{"id":2905,"date":"2010-09-27T07:29:09","date_gmt":"2010-09-27T11:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=2905"},"modified":"2018-08-05T21:44:51","modified_gmt":"2018-08-06T01:44:51","slug":"2905","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=2905","title":{"rendered":"Monday, September 27, 2010 \u2014 Scabster, Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>

Dun\u00adnet Head ( Ceann D\u00f9naid ) in Caith\u00adness, Scot\u00adland. The north\u00adern\u00admost point on the British main\u00adland. Lat\u00adi\u00adtude 58\u00b040\u203221\u2033N lon\u00adgi\u00adtude 03\u00b022\u203231\u2033W.<\/p><\/div>\n

The sea is calm, dap\u00adpled with sun\u00adlight. I\u2019m in the dock\u00adside \u201cPeerie Cafe,\u201d wait\u00ading for the fer\u00adry to Strom\u00adness, in Orkney. Through the win\u00addow, I can see a bleak head\u00adland that is the north\u00adern\u00admost point of the main\u00adland of the Unit\u00aded King\u00addom. Clos\u00ader to me, sheep are graz\u00ading on a six\u00adty degree slope \u2014 some\u00adthing I\u2019ve nev\u00ader seen before. The timid Meri\u00adno breed that I\u2019m famil\u00adiar with would nev\u00ader do such a thing. This is the first calm meal and cof\u00adfee that I\u2019ve had since I left Toron\u00adto. It\u2019s been a pre\u00adcip\u00adi\u00adtent journey.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Scab\u00adster, Caith\u00adness. Jump off point for Orkney.<\/p><\/div>\n

The flight from Toron\u00adto to Gatwick was unevent\u00adful, and with\u00adout delays. At Gatwick, I found out that a flight to Orkney that I could afford was out of the ques\u00adtions. Good prices were only for those with cred\u00adit cards, a fra\u00adter\u00adni\u00adty to which I don\u2019t belong. How\u00adev\u00ader, I could catch a train at a scan\u00addalous\u00adly low price if I were to run, not walk, the the British Rail plat\u00adform, switch to the Under\u00adground at Tow\u00ader Bridge, pur\u00adchase the tick\u00adet at St. Pan\u00adcras, and then run, not walk down the Euston Road to Euston Sta\u00adtion in time to catch the Glas\u00adgow train. This I did, step\u00adping into the train lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly as it was clos\u00ading its doors and pulling out. I had to make my way through the var\u00adi\u00adous high\u00ader class\u00ades to be among the com\u00admon\u00aders at the far end of the train. Keep in mind that this was all done while car\u00adry\u00ading a heavy pack full of camp\u00ading equipment.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Per\u00adpen\u00addic\u00adu\u00adlar grazing.<\/p><\/div>\n

I had not slept since the pre\u00advi\u00adous morn\u00ading, and I was\u00adn\u2019t going to sleep for some time. I have great dif\u00adfi\u00adcul\u00adty sleep\u00ading sit\u00adting up, or even reclined on bus or plane seat. The Thomas Cook Air\u00adways food had been sparse and unape\u00adtiz\u00ading. I was rav\u00aden\u00adous, and found myself shame\u00adless\u00adly spend\u00ading the equiv\u00ada\u00adlent of $9 Cana\u00addi\u00adan for a pack\u00adage sand\u00adwich of hard to iden\u00adti\u00adfy con\u00adtents, and a cup of instant cof\u00adfee. But the girl serv\u00ading the train\u2019s tuck\u00adshop was charm\u00ading. There would be no pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty of any\u00adthing sub\u00adstan\u00adtial until I reached the north\u00adern tip of Scot\u00adland. Both my con\u00adnec\u00adtions would be quick.<\/p>\n

So I sat back to study the Eng\u00adlish coun\u00adtry\u00adside, which is always a plea\u00adsure. Eng\u00adlish city-scapes are depress\u00ading, because mod\u00adern build\u00adings are plunked aggres\u00adsive\u00adly into old\u00ader neigh\u00adbour\u00adhoods. Near\u00adly iden\u00adti\u00adcal build\u00adings would look fine in a Cana\u00addi\u00adan city, because they would look like they belonged, and there would be built with an eye to fit\u00adting in with old\u00ader build\u00adings. But here, slabs of glass and con\u00adcrete are foist\u00aded on tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal neigh\u00adbour\u00adhoods like an inva\u00adsion of con\u00adquer\u00ading alien space\u00adships, con\u00adtemp\u00adtu\u00adous of the natives.<\/p>\n

But the Eng\u00adlish coun\u00adtry\u00adside is treat\u00aded with more respect. It is still wor\u00adthy of an Elgar or a Vaugh\u00adan Williams back\u00adground score. The train pass\u00ades count\u00adless vil\u00adlages that could have host\u00aded Mid\u00adSomer Mur\u00adders, and the fields are thick\u00adly pop\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded with sheep and cat\u00adtle, graz\u00ading togeth\u00ader. The sheep appar\u00adent\u00adly going for the short grass after the cat\u00adtle have tak\u00aden the long. The cows in the Mid\u00adlands have com\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly large udders. Gor\u00adgeous hors\u00ades frol\u00adic in stone-walled pad\u00addocks, obvi\u00adous\u00adly frus\u00adtrat\u00aded by the small spaces. Crows flock and dis\u00adperse to a mys\u00adte\u00adri\u00adous rhythm.<\/p>\n

Leav\u00ading the Mid\u00adlands, we passed through Wigan, which I know from George Orwell\u2019s Road to Wigan Pier<\/em>. It now seems a pleas\u00adant Lan\u00adcashire town, but you can see, tucked away here and there, some grim res\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial streets and ruined Vic\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan ware\u00adhous\u00ades that hint at Orwell\u2019s account of an old\u00ader, hard\u00ader life.a<\/p>\n

The Lan\u00adcashire coun\u00adtry\u00adside shows obvi\u00adous rem\u00adnants of the Ice Age. There are long post-glacial eskers and tear-drop shaped drum\u00adlins scat\u00adtered across the land. Fur\u00adther along, in Cum\u00adbria, the views upgrade to won\u00adder\u00adful. This is the Lake Dis\u00adtrict made famous by Wordsworth and the oth\u00ader Roman\u00adtic poets. The vil\u00adlages here set\u00adtle into the hol\u00adlows between the high hills, which are dot\u00adted with sheep. It is still, how\u00adev\u00ader, a thick\u00adly pop\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded, human-shaped landscsape.<\/p>\n

Every\u00adthing changes dra\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly when you cross into Scot\u00adland. Unbound\u00aded for\u00adest, rather than dis\u00adcreet clumps of trees hemmed in by fences, walls and roads. Strings road\u00adside hous\u00ades and iso\u00adlat\u00aded build\u00adings rather than focused vil\u00adlages. A gen\u00ader\u00adal air of human tran\u00adsience in a wild land\u00adscape. In short, a Cana\u00addi\u00adan feel\u00ading. And this was mere\u00adly the South\u00adern High\u00adlands, the first line of defense against erst\u00adwhile invaders from the south\u2026 where the Romans pru\u00addent\u00adly stopped.<\/p>\n

Arriv\u00ading at Glas\u00adgow Cen\u00adtral Sta\u00adtion, I had fif\u00adteen min\u00adutes to catch a train to Inver\u00adness, all of which was spent in a brisk walk to Glas\u00adgow Queen Sta\u00adtion. All I can say about the train ride through the Cen\u00adtral and North\u00adeast\u00adern High\u00adlands is that it is fabous\u00adly, extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnar\u00adi\u00adly beau\u00adti\u00adful. The forests of spruce, pine, and birch re-inforced the the impres\u00adsion of Canadian-likeness.<\/p>\n

I arrived exhaust\u00aded, and fell asleep in a hos\u00adtel bed at Thur\u00adso, after thir\u00adty sev\u00aden hours with\u00adout sleep. And now I enjoy a Scot\u00adtish break\u00adfast by the sea.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sea is calm, dap\u00adpled with sun\u00adlight. I\u2019m in the dock\u00adside \u201cPeerie Cafe,\u201d wait\u00ading for the fer\u00adry to Strom\u00adness, in Orkney. Through the win\u00addow, I can see a bleak head\u00adland that is the north\u00adern\u00admost point of the main\u00adland of the Unit\u00aded King\u00addom. Closer \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-aq-blog-2010"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2905"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7770,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905\/revisions\/7770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}