Villages
in Easter Ross.

It’s 20:07 in Easter Ross.
Easter Ross

Fishing villages of the Tarbat peninsula.

The villages of Easter Ross grew up on fishing, and they still face the sea. On the Moray Firth shore, Hilton of Cadboll is the northern end of the Seaboard villages, with old winches on the grass above the waves and a Pictish cross-slab by the footings of its chapel. Across the peninsula, Portmahomack curves round a sandy bay that looks west to the hills of Sutherland. Lobster creels stack up on its little stone harbour, and rock pools appear at low tide. From Portmahomack, the lighthouse at Tarbat Ness is three miles on, an easy walk or a short drive.

From the magazine9 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 09Issue 09Autumn / Winter 2024-25

Portmahomack, a fishing village in Easter Ross, is on Scotland's east coast but faces west, and a berth in its harbour means a wait of 25 to 30 years.

On the Tarbat Peninsula, the quirks of the local geography turn the village back across the Dornoch Firth. Its partly sheltered spot has drawn settlers for millennia, with shell middens dating back to at least 1,000 BC. Fishing kept it busy, and some 40,000 lobsters were caught in the spring of 1792 alone. Its harbour was designed by the engineer Thomas Telford, and today it is a popular spot for sailing, fishing and wildlife boat trips in waters renowned for their dolphins. Take a walk out to Tarbat Ness Lighthouse, standing since 1830, which at 43 metres is the tallest lighthouse on the Scottish mainland.

See Portmahomack · Easter Ross

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