Whaligoe Steps, Caithness

A few of the man-made 365 (supposed) steps leading down the very steep, high, almost perpendicular cliffs to a tiny, secluded and narrow harbour, now disused but once thriving, where up to fourteen herring fishing boats once plied their trade. The area is now a quite unique tourist attraction and a haven for wildlife of all descriptions, from birds to flowers to insects etc.
PS - for those who are interested, the life for the fishermen and women who lived locally here was hard. Both the fishermen and fisherwomen would go down the steps. The women would launch the little fishing boats (which would entail them getting very wet), then carry their menfolk piggy- back style out to the their boats so that the men could go fishing without having to spend all day or however long it took sitting in wet clothing. While the men went fishing the women, usually their wives, daughters or sisters, would return to their homes and change into dry clothing. The fisherwomen, when they saw the fishing boats return, would go down all those steps / cliff face, gut the herring in the haven at the base, then carry the weighty creel on their backs all the way up that almost perpendicular climb and finally walk all the way in to Wick (7 miles) to sell their wares. Definitely not an easy life!

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