Meikle Ferry Sunset

I took this shot of tonight's sunset from the Dornoch Bridge, looking west across the spit of land known as Meikle Ferry. It's a beautiful spot and you'd never know that this bit of water was once the site of a tragedy. Here's a succinct report of what happened, which I found on the Highland History website ambaile.org.uk

The Meikle Ferry Disaster

Until 1812 the only means of crossing the Dornoch Firth was by ferry. On the night of 16 August 1809 over 100 Sutherland folk boarded on the Dornoch side with goods and stock for the market in Tain. The over-laden ferryboat set off and, though conditions were calm, the boat was dangerously low in the water. About halfway across the boat turned broadside to the tide and began to take in water. It sank almost immediately with the loss of some 99 lives. Over £2,900 were raised for disaster relief, much of it coming from overseas. It resulted in the construction of Bonar Bridge in 1812.