Some reports from outings

Constitution of Caithness Field Club

CAITHNESS FIELD CLUB - WINTER PROGRAMME 2009 - 2010
Print a Plain Copy HERE

Sunday 6 September - Walk for Archaeology Month
A walk for Archaeology Month led bv Paul Humphreys from Watenan to Cairn of Get and Yarrows.  Leaving Wick and Thurso train car parks 9.30am.  Meeting Watenan car park.

Monday 14 September - Tour of Sinclair/Girnigoe Castle
Malcolm, Earl of Caithness will guide us on a tour of Castle Sinclair showing us the excavations to date.  We meet at Castle car park at 2.30pm.

Sunday 4 October - Time Travel Through A Camera Lens
A talk by Captain Peter Donaldson (formerly one of Aberdeen University lecturers) will speak to us on "Time Travel Through A Camera Lens" - 7.30pm at Pentland hotel, Thurso.  Cost £2.

Saturday 7 November - Annual Dinner
At Castletown Hotel - 7.30pm for 8.00pm. Cost including gratuity £21.  Book with Marion - 01847 892999

Thursday 10 December - Wild Flowers of the North Highlands
An illustrated talk from Ken Crossan and Ken Butler where they will introduce their book "Wild Flowers of the north Highlands".  Pentland Hotel, Thurso 7.30pm

Sunday 17 January 2010 - A Westerdale Walk
A walk in Westerdale seeing brochs and a doo'cot - leaving Wick at 10.00am and Thurso 10.20am meeting at Westerdale Bridge 10.45am.  Geoff to lead.

Tuesday 19 January - A talk - Old St Peters Church
An illustrated talk on Old St Peters Church by George Watson with Thurso Heritage Society - There will be a collection for the restoration of Old St Peters and donations would be much appreciated - Caithness Horizons, Thurso at 7.30pm

Tuesday 26 January -
"The Lappan - a tale of a Dunbeath Cottage"
Talk by Barbara Hiddlestone - Assembly Rooms, Wick 7.30pm

Sunday 14 February - Circular Walk At Olrig
A circular walk at Olrig - leaving Wick at 10.00am and Thurso at 10.20am meeting at Olrig at 10.30am - Jack to lead.

Tuesday 23 February -  The Birds and The Bees
Dave Jones of the RSPB will tell us about The Birds and The Bees - RSPB's new Caithness Reserves - Pentland Hotel, Thurso 7.30pm.

Tuesday 23 March - A Reconstruction of an Ancient Diet
A talk from Rebecca Boyle - Pentland hotel, Thurso - 7.30pm

Sunday 25 April -
Doo'cot and Spring Flowers Around Stemster House
Leaving Thurso and Wick 10.30am and meeting at 11.00am at Stemster Farm - led by Ken Butler

The Weekend Away - Saturday 15 - Tuesday 18th May 2010
Dundarach Hotel, Pitlochry.  Terms £50 per night dinner bed and breakfast.  £50 depsitr required at beginning of December - cheque to Jack Barnaby, 9 Lyth more Road, Thurso payable to Caithness Field Club  To book phone Marion 01847 892999

Non Members are welcome.  Please wear suitable clothing and footwear for our walks.  Everyone comes at their own risk.

Membership Subscriptions 2009 - 2010
The annual subscription is now due -
£4 for single membership - £7 for family membership.
Cheques payable to Caithness Fild Club should be sent to Jack Barnaby, 9 Lyth more Road, Thurso, KW14 7PF.

CAITHNESS FIELD CLUB –SUMMER PROGRAMME 2009

Thursday 2 April – A.G.M. at the St Clair Arms Hotel Castletown – 7.30pm – there will be a small charge for refreshments.

Sunday 5 April – Coach trip to Portmahomack with a visit to Edderton Church and Tarbat Discovery Centre. A coffee stop, admission to Tarbat and lunch- soup and sandwiches at the Castle Hotel Portmahomack included. We leave Thurso train station 8.30am and Wick 9.00am. Cost £20. Book please with Marion 01847 892999 or at the A.G.M.

