Against All Odds

by Mike Clark

As you look north over the Pentland Firth, with a fierce wind blowing uninterrupted from the Arctic circle, it is hard to believe any plant could survive in this place. The salt-laden gales blow continuously here, just west of Dunnet Head, which is the most northerly point on mainland Britain.

Yet at your back is a young deciduous woodland, thriving against all the odds.

This is Castlehill, on the seaward side of the village of Castletown in the far north of Scotland. And this is no ordinary woodland.

In the 19th century Caithness flagstone was quarried here, and shipped from the tiny Castlehill harbour to be used as paving in the UK and abroad. In 1877, the Caithness Flagstone Quarrying Company recorded customers in Bombay, Calcutta, Dunedin, Melbourne and Sydney. And indeed, a meat factory in Argentina was floored with flags. Closer to home, flagstone paved the concourse of Euston Station.

Quarrying ceased in the 1920’s, and the gaping hole was used as a landfill site for decades, before being reinstated to agricultural grazing.

However, in 1996 a bold project was conceived by the landowner and the local Community Council. The wisdom of attempting to establish a predominantly native woodland on such an inhospitable site was questioned by many, but enthusiasm and optimism prevailed.

Now almost a decade later, woodland birds abound in these eight hectares of young trees – an oasis in an area where tree cover is sparse.

Willow can be found on the most exposed fringes, and scattered throughout, offering some shelter to the slower-growing species. Common alder has thrived. Common by name, alder is rare among broadleaved trees in that it bears cones. Whitebeam is succeeding too, and it is certainly one of the most salt- and exposure-tolerant of our native trees. It’s close relative, the rowan or mountain ash is here in abundance too, as are ash, hawthorn and a few Scots pine.

Wild flowers are benefiting from the shelter, and the clearings are filled with trefoils, vetches and early purple orchids.

Apart from the paths being mown a couple of times a year, Nature is left to look after the woodland as she sees fit, and despite the poor soil and Arctic winds, she’s doing a pretty good job.

Access is encouraged, and from the car park at the western end there are waymarked paths, information boards and picnic tables. In the section of the wood nearest the car park lurk some familiar wooden figures,

 and several flagstone sculptures.

But the main interest at Castlehill is the defiant success of the young trees, and the progressive colonisation of the area by wild flowers and birds.

In the past, we quarried the stone, then deposited our rubbish. Now we have given this land back to Nature.

© Mike Clark 2005

Published in Wildlife & Countryside magazine February 2006. Sadly this magazine went bust after little more than a year. Not only do they owe me money, but they have valuable slides of mine which they refuse to return. I know all about insolvency, and I know I'm not going to get paid. But I also know that they cannot legally retain my slides. But it's going to cost more than I can afford to mount a legal challenge to get my slides back. There is a flaw in the law here. Am I bitter? Damned right I am.