCAL HISTORY Part 1 - Historical Roads
THE MULTIPLE STONE ROWS OF CAITHNESS AND SUTHERLAND 4. Their Purpose
Tarradale Weekend
Canisbay Parish Survey 1984
Air Operations From RAF Wick During World War 2 Part Three December 1941 - January 1943
Freswick Links, Caithness survey 1984
Some Incidents Involving Wick and Ackergill Lifeboats

April 1985
Editorial
Caithness Geological Notes
A Setting Of Stone Rows, Tormsdale, Caithness
The Badryrie Project
Badryrie - An abandoned Crofting Community In Latheron
Sailing Directions For the North Coast

October 1984
The Black Rat's Home in Roman Britain
Caithness Orchids
Some Discoveries in a Mound in Lythmore
Do We Persecute Foxes Unfairly?
The Special Touch of Caithness
Wrecks of the Pentland Firth

April 1984
Editorial & Letter To Editor
An Early Royal Visit To Thurso
NOTES TAKEN FROM THE ACCOUNT BOOKS AND THE PUNISHMENT BOOKS FOR THE THURSO COMBINATION POORHOUSE
Impressions  Of Eilean Na Ron
Wrecks Of The Pentland Firth 1918 - 1933
Freswick Links
Neil Gunn and Dunbeath
The Scottish Burgh Survey
Family Histories
The Sheep Eaters

October 1983
SIR JOHN GUNN, THE CARDIFF BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR FROM CAITHNESS
NOTES ON THREE NINETEENTH CENTURY CAITHNESS DOVECOTES
C0ALS TO NEWCASTLE?
JAMES INNES OF CAPE FEAR
WRECKS OF THE PENTLAND FIRTH 1890 TO 1917

April 1983
10 YEARS 1973-1983
BURIAL GR0UNDS OF CAITHNESS AND SUTHERLAND
THE MULTIPLE STONE ROWS OF CAITHNESS AND SUTHERLAND 3. Their Description II
THE JURASSIC BOULDER BEDS OF EAST SUTHERLAND

CHRISTIAN COUPER
AIR 0PERATIONS FROM R.A.F. WICK DURING WORLD WAR II PART TWO: JANUARY 1941 - DECEMBER 1941
REAY SCULPTURED STONES
AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY SEA BATTLE IN THE KYLE OF TONGUE
WRECKS OF THE PENTLAND FIRTH

October 1982
The Moon And The Northern Highlands
Some Fungi Of Dunnet Forest
Visitors Book Huna Inn 1879
THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, THE PUNCTUATION THEORY, AND THEIR APPLICABILITY TO THE FOSSIL RECORD IN CAITHNESS
Grain Kiln Floors
Air Operations From RAF Wick During World War Two  - Part One September 1939 - December 1940
A Note for the Record - A Coin Found At Strathnaver
Deciduous Trees In Caithness

April 1982
The Multiple Stone Rows Of Caithness & Sutherland
Two Tales of the Caithness Bishops
Viscount Thurso of Ulbster (Sir Archibald Sinclair)
Whaligoe

October 1981
General The Lord Horne of Stirkoke - Caithness's Greatest General
Inspector of Nuisances
A Caithness School in the Early Nineteenth Century
Some Caithness Grasses

April 1981
Botany of Scrabster Braes
Extracts From the Inspector Of Nuisances
Markets In Caithness In The Old Days
The Motor Bus In Caithness
Research Into Family History
Some Common Caithness Toadstools And Their Uses

October 1980
Andrew Geddes Bain, Road Engineer, Explorer and Geologist
Broubster And District Educational Records
Caithness Courier 1866
Dirlot Castle - The Cheynes, Gunns, Sutherlands and Mackays
Excavation Reports Relating To Caithness
Invertebrates and the Pollution of rivers
More Extracts From The Inspector of Nuisances, Thurso
Preserving Our Geological Sites
Thomas Telford's Parliamentary Churches

April 1980
Buttercups of Caithness
Chairman's Remarks and Bird Report
Historic Castles of the North - The Sinclairs of Keiss
Multiple Stone Rows of Caithness and Sutherland
Summer Programme 1980
Thurso Police Extracts 1873

October 1979
Editorial
OF SCHIPPES AND BUSCHES
Old Letter of November 1799
THE CAITHNESS FLAGSTONE INDUSTRY
HISTORIC CASTLES AND FAMILIES OF THE NORTH 10. The Castle of Mey - The Sinclairs of Mey, later Earls of Caithness
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES AT THURSO RIVER HARBOUR 1922

