View Full Version : Casting the Highlands adrift
On reading many threads on the Org, I am on occasion led to believe Caithness feels sufficiently separated from the rest of the world in both geographical and cultural senses that people would prefer to be cast adrift in a more literal sense.
Let's see how this might be done by looking at a map of Scotland.
http://i39.tinypic.com/333vnmq.jpg
I'm no expert but I believe the Highlands north and west of the Great Glen between Fort William/Ben Nevis and Inverness were once geographically separate from the rest of the British mainland and they remain geologically separate. If the geological connection between the highlands and the rest of Scotland is sufficiently weak it may one day be possible to engineer a re-separation so that the highlands would become an island of which Caithness forms the north-east corner. We would take Mull with us to keep WBG happy.
Assuming this separation was accepted by the population, how far would we want to move away from mainland Britain?
- one mile, and still remain connected by a bridge or two?
- ten miles, with no bridge but with the possibility of building a tunnel in the future?
- fifty miles, with no bridge or tunnel.
- five hundred miles, we want to be truly alone!
Would the Scottish Highlands and Islands remain part of the United Kingdom?
Would it remain part of a possible future independent Scotland?
Would the Scottish Highlands and Islands become an independent state and if so what would its capital be? Fort William and most of Inverness would be left behind on the mainland but we would take Scorguie with us. :)
How would we support ourselves? Well we would claim some of the North Sea's oil taxation and reserves and we would still have all the renewable energy from onshore and offshore wind and waves and tidal energy from the Pentland Firth. We would still have farming and fishing and tourism would be important. Caithness would be on an island and not just the gateway to Orkney!
Caithness would still pay higher prices for delivery for goods ordered on the internet but now it would be justified and it wouldn't cost any more than it does at present.
Best of all, Nessie would be free to swim away to wherever she wishes. If she wishes. Hopefully, she would choose to stay. :)
scrumpysteve
04-Jun-09, 12:12
What do we do about passports? Would they be UK passports or Highland passports. If they're Highland passports, would they be a damn sight cheaper than the UK ones. Got to have some sort of benefit you know!
BTW, I say we move 1 mile and be connected by a bridge. Like Skye. The bridge(s) can always be blocked off.
Tighsonas4
04-Jun-09, 12:42
as far as ordering goods on line we have already been cast adrift as north of inverness there is an extra charge just as if you were on an island tony
kmahon2001
04-Jun-09, 14:46
I say 50 miles, that way we'd be near enough for tourists' journeys (and our own if we want to visit Scotland and the rest of the UK) not to be too much of a problem, but we'd definitely be separate from mainland Scotland to allow for our own various cultures to fully develop naturally.
I think we should go for full independence as a group of islands like the Philippines or the Maldives, only with much better weather.[lol]
We could have our own passports, our own government, our own laws and our own police to enforce them, our own money, our own health service, our own postal service etc, etc. Our capital city could be somewhere on the Northwest coast of Sutherland as being fairly central to the whole group of islands.
We could be bi-lingual or even tri-lingual. We would have English as a common language between us all, but those in the West and South (the Western Isles, the small section of Argyle and Bute, Ross-shire, and Sutherland) could have everything in Gaelic as well as English and those in the far North and East (Shetland, Fair Isle, Orkney and Caithness) could have everything in English, or even Norwegian (as the closest language to Norn) as well as English, if they so wished.
We'd all get along, regardless of cultural background or location because we wouldn't have interference from people in Inverness telling us what we should or shouldn't do, or making decisions for the whole region that bear no relevance whatsoever to places like Caithness or wherever.[disgust]
AND we'd allow the people on Lewis and Arran (oops, this should say Harris, not Arran) to decide for themselves whether or not they have Sunday Ferry sailings regardless of the so-called equal opportunities legislation requirements.:p
Once adrift, could we not just surround our county in impenetrable mist and make it appear mysteriously on the map occasionally so we can row over and do our luxury item shopping?:confused
The Pepsi Challenge
04-Jun-09, 15:00
I don't know about anyone else who grew up in Caithness, but, Crayola, for me, I never felt as if I was truly Scottish and part of Scotland; I felt too detached from everything and everyone else within the country. Perhaps if Caithness was more alive in its culture and traditions (does it have any?) like, say, the Gaels, then perhaps I'd have felt more of a connection. To me, Caithness will always be the flatlands of the highlands, and a wee universe of its own. But that's just me.
