Skip to main content
Spirit Logo
WWII Buildings at Noss Head, Caithness (Credit: Benedicta Makin)
< Back to "Journey Stone Collection"

Freezing Their **** Off!

By Benedicta Makin

A homage to the soldiers of the Noss Head listening post
Image provided by Benedicta Makin

Many of Scotland's lighthouses have the shells of concrete buildings near them dating back to WW2. These days they are often home to sheep. This journey stone depicts the listening post at Noss Head, where soldiers listened to the Enigma radio traffic from the German Navy ("Die Kriegs Marine" in German). The ship is a loose interpretation of the German Reserve Battleships (Reserven Schlachtschiffe) from the start of WW2. The sea below the ship spells out LISTENING TO MESSAGES FROM GERMAN SHIPS in Morse Code. The Y station at Noss Head was a direction finding station, so the signal was triangulated with other listening posts to work out where the ships were in the North Sea. There's more about this in this newspaper article.

You can see the WW2 buildings in the black and white photo, at the base of the pylons just outwith the outer walls of the lighthouse compound. This has personal resonance for me because my mother worked at Bletchley Park during the War. I live at Noss Head, and often think of the lads in the listening posts who'd have come a long way to be stationed here, freezing their backsides off, listening to the Kriegs Marine.

WWII Buildings at Noss Head, Caithness
Image provided by Benedicta Makin
WWII buildings at Noss Head, Caithness
Image provided by Benedicta Makin

Many thanks to Benedicta Makin for sharing with us the story behind her journey stone, created as part of the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands.

WHAT IS A JOURNEY STONE?

Prior to the beginning of the stitching of each tapestry panel, each stitcher of the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands was tasked with telling their interpretation of the 'Spirit of the Highlands and Islands' within a blank outline of a stone. The possibilities were truly endless - is it represented in the land? The people? A historical site? A favourite memory?

In any case, each journey stone represents the connection between each individual stitcher, their story, and their own sense, or 'spirit', of place. Discover more of the stories behind the journey stones of the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands here.