April 1979
Editorial
Vegetation Of the Isle Of Stroma
The Radioactive Fishes Of The North Of Scotland
Some Notes On The History Of the Rabbit In the North
Bird Movements Through Caithness and North East Sutherland
HISTORIC CASTLES AND FAMILIES OF THE NORTH 9 . Dunbeath Castle - The Sutherlands & Sinclairs of Dunbeath
THE DISCQVERY OF HUMAN REMAINS AT CLARDON HAVEN, CAITHNESS

October 1978
Editorial, Programme
Ardvreck Castle - The MacNicols and Macleods of Assynt
THE PROSPECTS FOR BEEKEEPING IN CAITHNESS
NOTES ON F0UR CAITHNESS DOOCOTS
THE WILD PLANTS OF THURSO RIVERSIDE
DE SITU ALBANIE

April 1978
Editorial
Girnigoe Castle - The First to Sixth Earls of Caithness
THE CROFTER' S COMMISSION 1884
THE COGHILLS OF COGHILL The only Caithness Landholders "of that Ilk"
EXCAVATIONS AT CLOW CHAPEL, WATTEN
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORY OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS IN CAITHNESS AND ORKNEY
THE GLACIAL TILLS OF CAITHNESS
CAITHNESS MONUMENTS 3. Sir George Sinclair, Fountain

October 1977
Editorial
HISTORIC CASTLES AND FAMILIES OF THE NORTH 6. Forse Castle - The Sutherlands of Forse
PARLIAMO THIRSA
HYBRIDS IN THE CAITHNESS FLORA
BALIGILL REVISITED
A NOTE ON LYBSTER VILLAGE
CNOC NA MARANAICH - A Megalithic Summer Solstice Observatory
SURVEY OF A STONE SETTING AT CNOC AN LIATH-BHAID STRATH BRORA
THE BEWITCHED CAITHNESS CROFT A Weird Mystery of Last Century
Captain Slater's Monument on Holborn Head

April 1977
Ackergill Tower - The Keiths and Dunbars of Hempriggs
The Short Career Of Pirate John Gow
BADRYRIE - An abandoned crofting community in Latheron
Life On A Caithness Farm In 1862
BADGERS - A Tentative Survey
An Unrecorded Stone At Broughwhin
Chapel And Burial Ground At ch'na H-uai Kinbrace
THE ARCHAEOLOGY, EXCAVATION AND DIGGING OF THE SCOTTISH CHAMBERED TOMBS
Two Possible Prehistoric Quarries in Caithness
Caithness Monuments - Harold's Tower

October 1976
Declaration Of Arbroath
Oldwick & Berriedale Castles
Cheynes, Sutherlands of Duffus and the Oliphants

Some Recent Plant Records

April 1976
Dunrobin Castle - Earls and Dukes of Sutherland
Caithness Folklore And Customs
Which Way Did the Great Glen Fault Move
Possible Monastery at Murkle
Three Caithness Doocots

October 1975
Editorial. AGM, Notes, Winter Programme
Castles Gunn and Halberry - The Gunns
TWO NEW CASTLE SITES IN CAITHNESS?
THE EARLY ECCLESIASTICAL REMAINS OF WICK PARISH

TALES OF A CAITHNESS HARBOUR
TRADITIONAL KNITTING PATTERNS
THE RAISED SHORELINES OF CAITHNESS

FIELD EXPOSURE ON THE A9
THE CONSERVATION OF WILD CREATURES AND WILD PLANTS ACT, 1975

April 1975
Editorial & Notes
Bucholie as Lambaborg
Deep Weathering of Rock in Caithness
The Early Ecclesiastical Remains Of Halkirk Parish
In Search Of The Real Old Mountain Dew
Hunting For Caithness Mosses And Liverworts
The Distribution Of Freshwater Fish In the British Isles With Particular Reference To Caithness

October 1974
Sea Battle Off Raudabjorg Caithness
Between Earl Thorfinn And Earl Rognvald
The Orkneyinga Saga

Caithness Fern Survey
Oil Pollution
Caithness Historical Notes 1750 - 1900

April 1974
The Evolution of the Vegetation of Northern Scotland
Northern Scotland Since the Ice Age - Chart
Rights of Way
Work Horses - A Look Back
Diverse Dandelions

October 1973
St. Coombs Chapel
Botanical Records
Annual Dinner
Other Field Clubs
Boulder Clay of Caithness
Elphin Weekend
Medieval Urban Archaeology
Nature Notes
See North, See South
Survey of an Unrecorded Stone Setting Near Broubster
Shells
Excavations at Bishop's Castle, Scrabster

April 1973
Progress At St Coombs
The Winter Programme
Sites of Old Horse Mills
Gossip about Birds
Small Blue Butterfly
Fern Survey
Botanists at a Caithness Meeting
The Council for Nature
A Stone Circle
County Recorders
Early Christian Chapel Sites
Churchyard Inscriptions
Bumble Bees