kmahon2001
04-Jun-09, 15:33
Once adrift, could we not just surround our county in impenetrable mist and make it appear mysteriously on the map occasionally so we can row over and do our luxury item shopping?:confused
Bit like Brigadoon, only we'd appear every 100 days instead of 100 years! [lol]
My OH is with the Society of All Artist - just had a letter from them showing our address:
Mrs xxx
xxxxxx
By Thurso
Caithness
United Kingdom Isles
KW14 7RY
United Kingdom Isles!! What ever next?..
Re the above - I contacted them and got this back: "Good afternoon, further to your e-mail regarding your address, our carriers (Royal Mail, HDNL & City Link) class the KW postcode as United Kingdom Isles so this is automatically defaulted on your record. As you are not on the island I have agreed with my manager to set your record up as UK Mainland. kind regards.."
It works - sometimes.
Tighsonas4
04-Jun-09, 17:18
have waited for goods before to arrive only to find it was lying in a couriers yard in kirkwall tony
Im really worried about the black arrow and the red circle NW of Perth!
Not anymore its dissappeared! :eek:
Would Inverness not be split in two down the river ness -
We could keep the Aquadome and Eden Court Theatre - they can keep the retail park and caley stadium.
We could be bi-lingual or even tri-lingual. We would have English as a common language between us all, but those in the West and South (the Western Isles, the small section of Argyle and Bute, Ross-shire, and Sutherland) could have everything in Gaelic as well as English and those in the far North and East (Shetland, Fair Isle, Orkney and Caithness) could have everything in English, or even Norwegian (as the closest language to Norn) as well as English, if they so wished.Argyll and Bute are on the wrong side of the geological dividing line and they stay with mainland Scotland.
AND we'd allow the people on Lewis and Arran to decide for themselves whether or not they have Sunday Ferry sailings regardless of the so-called equal opportunities legislation requirements.:pArran is so far south of the dividing line it's almost in the Irish Sea!
Would Inverness not be split in two down the river ness -
We could keep the Aquadome and Eden Court Theatre - they can keep the retail park and caley stadium.Yes but the part on the western side of the divide is much smaller. Most of Inverness stays with the mainland. We would also get the council offices in Glenurquhart road but we could use them for whatever we wanted.
Meanwhile, the digging has begun and you can already see a mile wide channel stretching the length of the Great Glen in this colour enhanced satellite photo taken tonight.
http://i44.tinypic.com/1zwlq82.gif
Who should get the franchise for the Kessock Ferry?
weeboyagee
05-Jun-09, 10:25
Crayola gets a big thumbs up from me for this thread!!!! Caithness, Lewis and Mull (nice one!), Orkney and Shetland all off for a sail around the world - now that's what I call an idea! Best bit about it all - The HC headquarters gets left behind - it's on the south side of the Ness :lol:!
WBG :cool:
kmahon2001
05-Jun-09, 10:43
Argyll and Bute are on the wrong side of the geological dividing line and they stay with mainland Scotland.
There is a small chunk of Argyll and Bute that are on this side of the dividing line, which is why I said the small section of Argyll and Bute.
Arran is so far south of the dividing line it's almost in the Irish Sea!
I had meant to say Lewis and Harris, but for some reason I typed Arran. Besides, if we're including Mull, I wouldn't have thought we'd have separated any of the Western Isles off and refused to take them with us. Surely we can't leave our friends on Arran to the mercy of the Scottish and UK Governments. :eek:
Meanwhile, the digging has begun and you can already see a mile wide channel stretching the length of the Great Glen in this colour enhanced satellite photo taken tonight.
http://i44.tinypic.com/1zwlq82.gif
Who should get the franchise for the Kessock Ferry?