Thursday 16 April – An evening walk led by Calum to Ben Freiceadain with its stone rows and neolithic/ bronze age cairns. Leave Wick train station 6.30pm meeting Thurso 7.00pm

Sunday 3 May – The walking Festival – Geoff will lead us from Strathy Beach to Baligill and Captain Ivory’s cave. Cars leave Wick train station 9.30am meeting Thurso 10.00am

8-11 May Club Weekend in Ullapool. Fully booked but check with Marion – programme will be available soon. Geoff to lead. Cost - £49 per night D.B&B. Optional boat trip £22 pp.

Sunday 31 May – A walk to the old castle at Langwell with Francis – see description of Castle in Bulletin. Leave Thurso train station 9.30am and Wick 10am meet at the Garden Centre 10.30am

Wednesday 10 June – An Evening walk with Ken along the Thurso River leaving Wick train station 6.20pm and Thurso 6.50pm meeting at the Ellen Bridge car park 7.00pm.

Sunday 21 June – A trek to Cnoch Na Maranaich to see the solstice. Leaders – Jack and Myra.
Cars leave Thurso train station 7.30pm and Wick 8.00pm meeting at Dunbrae Croft .

Sunday 5 July – An outing with visiting civil engineers using the community bus which takes 12 people only. Bus leaves Thurso train station 11.25am joining our guests for lunch – soup and sandwiches – at MacKays Hotel Wick - 12.00 noon at our own expense. Jenny Bruce takes us to Keiss Telford Church and Harbour and to Wester loch pipe-bundle works. Book at the A.G.M.

Sunday 12 July – A sail to Stroma – the boat will leave Gills Harbour 10.00am. Cost £15 – 12 passengers .This is of course weather dependent. A second boat could leave at 11am if needed. Book with Marion ( 01847 892999)

Wednesday 15 July – Excavation at House of Peace Dunbeath – Christian site later used as a Norse fort. Leave Thurso train station 6.45pm - Wick 7.00pm meet Dunbeath car park.

Sunday 26 July – “Plant Life” is opening a new path – Loch Stemster to Munsary. This is the opening day – An all-day event. Everyone is invited and it will be well advertised .

Sunday 9 August – A walk in the Caen Burn Valley. Ken to lead – We leave Wick and Thurso train stations 9.30am meeting at the car park/toilets at Helmsdale

Sunday 6 September –Archaeology week walk – To Watenan, Cairn of Get, Yarows. Leave Thurso and Wick train stations 9.30am meeting at Watenan car park.

NON-MEMBERS ARE WELCOME. WE MEET AT THE TRAIN STATION CAR PARKS IN WICK AND THURSO. ARRIVE WEARING BOOTS AND SUITABLE CLOTHING WITH A PACKED LUNCH. EVERYONE COMES AT THEIR OWN RISK.
NO DOGS

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7 July 08
Outing To Grianan, Loch Hakel Near Tongue

Caithness Field Club members travelled to Lochan Hakel or Hakoin and then by a small rubber dingy on to an islet some 50 metres from the edge to see a small fort called 'Grianan'.  The fort is reputed  to have been a hunting lodge of the king of Norway (1217 - 63) after whom the Loch is named.  The walls are 6 - 7 feet thick and up to 5 ft high.  The single room measures 19 by 22ft.  There are no signs of doors or windows and the door may have been higher up originally.  The weather on the day was misty and later rain on the way back round the loch. 
A cup and ring stone can be found opposite the islet and has 34 cup marks and 11 of them have rings round them.
The group eat their lunch on the islet and stopped of at the Bettyhill hotel for coffee before returning home.
Geoff Leet and Bill Fernie paddled the boat the length of the loch to the island whilst the others walked round.  Geoff and Callum paddled back whilst Bill and the others walked round the other shore back to the cars.
Map ref NC569526

23 April 07
Caithness Field Club Outing To Brora and Golspie
On Sunday 22nd April 2007 Caithness Field Club members went on day trip to Brora and Golspie.  At Brora a local historian showed them round the Salt Pans area of Back Beach, Brora and described how the coal was used in the making of salt. Various features at the beach were noted and long the way spots of interest were pointed out. Buildings at the beach have in recent years become visible once again due to coastal erosion - they had been covered in sand dunes long ago.  Lunch was taken at the Royal Marine Hotel in Brora before the group boarded the bus to the next stop and walked along the picturesque Big Burn to the waterfall at the end.  For more information on history in Brora see www.clyneheritage.com

