Thurso House is now the home of Michael and Sheila Elder and they continue the tradition of providing ‘shelter and refreshment’ for visitors, by using the house as a small, cosy Bed and Breakfast.
Property
Thurso House is a detached ‘storey and a half’ hundred year stone cottage set in a large garden.The garden boasts drystone walls that give privacy and shelter, indeed it is a veritable suntrap.All of the guests rooms are on the ground floor and have central heating.Guests can adjust their room radiator to suit.There are two double rooms and one twin room. The double rooms have ensuite facilities and the twin room has use of a shared bathroom. Thurso is located at 58 degrees north which means during the summer months there is virtually no darkness – hence the rooms have both vertical and blackout blinds to ensure guests have a good nights sleep despite the light nights. Each room has a TV, WiFi and a hospitality tray. Fresh milk is provided daily for guests. Thurso House is in easy walking distance of all the town’s facilities cafes, pubs, reataurants, shops, the park, the River Thurso and the sea and the beach. Thurso is a town with a population of 10,000 so the shops tend to be independent rather than chain stores. However there are a small Tesco, Co-op and Lidll.Guests can negoitiate their arrival time with the hosts, however, the suggested times are between 3.30pm and 7.30pm. Rooms should be vacated by 10.30 , but the hosts are able to keep luggage for guests if requested.Guests may choose to stay on a ‘room only’ basis. Room only qualifies for a £5 reduction on the booking and guests must stipulate their choice of room only when booking the room to qualify for the £5 reduction. The railway station and bus stops are within a five minute walk of Thurso House.
Nearby attractions
Thurso is the most northerly town in mainland Scotland in the county of Caithness and is situated at the mouth of the river Thurso and by the Pentland Firth.The ajoining county is Sutherland and across the Pentland Firth are the Orkney Islands.Caithness and Sutherland are approximately the size of the country Belgium, but have a joint population of less than 25,000. The sparse population enables visitors to enjoy solitude in spectacular varied land , sea and skyscapes. This area is a delight for photographers of wildlife, land and sea scapes. The constantly changing weather and pure light ensures excellent results for artists and photographers. Sealife, such as killer whales, poiposes,and seals abound as do many varieties of sea birds from sea eagles to puffins.There are local companies who provide opportunities either by boat or by guided walks to observe and photograph the scenery and wildlife.The more active visitor may choose to explore Caithness and Sutherland by walking and climbing the hills and mountains, such as Morvern or Ben Hope and Stack Ben.Thurso does boast a world class surfing venue at Thurso East reef. This reef is used by the professional circuit for competitions.Surfers also explore and use other beach and reef locations in the area, and find themselves surfing on their own – a surfers dream! The Pentland Firth gives anglers an opportunity to fish. Anglers can book trips out of Scrabster to fish for pollock,cod,mackeral, haddock and sea bass depending on the time of year. Fly fishing is available for visitors on the river Thurso. Permits are available on beat one for salmon fishing for a set time per day in the season.There are also numerous trout lochs for fishing brown trout by boat.The ‘flow country’ of Caithness is a protected peat moorland that has its centre at Forsinard. The visitors to Forsinard use a new observatory and the flora and fauns of this unique landscape are explained.The RSPB is responsible for this centre and staff here can give visitors information of the sites to observe particular types of birds in the county.The countryside of Caithness has many archaelogical treasures. There are pre-historic remains eg Camster Cairns and a plethora of small cairns and standing stones. The viking heritage is apparent by the many viking place names eg Thurso means Thor’s. There is a small viking museum at Spittal. The old buildings in Caithness are made from Caithness stone which is still being quarried in the traditional way in the county at Spittal.Visitors can see remains of this industry at the Castletown centre. The stone quarrying has given rise to the discovery of fossils and a visitor can easily find these on the seashores or in disused quarries.Thurso and the neighbouring town of Wick both have Heritage Museum which are worth visiting. There are several castles in Caithness and Sutherland notably the Castle of Mey, Caithness and Dunrobin Castle in Sutherland.Both of this are a must see!There are whisky distilleries at Brora (Sutherland) , Wick(Caithness and a new gin distillery at Dunnet(Caithness).