Work is progressing well. How are we going to tow the islands away from the mainland. As things stand at the moment, all they need to do is build a bridge or two and we're stuck to Scotland again.;)
Rececently had cause to get something delivered from 'Daaaan Saaarrffffh'
Me: Hello, i wondering if you could deliver a package to Wick in Caithness
Girl: Wheres that then ?
Me: Near John O Groats
Girl:Where ?
Me: John O Groats as in 'Lands End to John O Groats'
Girl: Never heard of it
Me: Well, you know where Lands End is dont you ?
Girl: Nooooooo
Me: Your jerking my chain ar'nt you ?
Girl: Certainly not sir, and may i remind you this conversation is being recorded
Me: No problem. Now did you do geography at school?
Girl:Yes
Me: Right, have you heard of Cornwall ?
Girl: Where ?
Me: Cornwall
Girl: No
Me: How about Devon, you know where the cream comes from?
Girl: Oh yes.... Devon Cream Teas !
Me: Good, now we're getting somewhere, Cornwall is further west than Devon
Girl: Oh yeah, now i've got you
Me: Right, Lands end is the furthest off point
Girl: Really ?
Me: Yes, really, and John O Groats is at the complete opposite end of Britain
Girl: Kent ?
Me: Can i speak to your supervisor........ ?
I agree with pepsi challenge about caithness feeling like alien country. it doesn't have any scottish culture to make it scottish really. So all you need is to cut it away and it is literally on its own.
I agree with pepsi challenge about caithness feeling like alien country. it doesn't have any scottish culture to make it scottish really. So all you need is to cut it away and it is literally on its own.
I think yourself and your mate pepsi should be set loose on a boat with no oars. You could both moan forever about caithness and its non Scottishness. :lol:
It's not it's Scottishness that attracts me to Caithness but it's Caithnessness.:mad:
There is a small chunk of Argyll and Bute that are on this side of the dividing line, which is why I said the small section of Argyll and Bute.You know something, I was so anal about spelling Argyll correctly that I didn't look at a political map and I do apologise for my poor geography. I didn't know Mull was part of Argyll and Bute but looking at the map below it appears that none of the mainland regions of A&B are north-west of the Great Glen so they are not in our new nation by default. Would we let them in if they applied to join us?
http://www.mapsofworld.com/scotland/maps/scotland-map.jpg
I had meant to say Lewis and Harris, but for some reason I typed Arran. Besides, if we're including Mull, I wouldn't have thought we'd have separated any of the Western Isles off and refused to take them with us. Surely we can't leave our friends on Arran to the mercy of the Scottish and UK Governments. :eek:I understand your feelings because Arran is a geological friend but is it not too awkward to tow it around the Mull of Kintyre and we're already leaving behind our closer neighbours Islay, Jura and Colonsay because they belong to the geological rump of mainland Scotland. :(
Work is progressing well. How are we going to tow the islands away from the mainland. As things stand at the moment, all they need to do is build a bridge or two and we're stuck to Scotland again.Yes towing the new island nation away is an unsolved problem but we need to maintain a temporary supply line before we re-establish the Kessock Ferry and bridges can be controlled or even demolished at short notice as needed.
Crayola gets a big thumbs up from me for this thread!!!! Caithness, Lewis and Mull (nice one!), Orkney and Shetland all off for a sail around the world - now that's what I call an idea! Best bit about it all - The HC headquarters gets left behind - it's on the south side of the Ness :lol:!
WBG
I was taking the boundary between us and them to be the River Ness and the HC headquarters on Glenurquhart Road are definitely on the west side of the river so they are ours to do what we please with. :)
I know it's sad but I consulted a geological map of Scotland this afternoon and it's much more interesting than I thought. Mull's geology is different from most of the Highlands but it's very similar to Skye's and is very different from that of Islay, Jura and Colonsay. So unless the local populace is against us, Mull is definitely coming with us. :)
Anyways WBG, we need you to write our national anthem. Do you accept that challenge?
Gleeber can be our national philosopher.
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