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Badbea: the blast from the past

Badbea: the blast from the past


Postby BlackPanther » Mon Oct 21, 2019 2:57 pm

Route description: Badbea - Clearance Village

Date walked: 09/10/2019

Time taken: 1 hours

Distance: 2.7 km

Ascent: 190m

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Due to the Google bug havoc in the last couple of weeks, I spent every spare hour repairing old reports and had no time to post anything new. Now, time to redeem myself. Apologies if the following TRs are shorter than usual, I simply have no time to do detailed research :(

Three weeks ago, when the whole country was still awaiting hurricane Lorenzo, we decided to go on a quick excursion to the far north-east of Scotland. Weather was far too windy and gloomy to climb any hills, but the area of Caithness/Sutherland is full of archeological sites and lovely low level walks. We picked an interesting heritage trail in Dunbeath Strath, but on the way up we stopped for a short visit in the abandoned village of Badbea.

Badbea is officially named "a clearance village" though this is not 100% precise. The village was actually created in 1792 to accommodate families cleared from the glens and it was abandoned in early 20th century simply due to the changes in fishing industry (herring fishing was replaced by salmon fishing, requiring less workforce, as a result people moved away to seek a better life).
The ruins are partially overgrown and situated on a slope falling away towards vertical cliffs, so care is needed when exploring the village, especially in wet conditions!

Track_BADBEA 05-10-19.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts


According to this article in The Scotsman:
One settlement where the aftermath of the Clearances can be seen is Badbea, in Caithness, where two waves of evicted locals ended up – in 1793 and then in 1802. When they arrived, the inhospitable moorland was bare and they had to build their own houses from scratch in the teeth of fierce North Sea winds. Many were from nearby Ousdale, where landowner Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster wanted to introduce sheep. Others came from Kildonan and Auchencraig, not far by today's standards but a world apart from the windswept clifftop of Badbea.
The car park on the south side of the A9 is well marked. At the start of the path towards the ruins we found an information board with some details about the history of Badbea:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 160.JPG

We followed a well worn path towards the cliffs:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 163.JPG

It was a windy morning and even as we walked to the village, wrapped in warm clothing, we wondered how harsh it must have been to live here...
Kevin on the path through the gorse bushes:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 167.JPG

Looking south along the cliffs, we spotted the outlines of several ruined houses, hidden in the vegetation:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 004.JPG

Soon we reached the most prominent feature on the cliffs - a stone monument, erected by David Sutherland, the descendant of one of Badbea inhabitants, to commemorate the families who lived and worked here for over 100 years. The names of Badbea residents are engraved in the monument:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 006.JPG

It was a very sombre moment for me and even when posing with Lucy by the monument, I was trying to imagine how this village looked like when still inhabited. The legend has it, that cattle, hens and even children had to be tethered to prevent them being blown over the cliffs :shock: :shock:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 014.JPG

Near the monument, we found a second info board:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 017.JPG

The good path ends by the monument, but having taken a few photos, we located a rougher path leading to the nearest ruined building:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 011.JPG

The outline of this house is still obvious. I'm not a specialist on historic rural architecture, but I guess it was the kind of building divided in two, with one half accommodating people, the other one - animals. Most families here kept a cow, a few pigs and a handful of chickens, but interestingly, there was only one horse to serve the whole village!
2019-10-05 dunbeath 018.JPG

Kevin photographing the ruins:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 170.JPG

A corner of the dilapidated house:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 173.JPG

Further to the south and closer to the cliffs, we noticed more ruins so we decided to investigate them. We spotted a narrow path heading in that direction, so we rushed through the high vegetation to reach them. The ground was wet and slippery, but for Kevin such conditions are nothing new :wink:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 177.JPG

Looking back up the path, the monument visible to the right:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 027.JPG

We crossed a tiny stream (care needed here, the stream flows in a steep ravine and the path on both sides is very eroded!) and reached the cluster of ruins closer to the shore:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 179.JPG

There are good views from here to the sea and the mighty cliffs:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 035.JPG

We found two ruined houses surrounded by stone dykes with several animal pens. The inside of the buildings was a bit overgrown and flourishing gorse barred access to some corners, but we still managed some interesting photos:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 040.JPG

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2019-10-05 dunbeath 041.JPG

I noticed this round structure and wondered, could it have been a hearth of some sort?
2019-10-05 dunbeath 195.JPG

It was so sad to see the disappearing remains of a village once full of life... But on the other hand, Badbea was not the friendliest of environments, surviving here must have been very harsh, so no wonder, when jobs in the fishing industry became scarce, people simply left.
2019-10-05 dunbeath 053.JPG

