Easter Ross – The Black Isle

The Black Isle is neither black, nor an isle, but a long peninsula with the Cromarty Firth to the north and the Beauly and Moray Firths to the south. Conon Bridge and Muir of Ord mark the western boundary. Before the Kessock Bridge was opened in 1982, the main road north, the A9, wound its way laboriously around the Beauly Firth to Dingwall. Thus the previously isolated Black isle suddenly became much more accessible. A detour from the A9 on the way past is an option which will be enough to convince visitors to return and explore it at leisure.
Most of the Black isle is Middle Old red Sandstone, which makes for the fertile soils and good building stone so much in evidence here. There are outcrops of Moinian schist at the South Sutor and south of Eathie, but of greatest interest are the fishbeds which outcrop at Eathie and Cromarty. These were closely studied by Hugh Miller of cromarty in the 19th century. Also on the foreshore at Eathie there are Jurassic shales which hold Ammonite and Belemnite fossils. The east coast runs in a straight line formed by the Great Glen Fault which runs north along the Tarbat Peninsula and south down Loch Ness.Farming Agricultural improvement took root in the late 18th century on the Black isle, and throughout the 19th century new breeds of stock and crops were introduced as well as innovative methods of growing them. Today’s farmers are just as progressive, taking advantage of the fertile soils and benign climate to grow good crops of wheat and barley and to rear prime cattle as well as vegetables. The Black Isle Farmer’s Show, held on the first Thursday in August, is the largest such one day event in Scotland. it dates back to 1836 and is today held at Mannsfield, Muir of Ord. This show draws people from miles around to see its fine stock, machinery, trade and entertainment stands. The events include the livestock parade with cattle, sheep,horses and ponies.