Beauly Firth

A quick walk up to Craig Phadrig - an iron-age vitrified fort on the outskirts of Inverness and owned by the Forestry Commission. Not actually very much to see that makes it recognizable as a fort. "Vitrified" seems to mean that the outer wall of stones was subjected to great heat so they bonded together. The hill is not very high - about 180 metres. I don't know if the area was wooded in iron age times but if not they would have had super views all round. West over the Beauly Firth and east down the Moray Firth, north over the present site of Inverness, and also the valley of the Ness. The present summit is a fairly flat depression surrounded by a slight outer rise. But because of the trees you just get glimpses of the outside world as in this shot taken from the summit through one of the few gaps.