- There and back walk: 3.84 miles
- what3words address for parking: ///avid.megawatt.hunter
- GPX File
There is parking for four or five cars at the end of the U631.
The track goes north from here before veering off to the right just before Hanningarth. There is no obvious path but you will end up at the southern end of the beach at Sandwick (also rendered as Sand Wick). It’s a lovely beach and, a little under halfway along it you will find the remains of a viking longhouse at the back of the beach (///mailbox.approvals.orbited). It’s worth a stop here and the view from ‘inside’ the house of the beach and the sea is lovely and very evocative. We sat a while and enjoyed the peace.
From here we walked to the northern end of the beach and joined a path that runs along the coast. A little further on is Framgord cemetery, which is still in use today for burials; the coffin is carried on a tractor, but the mourners have to walk there. This is a really interesting place. Some of the grave markers are ‘keel stones,’ which have their origin in the Norse period. There are also the remains of a house here, about 60m north west of the graveyard, which is also Norse in origin. The low remains are now reclaimed by nature and it is hard to discern in the landscape.
A little further on along the coast are a group of ‘noosts’ where boats were pulled off the beach for protection – basically keel-shaped trenches. It is believed that these are also Norse in origin and seem to be associated with the Norse farm at Framgord.
We walked on a little further before stopping at North Nuda where we sat a while before retracing our route. You could choose to walk further if you wanted a longer walk.
We were lucky with the weather but this was a great walk along a section of coast that was both beautiful and, archaeologically, fascinating.
Download file for GPS
