Last weekend I was invited to visit Ackergill Tower; a luxury historic hotel that sits on the shoreline of Sinclair Bay in the Scottish Highlands.
Approaching Ackergill Tower, I noticed an astonishing resemblance to Dauphine Du Maruier’s Manderley in Rebecca. Turning off the main road 10 miles south of the highest point in mainland UK, John O’Groats, we entered the long drive with thick brush on either side blocking the view of the vast pasturelands. As the vegetation diminished, the 15th century tower came into clear sight, immaculately set on a cliff overlooking the North Sea. The exterior appeared untouched to the weathering of time, if it were not for the modern window frames, you would have easily felt you had transported back to the Middle Ages.
We indulged in a stunning assortment of dainties at our welcome reception of afternoon tea in the drawing room, and as the sun set the hotel manager led us on a tour of the grounds, the soft light exposing its raw beauty. As we strolled he recounted the most interesting historic tales; it’s most famed story is that of the abduction of Helen Gunn. Dugald Keith, a later ruler of Ackergill, had fallen for ‘The Beauty of Braemore’ and became enraged after learning she was to wed another. He abducted Helen from her home on her wedding night and held her prisoner in the tower. Unable to cope with her abhorrent captor, Helen took her life by leaping from the top of the tower. Legend has it that her spirit ‘The Green Lady’ can be seen wandering the grounds to this day. I never saw her fortunately but was scared enough to sleep with the lights on that night!
After a pub dinner they invited us for hot chocolate and baileys on the beach. It’s a tradition of theirs to warm guests up with the largest bonfire they can possibly build. When we arrived on the beach front the staff were furiously trying to ignite planks of wood piled 10 feet high. They stared in confusion, as even though the the planks were drenched in over 2 gallons of gasoline, remained stubborn and would not catch a flame (from a blowtorch might I add). One hour later she finally sparked and the blaze was roaring, we stood memorised by the dancing light, thankful we had not retired earlier. We discovered later that the planks had been dropped off by a local demolition company, and as they had been used as floorboards, had a fire-resistant coating on them. We should send a positive review to that manufacturer… it was an extremely effective coating, much to our bonfire’s dismay.
With the extensive grounds and prime location comes an endless array of activities to partake in. I’m not a gun advocate by any means- in all honesty I’m a little scared of them, but I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to learn how to use one. Clay pigeon shooting is a popular past time in the UK, and they brought in the big guns (pun intended) for our lesson. Our instructor was a famed hunter in the region, and as if I wasn’t already nervous enough, he looked at all of us before we started and said, ‘Alright guys, this shot gun will blow you to shreds if it hits you, so just don’t point it at anyone when it’s loaded.’ After that he called us up and we shot clay pigeons out of the sky, or at least attempted to. Considering I’m blind as a bat, ironically I didn’t do half bad- actually I did quite well, but I still don’t like guns and was relieved to move onto the next activity: a Land Rover ride to John O’Groats.
Their Michelin Star quality dining experience entailed whiskey tastings, an imperial dinner with bag pipe entertainment, traditional dressing attire and of course Haggis (which I still can’t stomach), but my absolute favourite part of the weekend was climbing the the lookout at the top of the tower and star-gazing. It’s been a while since I’ve seen more stars than sky, and was beginning to forget how humbling it is to witness.
Ackergill Tower opens your eyes to a whole new side of the United Kingdom; a place that allows you to step back in time without having to sacrifice contemporary luxuries, and the best part- I really did feel like I was in Game of Thrones hiking back to the castle after our afternoon walks.
Live Like Lenai 