High tides and strong winds hit Golspie at weekend with kart track, golf course and caravan park flooded out
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A COMBINATION of stormy seas and high tides brought extensive flooding to an East Sutherland village at the weekend.
Huge waves overtopped the sea wall along the promenade at Golspie with water making its way down a side alley and into the Main Street.
Video by Cathy Spearing
Barriers along the sea wall were completely flattened between the Seafront Centre and the Free Church of Scotland.
The North of Scotland’s Kart Club track and the neighbouring Golspie Links Caravan Site and Golspie Golf Club, sited next to the sea at Ferry Road, bore the brunt of the storm
East Sutherland resident David Richardson, who took these photographs, watched with others from a safe distance as waves battered the village.
He said: “Storms are always awesome, and while I’ve seen much bigger waves batter Unst in Shetland, the sheer power of the waves in Golspie really took my breath away…or maybe that was the wind that accompanied them!
“It was really exhilarating to stand with others watching the spectacle from the safety of dry land, not least a massive 25-foot spar from the old pier being banged about within its uprights until eventually escaping into the open sea.”
The Scottish Environment Protection Area issued a flood alert for Caithness and Sutherland on Saturday evening.
It said: “High tides and strong winds mean flooding from the sea is possible along the east and south west coasts, Orkney and Western Ilse.
“Wave overtopping and sea spray may cause flooding to low lying land, properties and roads along the coastline,”
Golspie Golf Course is now closed until further notice.
Golf Club secretary Rod Houston posted on social media: “Many areas have been flooded and will doubtless drain in due course. However, there are pockets of damage to the coastal edge …. all in all a lot of repair work will have to be undertaken.
“However, the major initial task is to clear considerable volumes of debris from the course.”
The North of Scotland Kart Club has also said its circuit is closed until further notice.
Club chairman Gordon Mackay said rock armour maintained by the club had stood up to the storm well, but water had come flooding into the kart track from the ferry side.
Mr Mackay said the track had to be cleared of some debris before opening it on Saturday for a practice session.
“We had the Saturday practice and then we had the annual awards night. On Sunday we were due to have the last meeting of the season but it had to be cancelled due to the high tide which came in at 12.15am,” he said.
Mr Mackay said flood protection gates fabricated by J & D Welding of Brora had been installed at outbuildings on the track just prior to the storm and had hopefully prevented water ingress, but club officials as yet not been able to access the site.
“It is just an ongoing battle and we have to spend money every year to update our sea defences,” said Mr Mackay
Cllr Richard Gale, ward councillor for East Sutherland and Edderton, and a Golspie resident, said: “The flooding has affected the golf course and the caravan park and kart track.
“The combination of high tides and a strong easterly wind has resulted in damage to the barriers along the sea wall with a large part of it being completely flattened between the seafront centre and the front of the church.
“The storm gates along the promenade backing on to the main street appear to have held up well and done their job which has helped to minimise damage to homes and businesses.
“The council team has been out all weekend doing what they can to protect properties and provide sandbags where necessary and I would like to extend my thanks to all of them for the work they have done in very difficult circumstances. This is the second weekend in a row that they have given up their time to help the community.
“A full assessment will take place today to see what needs to be done to clean up the area and to repair the damage and I hope that we can get this done as quickly as possible.
"Going forward we have to look at what can be done to protect the village, the golf course, caravan park and the kart track as it is very likely that we will see similar events in the future."
