John O'Groats

In the past week I've seen two separate references to a place called John O'Groats, which was unknown to me, and since the name has a ring to it, I had to look it up. Turns out it's argueably the northernmost point of Britain's four corners. Anyone looking to make the long trek to prove a point goes from Land's End, the southernmost part of England, to John O'Groats, in Scotland.

I was hoping to find out who this John fella was and if he really did eat a lot of oatmeal, but reality didn't quite live up to my imagination. John O'Groats was named after a Dutchman, Jan de Groot, who came to the area in 1476 and operated a ferry to the Orkney islands.

The nearby Stacks of Duncansby look cool.

You can see puffins there. I would go just for that!

More info here, here and here.