Monument

The Fyrish Monument is a monument built in 1782 on Fyrish Hill (Cnoc Fhaoighris), in Fyrish near Alness, Easter Ross, Scotland, on the orders of Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar, a native lord of the area who had served in India as a general. As the local population were being cleared off their land, employment was a problem and so it was built to give the locals some work. It was said that Sir Hector rolled stones from the top of the hill to the bottom, thereby extending the amount of time worked and paying the labourers for additional hours.^[1]

 

 

I had mentioned to Joan & Chubs that if I could, I’d like to take in the view from the monument the next day but knew that getting there might be tough.  So  I was quite surprised when at around 11:30 there was a knock on my door and the staff member told me I had a visitor.  Ian had come to give me a lift to the car park at the base of the Monument so the 4.5 mile trek was eliminated.  Nice.  Very nice indeed.  A few minutes later I was sitting in his van getting a tour of the countryside.

I think I can let the photos take the narrative for a bit now.

About a mile up the trail this wee lochan was sparkyly and so was a nice stop as the trail was a bit washed out here.

But the views were getting longer.

It turns out not only are these mushrooms which I left edible, they are not cheap in a market.  There were 5-6

 

Lots of wet bog and heather to walk through to see the view opposite the Firth

And wild strawberries were beginning to emerge

I had to remember to look down occasionally to prevent stepping into one of these small pools

And the oil rigs are queuing up for disassembly.

Someone tucked this wee plaque under the tree

If you can’t get good reception from the top of a large hill, I don’t know where you can, but this being the highlands, known for dodgy reception I was nervous but I was soon chatting with Chubs who was waiting for me when I got back to the car park an hour later.  He refused both tea or pint saying simply that he tried to do one nice thing for someone every day.  Nice philosophy and nice man.  Thanks for a great walk.  So much better than sitting in a hotel room and resting.  I can do that tomorrow on the train!