Thurso

Thurso, the most northerly of mainland Scotland’s towns, is 20 miles west of John o’Groats, with a population of around 9,000 people. The town has a fine harbour and beach and looks over the Pentland Firth to Orkney. Around nine miles away is the nuclear power station at Dounraey which employs many skilled workers who moved into the area from around the UK.

The area offices of Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several constituent partner colleges which form the UHI Millenium Institute offering several certificate, diploma and degree courses from subjects as diverse as Nuclear Decommissioning to Golf Management.

Thurso also boasts a small museum, a two-screen cinema, ten-pin bowling, a small skatepark and an internet cafe. There is also a call centre on the west side of the town, which along with the Dounreay Nuclear power plant provide a high level of the employment in Caithness. The nearby port of Scrabster has deep water shelter and the harbour links the town to Orkney, the Shetlands, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Denmark and Norway.