21 January 07
Rumster Forest
Field Club members set out on their first walk of 2007 on beautiful morning with the sun shining.  The small amount of now was crisp underfoot and made ideal conditions for walking along the tracks of the forest. the forest has a large number of long houses and some are easily visible at the old crofting village of Golsary.  Many of the houses were lived in until 1947 when it was all taken over for forestry.  At Golsary a broch sits behind on of the houses.  One of the houses also has a fine example of a drying kiln.  The walkers also took quick look at the burnt out remains of the Rumster Outdoor Centre that had been unused for some years and was burnet down in 2006.  The walk that was just over 4 miles took about 2and a half hours and members made it back to the cars just as the first icy rain of the day made an appearance  - perfect timing.

16 November 06
1991 Bulletin Added
With the ongoing help of Janet Mackenzie we are now heading for the last couple of Bulletins to complete the full set since publication began in 1973.  We also apologise that 1994 was previously wrongly listed as 1991.  This error has now been rectified.

11 November 06
Caithness Field Club Dinner
Caithness Field Club members met for their annual dinner at the Pentland Hotel, Thurso on Friday night.  chairman Geoff Leet introduced Lord Lieutenant Anne Dunnet as the guest speaker.
 

23 April 06
Bus Trip To Durness
Photos mainly taken through the bus window but very clear for all that.  Some outside at various places stopped off along the way.  Photos will be posted as time allows in coming weeks.

14 June 05
The Coast From Wick To Lybster - A Fantastic Trip At This Time Of Year
 
The Caithness Field Club hired the boat Freedom from Freedom Charters on Sunday and went along the coast from Wick to Lybster.  the group split into to groups and one lot travelled to Lybster and the group organised folk to drive cars back to wick for the folk coming the other way on the return.  What a fabulous trip it is at this time of year with hundreds of thousands of sea birds nesting along the coast. 

6 April 05
AGM 2005
At the AGM a good turn out. The same committee was re-elected for the coming year.  Myra Wilson showed some slides and Geoff Leet ran fun competition testing the skills of the audience in identifying some features from buildings around the county.  It was confirmed that the club weekend is fully booked but members who want to can leave their name with Marion in case of a cancellation.

Recent Field Club Bulletin Published here is 1975 October edition completed March 05

29 August 04
Earl Of Caithness Shows Caithness Field Club Girnigoe Castle As Excavation Work Gets Going
Malcolm Sinclair, Earl of Caithness showed members of Caithness Field Club around Girnigoe Castle and in particular the places where archaeologists have begun their work on a number of excavations.  Almost anywhere they look they have made important discoveries.  Even holes dug to prepare foundations for scaffolding have uncovered walls and foundations of other buildings.  New towers, a barbican, a seat to wait on before the castle doors were opened and much more are being uncovered.   Much more is anticipated in the next 12 months.  The castle will remain closed to the public until at least August 2005 when it is hoped to allow closer views of the work in progress.

2004 Bulletin Now Being Added
To obtain a printed copy all you need to do is become a member of the Caithness Field Club.  In addition to the Bulletin you can head off on many interesting walks and trips and in the winter months head for one of several talks about a range of subjects.  The Caithness Field Club also publishes a range of booklets on a variety of aspects of Caithness archaeology, history and more.

Learable Hill Sunday 8 August 2004

19 April 04
Talmine Trip - Sunday 18 April 2004

16 February 04
Summer 2004 Programme Announced - See Below
The Caithness Field Club has organised another interesting programme of outings for members and any one who is interested whether locals of visitors.

Annual Field Club Dinner 16 November 03
Dr Jack Dunnet (Right) from Freswick and famous for his work in plant breeding particularly in potatoes was the speaker at this years annual dinner held in the Portland Arms Hotel, Lybster.  He is seen her with Geoff Leet, Chairman and David Oliver.