Highlands & Islands Facts

St Kilda men gathered in The Street to discuss work they needed to do as a group. It was referred to as a Parliament by a visitor in 1838. Suilvean is part of the North West Highland Geopark. There is another Geopark in Shetland. Elgin Cathedral is home to the tallest gravestone in Scotland. It is 5 metres high and records the deaths of the Anderson family over a period of 139 years. Skara Brae on Orkney is the oldest building in Britain, dating from 3100 BC. Ardnamurchan Lighthouse is at the most westerly point on the British mainland. McCaig’s Tower in Oban was commissioned as a way of keeping local stonemasons employed during the winter. The shortest scheduled flight in the world is one and a half miles long from Westray to Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands. The journey takes 1 minute 14 seconds to complete. The strongest gust of wind ever recorded in the UK was on the Cairngorm Summit on 20 March 1986. The wind speed was 173mph.

Highlands & Islands Featured landmarks

Ardnamurchan Lighthouse, Ben Nevis, Elgin Cathedral, John O’Groats, Loch Ness, McCaigs Tower, Skara Brae, St Kilda, Suilven, Tobermory, Up Helly A