The Whaligoe Steps are a precious and beautiful vestige of a much harsher time, almost lost to time in the distant north east of Scotland. The herring, cod and haddock that was landed in this tiny natural harbour by local fishermen in the early 1800s was gutted, treated and then carried up the 330 or more steps by women aged up to seventy. These women would then carried the catch almost eight miles on foot to Wick’s markets.

Having climbed these steps without huge quantities of fish on my back, I can’t imagine how gruelling this existence must have been. Today the steps are cared for by the local community while the coast is battered by the onslaught of the fierce North Sea. It’s as rugged and harsh a place to visit as it must have been to work at two hundred years ago, but it’s truly incredible to visit.