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The Great Britain Guide

Mountains & hills · Scottish Islands

Gills Bay

Free admission

Gills Bay — bay in Highland, Scotland, UK.

Gills Bay, mountains & hills in Scottish Islands

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
3 h–8 h
Best time of year
Late spring – early autumn (May–Oct)
  • Free entry
  • Dog-friendly

About

Gills Bay is a named summit in the United Kingdom. Wikidata describes it as: "bay in Highland, Scotland, UK". Coordinates: 58.6425°, -3.1519°.

Photo gallery

From the Wikipedia article

Gills Bay, which is situated about 3 mi (4.8 km) west of John o' Groats with the community of Gills close by, has one of the longest stretches of low-lying rock coast on the northern shores of Caithness. Its main features are a small harbour and the pier used as the mainland terminal for Pentland Ferries. The harbour shelters some small local boats together with those used for working the sheep on the off lying island of Stroma. In the right sea conditions the area is sometimes used for surfing.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

The first pier was constructed in 1905 with the harbour some time later. In the 1980s Orkney Island Council decided to re-introduce the short sea crossing from Gills Bay to Burwick on South Ronaldsay. Tens of millions of pounds were spent on a new ferry and building a terminal and linkspan at Gills Bay together with similar facilities at Burwick. The service started on 15 August 1989, sailing to Houton near Orphir as dredging still had to be done at Burwick, and ended on 16 September 1989 when the linkspan at Gills was damaged by heavy weather. It was then realised that it would be impossible to run a regular service as planned due to the weather conditions and the operation was closed…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
58.6425, -3.1519
District
Highland
Postcode
KW1 4YB
Parliamentary constituency
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Gills Bay?
Gills Bay is in the Scottish Islands, United Kingdom (postcode KW1 4YB).
Is Gills Bay free to visit?
Yes, Gills Bay is free to enter.
How do I get to Gills Bay?
Drivers can navigate to postcode KW1 4YB. It sits within the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross parliamentary constituency.