My Highland Haven

Sunday 12th November 2023

Walk tick points

• Parking: Yes, free car park tucked away off a long drive off a quiet road
• Poo bin: No but plenty in Ardgay on the drive home
• Terrain: Fairly undulating, some paths tighter and harder to transverse than others but most paths very wide and accessible
• Walk length: 2.75 miles // 1hr 31mins (Cut it slightly short for Elodie)
• Score: 9/10 – Very beautiful & peaceful, dogs loved it

We woke up Sunday morning to a thick blanket of fog and confirmation from the weather forecast it was covering most of Sutherland. Loving all the colour change and the vibrancy of the foliage at the moment, I really wanted to do another forest walk, or at least somewhere with lots of trees.

Getting to Carbisdale

We picked Carbisdale after seeing some pictures on a local Facebook group and headed up towards Ardgay. As we came into the village, we saw the brown road sign telling us the Carbisdale Forest Walk was 4 miles away. We followed the road which was mostly single track as it meandered alongside the banks of the Kyle of Sutherland towards Culrain. I initially drove past the car park, I saw the grand gates with the wheelie bins outside and mistook it for a private residence but soon saw the green Forestry Commission sign through the trees so headed back.

Parking and setting off

There was a small car park, with enough space for a few cars alongside what looked like an abandoned fire engine. And a sign saying the bike trails in Carbisdale Forest have been decommissioned and no longer inspected or maintained but walkers and cyclists are still welcome to wonder about the forest. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m still unsure about this whole Outdoor Access Code and Right to Roam so I’m always much happier when I see a clearly marked footpath or even better, a sign telling me I might wonder about!

About Carbisdale Castle – the new owner

We walked left out the car park towards what turned out to be Carbisdale Castle. Even in the mist it looked beautiful. It used to be a hostel but is now a private residence.

I’m not usually one to focus on the history or the significance of a place, I prefer to just walk and take in the surroundings. However, after reading a banner outside the castle saying Lady Samantha Kane would like to congratulate the king and queen on the occasion of the coronation, it triggered a memory. James and I remembered reading a news story about this castle and its new owner.

According to media reports (of which there are many), the new owner is the only person in the world to have gone through surgery to change their gender three times. Born male, Iraqi born Sam had surgery to become a woman before reverting to a man then deciding to go back to being a woman again. I take anything reported in the media with a pinch of salt but one article quotes her as saying although she’s always been a woman, she felt she had to transition back to being a man to mend family relations and because of how badly she felt she was treated as a woman compared to a man. But that wasn’t a good enough reason to live a lie so she went back to being a woman. One article even quotes her as saying “being a woman is not a triumph, but a curse”. I’ve had some really crappy experiences in my life because of my gender. From a father who thinks women’s rights is an oxymoron to bosses who would brag about taking up skirt photos and others who would expect a laugh at the tired joke about the rooms women belong in but the boardroom isn’t one – yeah, in my experience, men can be pigs. But being a woman isn’t a curse, it’s something to stand on to make me stronger. I will speak up, I’ll call out a bigot and I’ll not allow prehistoric amoebas in my life. But to be fair, from everything I’ve read, Lady Samantha Kane maybe the one person in the whole world to have such a unique, first hand experience.

Anyway, I digress. Lady Samantha Kane recently bought this castle as something of an impulse purchase. She apparently fell in love with its charm and felt its history and original owner resonated with her and she wanted to restore this magnificent building to its rightful glory. As a very wealthy self made woman, she’s apparently not phased by the work this castle needs.

About Carbisdale Castle – the original owner

Originally built by Mary Caroline, Duchess of Sutherland, the second wife of the 3rd Duke of Sutherland it has been labelled a ‘spite castle’. After her first husband died in a hunting ‘accident’, she married the duke just four months after his first wife died – not considered the done thing in polite Victorian society, something which it’s even rumoured Queen Victoria tried to tell the Duke. After the Duke’s death three years into their, he left almost everything to her and it cheesed his family (from his first marriage) off royally. Following a court battle, the burning of some important paperwork and even a brief stint in jail, Lady Mary was given a healthy chunk of cash and told she must leave Sutherland so she did. She built her new castle just over the boarder in Ross-shire, on the top of a huge hill which the rail line passed just beneath. Every time her deceased husband’s family travelled by train, they’d look up to see her castle towering over them. It’s even rumoured the reason there’s a clock face on three of the four sides is because she refused to let them have a clock face as she wouldn’t give them the time of day.

Given the Duke of Sutherland’s family played a huge role in the Scottish clearances, I’m personally included to give a round of applause to anyone that family evicted from their home who was able to get some revenge – power to you sister!

The actual walk around the forest

Once I pulled my nose out my phone (or more precisely, once my signal became non existent), we turned onto a path into the wood directly opposite the castle gates. Knowing that I was walking around the land currently and previously owned by strong woman, I felt strangely invigorated.

The initial paths were very narrow with lots of foliage but the dogs were loving it and their noses going ten to the dozen. We saw what I’m assuming were view points but with the fog being so thick, they were just very eerie drops into a grey abys. I’m sure on a clear day, those views would have been spectacular.

We climbed higher and higher and although it was quite steep, it wasn’t an arduous climb. It was completely silent with the exception of sporadic bird song, the wind through the trees and various sources of water ranging from gentle trickles to roaring rapids.

We missed the footpath at one point and ended up climbing an old bike trail which lead to an open tracked path. The colours were so phenomenal and the air so clear. In six years of walking our dogs everywhere, I’ve never seen them as constantly engaged with a single walk. They were pulling all the time, continuously pulling, weaving from side to side and so keen to explore every little sniff. I had several instances where I almost go pulled over. Whilst we usually discourage this behaviour (they usually walk on the lead very nicely), they just seemed so happy. Even Elodie found a little spot she wanted to run her chops on and she never stops for sniffs on walks.

After about 50mins, the path started to descend and the route parallels the Culrain Burn which alternated between a gentle tickle and roaring over rocks.

We could have taken a longer route back, it was so beautiful, I could have happily walked about there all day. But as we had Elodie with us, we didn’t want to push her too hard so we did the shorter loop and soon ended up back at the car.

In the end we walked 2.75miles in 1.5 hours. We’ll definitely be heading back to this one. Not only did we absolutely love it, but the dogs seemed just as enamoured – next time we’ll have to make sure we’re not walking in such thick fog!