I resume my account of my Scottish holiday (28 May to 5 June) with an account of the Thursday which featured a visit to Castle Mey.
THE CASTLE ITSELF
We started our visit to this landmark with seeing what we could of the castle itself. Unfortunately only a tiny fraction of the building was open to the public, and just as unfortunately they had a no indoor photography rule which annoyed me. They also focussed their information purely on the building’s last private owner, the Queen Mother, completely ignoring its prior history as one of the Sinclair family (earls of Caithness for centuries) seats.
THE GARDENS
The gardens are spectacular, although our exploration did not begin well – we tried to enter the walled garden through an entrance that was clearly signed as being the way in only to be snapped at by an overly officious attendant who did point us to the correct way in – they had instituted a one-way system round the walled garden due to Covid but had not bothered to update their signage. Once we had cleared that hurdle however all went very nicely.
THE ANIMALS
After the gardens it was time to go and look at the animals. These were quite remarkable, including a variety of birds ranging from finches to geese, as well as sheep, piglets, pygmy goats and a donkey. There was also a lot of information available about all the animals we encountered there.
After we had finished looking at the animals we had some food and drink at the cafe before heading off.
DUNCANSBY HEAD
After Castle Mey we paid a quick visit to Duncansby Head, to see the view from the top (see wildlife cruise for another angle on this location).
PHOTOGRAPHS
I have plenty of photographs of everything save the inside of the castle…
The castle 
Saxony ducks – they look a little like supersized mallards. 
Looking ahead to the morrow, when I would be in Wick. 
A couple of views of Stroma (the name derives from the same root as maelstrom) en route from the castle to Duncansby Head. 
aspiblog 