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Sango Bay Durness beach

Famous Names on Sutherland

“Sutherland is a land rich in glorious scenery, wildlife and natural resources, a region that once more populated than it is today but one that is slowly regaining some of its lost population - a region that belies its common perception as ‘the empty lands.'”

Cameron McNeish
author of The Sutherland Trail
www.cameronmcneish.co.uk


“I imagine heaven to be a bit like Sutherland (minus the midges, of course.) But please don’t tell too many people – there’s nowhere I feel more free.”

Jeremy Paxman


“John [Lennon] was more than a musician - he loved painting, drawing and writing in Durness and that is also well reflected in the festival’s arts. Few places meant more to John than Durness. It was often when he was at his happiest.”

Stan Parkes - Northern Lights John Lennon Festival in 2007


“John never forgot those times at Durness. They were among
his happiest memories. He loved the wilderness. We went fishing and hunting and John loved going up into the hills to draw or write poetry. John really loved hillwalking, shooting and fishing. He would have been quite a laird.

In the last letter to me before he was killed, he quoted a famous Scottish
saying - ‘It’s a braw, bricht moonlicht nicht since I last had a word’ - so
I’m delighted his life and times in Durness are being highlighted.

I hope many tourists will visit the area that meant so much to him and
enjoy its beauty and charms as he once did.”

Stan Parkes - Opening of the John Lennon Memorial garden in March 2002