Today, only sheep (and occasional tourists) wander amongst the ruins...
2019-10-05 dunbeath 200.JPG

...and the abandoned houses are a painful reminder of the cruelty of clearances :(
2019-10-05 dunbeath 203.JPG

I believe that Badbea was located in such a windswept spot simply, because the land was of no other practical use to the then owner, so just as well put people there. They could hardly make ends meet on these windy slopes, but the rich landowners couldn't care less. The better, more fertile ground was destined for sheep grazing!
2019-10-05 dunbeath 208.JPG

Having explored the ruins, we spent some time walking along the cliffs, photographing the natural scenery. I believe in summertime these cliffs would be alive with nesting seabirds, but it was now well past the breeding season and all I saw were a few seagulls flying past.
2019-10-05 dunbeath 211.JPG

Looking south along the cliffs:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 060.JPG

There is a faint path following the line of the cliffs (part of the John o'Groats Trail) but the edge is hard to judge due to lush vegetation. Kevin knew well enough to stay at safe distance!
2019-10-05 dunbeath 214.JPG

One last look at the cliffs before we returned to the monument:
2019-10-05 dunbeath 218.JPG

We have been to several abandoned villages (Suisnish on Skye being just one example) but this visit was especially moving. Life in Badbea was always hard, always a struggle and the inhabitants didn't choose this spot - they were evicted from their original homes in nearby glens, like the Strath of Berriedale. All I can say is, I admire the Badbeans, their strength and will to survive in this windswept little world on the edge of land and sea.

From Badbea, we drove to Dunbeath to walk the local heritage trail in Dunbeath Strath. TR to follow.

Links to pages with more information about Badbea:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badbea
https://www.britainexpress.com/scotland/Highlands/Caithness/badbea.htm
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BlackPanther
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Re: Badbea: the blast from the past

Postby Border Reiver » Mon Oct 21, 2019 11:04 pm

Love the photos, that area has strong connections for me. We visited Helmsdale last year, but never made it any further, We were trying to trace my ancestors and had a great deal of success at the brilliant Timespan Heritage centre. It turns out that my Great Grandfather's family (Sutherland clan) were cleared from Kildonan Glen in the mid 1800's and because of their relatively good trades (ploughman, teacher, seamstress) were settled in Helmsdale village in a large house. My mother's grandfather trained to be a teacher in Edinburgh and moved to a Northumberland village as headmaster of the local school. They were the lucky ones. As your pictures show, life must have been extremely tough for most. I read of a shepherd who witnessed over 200 houses burning during one night in Kildonan Glen. I suppose in these days, this would have been called "Ethnic Cleansing", yet it's never mentioned in films or TV. A disgraceful part of Scottish history.
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Border Reiver
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Re: Badbea: the blast from the past

Postby BlackPanther » Tue Oct 22, 2019 4:35 pm

Border Reiver wrote:Love the photos, that area has strong connections for me. We visited Helmsdale last year, but never made it any further, We were trying to trace my ancestors and had a great deal of success at the brilliant Timespan Heritage centre. It turns out that my Great Grandfather's family (Sutherland clan) were cleared from Kildonan Glen in the mid 1800's and because of their relatively good trades (ploughman, teacher, seamstress) were settled in Helmsdale village in a large house. My mother's grandfather trained to be a teacher in Edinburgh and moved to a Northumberland village as headmaster of the local school. They were the lucky ones. As your pictures show, life must have been extremely tough for most. I read of a shepherd who witnessed over 200 houses burning during one night in Kildonan Glen. I suppose in these days, this would have been called "Ethnic Cleansing", yet it's never mentioned in films or TV. A disgraceful part of Scottish history.


Badbea is a fascinating place to visit, if for very sad reasons. The very purpose of this village was to accommodate the unwanted locals. Basically, they were treated like garbage :( I'm surprised this subject is not widely discussed in public, like a shameful stain which should be hidden from view.

We don't have any family connections to the far north of Scotland, but I could easily find similar "cleansing" stories in polish history, even post-war. My own grandfather inherited a well prospering smithery in late 1940-ties, but was forced to sell it to the state for a fraction of what it was worth, as the whole village was being turned into a collective. The communist regime didn't like private owners. The fact that my granddad served in the Royal Navy during the war didn't help, either, he was "the state enemy" who had helped the bad capitalists from the west.
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BlackPanther
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Posts: 3839
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Joined: Nov 2, 2010
Location: Beauly, Inverness-shire

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