Thing Sites: Dingwall Stavaig Traditional Geocache
Thing Sites: Dingwall Stavaig
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
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A traditional lock'n'lock cache with room for logbook, pencil and small swappables.
Thing sites, from the Old Norse Þing, are the early assemblies found throughout Northern Europe as a result of our shared Norse heritage.
When the Vikings and early Norse settlers arrived in a new place they brought with them their customs and legal systems. Political decisions were made at the thing, laws upheld and disputes settled. Proceedings were overseen by the local ruler and the law-speaker (judge), whose job was to memorise and recite the law. At some things, known as Althings, any free man was entitled to vote. At others - Lawthings - the crown and local communities acted together to interpret the law.
The thing was also a focus for religious activity, as well as trade and exchange. At Thingvellir in Iceland you can still see the remains of the booths, or huts, where traders came to do business with people attending the meeting.
The thing system for sharing and legislating power can still be recognised today. Several things continue to be active. The Icelandic parliament is still known as the Althing, the Norwegian parliament is called the Storting and the Faroese parliament goes by the name of Løgting. The Manx parliament, known as Tynwald, still holds a midsummer court on the thing mound at Tynwald Hill every year.
There are Thing Sites caches in and around the locations of Norse and Viking assembly sites in Norway, Iceland, The Faroe Islands, Orkney, Shetland, Highland Scotland, and the Isle of Man. Follow in the footsteps of the Vikings, and explore some of these fascinating sites.
1000 years ago and more Vikings occupied Ross of which Dingwall is the county town. Their Thing Site gave Dingwall its name, derived from þing-völlr, Old Norse for parliament field.
The mound of the Thing Site is in the centre of the town of Dingwall, by the old parish church. Today it serves as a car park.
The Vikings called this part of the Conon Estuary Stafr-vik, Stave Bay, and that name is remembered in Dingwall as Stavaig. Here staves, large trimmed tree trunks which had been floated down the Conon River, were loaded by Vikings into cargo ships. After the time of the Vikings this part of the river bank became known as the Shore of Dingwall where ships beached to unload and load cargo. A foot passenger ferry used to cross from here to the Black Isle. You can see the remains of the jetty.
Puffins, salmon and pearls. Read more about the Shore of Dingwall and the Conon River in the cache!
An approximately 0.25 mile country walk, the first part along a made road and the latter part by a narrow path. Accessible by children with care.
If you park at Ferry Point Car Park, exit the parking and picnic area by the way you arrived. Then take the first road on the left, keeping the houses on your left and the open field on your right. The road ends and you continue on to a grassy path.
(If you choose to walk to the starting point down Ferry Road, at the junction at its end take the road to your right.)
The path becomes a little rougher. Enjoy the view across the Conon Estuary to the fertile fields and woodland patches on the Black Isle. To your right are farm fields reclaimed by the draining of marsh land during 18th century improvements, made possible by construction of the embankment you are walking along. Enjoy the view across the fields to the town of Dingwall and Ben Wyvis. The tower on the hill immediately beyond the fields is the national monument to Major-General Sir Hector MacDonald (built 1907).
Wear appropriate clothing for a countryside walk. Vegetation encroaches in parts along the path. The pathway continues beyond the cache and offers a pleasant walk.
The walk starts at the junction at the foot of Ferry Road. Park in the parking area at Ferry Point Picnic Area.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Uvqqra ba n pbapergr yrqtr haqre gur jnyxjnl bs gur jbbqra sbbgoevqtr