
Alness: about ten miles north of Inverness on the famous A9 highland road to John O’ Groats and the port of Thurso.
We hadn’t planned to visit Alness but an internet lookup for a decent pharmacy showed it was the closest supermarket town to where we were staying on The Black Isle.

We bought our supplies at the supermarket then parked up and wandered down the small town’s Main Street. At its southern end the road descended quite steeply to a modern bridge over a small river.
Searching for a park to give the collie a run, we stumbled on a beautiful river valley at the southern end of the highland town.
A quick check on the iPhone showed it to be the River Averon, and its woodland course through the brough had been turned into a nature park.
Unusually for this far north, it was a very warm afternoon. I wanted to reflect this ‘sultry’ feeling in the photos. To that effect, I played about with the photo settings, using the best configuration as a template to augment each of the others.

©️Copyright Stephen Tanham 2025.
Stephen Tanham is a writer of blogs and mystically-oriented fiction.


A magical find. Lovely photos 💜💜
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Thank you, Willow. Good morning! 😊
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A good morning to you too ☀️
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It was a magical find, indeed ❤️❤️
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It looks and sounds idylic, Steve something unexpected is always a treat I think 🙂 x
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We’ve been so lucky with the weather, too, Carol! A magical trip 😀
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It’s been surprisingly dry and sunny in this part of the world for the last couple of weeks, I’ve even got a bit of a sun tan! 🙂
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Love luv Ruth! We are astonished that northern Scotland is having so much sun 😊
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So are we!!! 🙂
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What a delightful place! I love the photos.
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Yes! A real gem. Thank you, Darlene. 😊
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A hidden gem here Steve. Beautiful pictures.
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Thank you, Di 😊
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Magical. (K)
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Thank you, Kerfe!
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