North-coast fishing history
Portskerra
A small, rock-bound harbour, a memorial above the pier and a short coast walk overlooking Melvich Bay.
- Best for
- Fishing history and a short coastal walk
- Give it
- About 45 minutes for the pier-and-jetty loop
- Don't miss
- The Drownings Memorial above the pier
The Fox verdict
A small harbour with a powerful story
Portskerra pairs a short grassy coast loop with a memorial to twenty-six local fishermen lost off this coast.
The old jetty, concrete pier and rock-bound harbour give the village its maritime focus, while nearby Melvich supplies a shop and the seasonal Halladale Inn. South along the A897, Forsinard Flows adds a boardwalk trail across the Flow Country.
Where to go
Places in Portskerra
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesPortskerra Pier and Old Jetty
The loop reaches the old jetty and can be continued to the concrete pier for views across to Melvich Beach.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: About 45 minutes
- Locality
- from the Drownings Memorial car park
- Access
- The loop uses a grassy, undulating coastal path, a small footbridge and minor tarmac lanes.
West End Stores & Melvich Post Office
A general store and Post Office in a former crofter's building once called Fern Cottage, stocking food, drinks, stationery, gifts, household goods and toiletries.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 20 minutes
- Locality
- between the A836/NC500 and Portskerra
RSPB Forsinard Flows
The visitor centre occupies the former station building, and the one-mile Dubh Lochan Trail follows boardwalk to the Flows Lookout within the Flow Country.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: About 45 minutes for the one-mile Dubh Lochan Trail
- Locality
- south along the A897 at Forsinard
Food & drink
1 placeThe Halladale Inn
A licensed, dog-friendly cafe, bar and bistro in an 1882 croft house, serving breakfast, light lunches, pastries and dinner with outdoor al-fresco seating.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 75 minutes
- Locality
- on the A836 in neighbouring Melvich
- Access
- It is seasonal rather than a year-round certainty, so check directly before relying on it.
History & heritage
4 placesPortskerra Drownings Memorial
The memorial records twenty-six local fishermen lost in accidents off this coast in 1848, 1890 and 1918; its verse was written by Portskerra-born poet Hugh Macintosh.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 20 minutes
- Locality
- above the pier at Portskerra
Shipwrecked Mariners' Graves
Two small upright grave slabs have incised designs, including an anchor on one slab, as recorded by an Ordnance Survey visit in 1977.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 20 minutes
- Locality
- near Portskerra
Halladale Parish Church
Built in 1910 as a combined church and manse, the building uses corrugated-iron construction with timber detailing and serves the scattered Strath Halladale community.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 30 minutes
- Locality
- Craigtown
Strathnaver Museum
The museum researched the Portskerra drownings of 1848, 1890 and 1918 and other north-coast wreck stories, making it a companion to the village memorial.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Bettyhill
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Three ways to explore Portskerra
Signature outings
The Drownings Memorial
The stone above the pier records twenty-six local fishermen lost in three accidents off this coast.
Breakfast at the Halladale Inn
The seasonal cafe and bistro serves breakfast in an 1882 croft house on the A836 in neighbouring Melvich.
The Dubh Lochan Trail
A one-mile boardwalk trail leads from Forsinard to the Flows Lookout in about 45 minutes.
The village story
Portskerra Village Guide
Fishing memory, a small harbour and a north-coast landscape above Melvich Bay.
The memorial and coast walk
Above the pier at Portskerra stands a memorial to twenty-six fishermen lost off this coast. It names three dates: 5 December 1848, 25 June 1890, and 22 August 1918. In the 1890 storm the boats Excelsior, Lively and Diadem went down with twenty men aboard, the Excelsior crewed almost entirely by fishermen from Port Vasco. The verse cut into the stone was written by Hugh Macintosh, a Portskerra man born in 1901, and it remembers "those who perished within sight of their homes."
The memorial's car park is also where the coast walk begins. The pier-and-jetty loop is short, a little over a mile, but the ground rolls: a grassy, undulating path runs past a small footbridge to the old jetty, then loops back on minor tarmac lanes. Keep going to the concrete pier and you look straight across the bay to the sand of Melvich Beach. It is about forty-five minutes at an unhurried pace, with enough up and down to feel earned.
Harbour views and village supplies
The village itself sits on a loop road off the A836, strung along the east-facing slope above Melvich Bay. The harbour below is small and rock-bound, owned by Highland Council and still used for leisure and fishing. Look out and the view runs to the cliffs of Rubha an Tuir; on a clear day it reaches Dunnet Head and, beyond it, Orkney. The Gaelic name is Port Sgeire.
For everyday supplies you cross to Melvich, less than a mile southeast. West End Stores and Post Office occupies a former crofter's building that once went by the name Fern Cottage, set between the A836 and Portskerra. Paul and Flora run it now, having taken over from a man who kept the counter for twenty years, and it stocks the useful spread of a coastal village shop: dairy, fruit and vegetables, chilled and frozen food, drinks, confectionery, stationery, gifts, household goods and toiletries.
Seafood rounds and the Halladale Inn
Bell's seafood vans work a weekly round through Melvich and Portskerra. Times shift, so it is worth asking locally before you plan a meal around one.
For a sit-down breakfast, the Halladale Inn in neighbouring Melvich is a licensed cafe and bistro in an 1882 croft house on the A836, run by Tim and Madeline. The Full Scottish comes with smoked back bacon, a link or Lorne sausage, egg, tattie scone, haggis, black pudding, beans, mushrooms and tomato; there is Eggs Royale with Scottish smoked salmon, pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, and vegan and vegetarian versions. Dogs are welcome, on leads on the adjoining campsite. It runs seasonally rather than year-round, so check before you rely on it.
Melvich Beach and north-coast connections
Melvich Beach lies immediately across the bay, but it is a separate outing, best reached from its own signed car park off the A836. Golden sand backed by dunes sits beside the mouth of the River Halladale, hemmed in by Portskerra pier to the west and the partly overhanging cliffs of Rubha an Tuir to the east. The route is tide-dependent, and its riverside footbridge was closed on safety grounds at last report, so check locally and do not cross it unless you can confirm it has reopened.
The village loop road leaves the A836 at Melvich, and the A897 runs south from there through Strath Halladale. The nearest station is Forsinard, down that road, a stop with a small car park and a shelter and no ticket office. On weekdays the 274 bus links Thurso, Melvich and Bettyhill, stopping at the Halladale Inn, and a pre-booked dial-a-bus covers the A836 between Melvich and Bettyhill.
Forsinard Flows and maritime traces
The station at Forsinard now houses the visitor centre for the RSPB's Forsinard Flows, part of the great blanket bog that became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2024. The one-mile Dubh Lochan Trail runs out on boardwalk to a lookout over the peat; the four-mile Forsinain Trail takes two to three hours.
Herring fishing here lasted until 1948, and the last Portskerra boat was sold in the 1970s. Near the village lie two graves of shipwrecked mariners, marked by small upright slabs with incised designs. One of them carries an anchor.
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A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Portskerra Drownings Memorial — strathnavermuseum.org.uk other published source
- Portskerra Pier and Old Jetty — her.highland.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- Shipwrecked Mariners' Graves — trove.scot other published source record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- West End Stores & Melvich Post Office — postoffice.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation record not machine-readable; publisher restricts automated access
- The Halladale Inn — thehalladaleinn.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Halladale Parish Church — scotlandschurchestrust.org.uk other published source
- RSPB Forsinard Flows — rspb.org.uk national body or asset manager
- Strathnaver Museum — strathnavermuseum.org.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation