Could this be a record breaker? Halkirk man finds monster ice pancake on River Thurso
A 20ft-wide ice pancake was discovered by a Halkirk man surveying River Thurso that formed just in time for Pancake Day last week.
The monster circle of ice was seen and photographed by Jamie Mccarthy just above the Aimster pool on River Thurso on Sunday, February 14.
"[I was] just surveying to make sure the melting ice wasn’t damaging river banks or the man-made weirs – it would have been 18-20ft [in size]," said Jamie.
On December 28, he took a picture on another part of the river showing hundreds of ice pancakes that had formed near the bank of the upper Suilag pool. Featured in an earlier article was a series of ice pancakes that formed on the river at Dunbeath Strath on the exact same day.
Jamie said his father, Eddie, was the river superintendent for close to 40 years before retiring a couple of years ago. Though Jamie works as a supervisor for JGC engineering, he said his dad "taught him everything he knows" and he keeps a close eye on the river for the current owners.
In the picture of the monster ice pancake, there appears to be a series of small islands in the middle of the river that Jamie says would have created a "small back eddy that has just kept it spinning in one place".
"I was brought up on the river so I’ve saw a few big ones over the years but certainly no bigger than that one."
Anyone for ice pancakes up Dunbeath Strath?
