John o' Groats

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John o' Groats
Scottish Gaelic: Taigh Iain Ghròt
John o' Groats House
John o' Groats shown within Scotland
Population	300
OS grid reference	ND380734
Council area	Highland
Lieutenancy area	Caithness
Constituent country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WICK
Postcode district	KW1
Dialling code	01955
Police	Northern
Fire	Highlands and Islands
Ambulance	Scottish
European Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Scottish Parliament	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
List of places: UK • Scotland

Coordinates: 58°38′N 3°04′W / 58.64, -3.07

John o' Groats (Taigh Iain Ghròt in Scottish Gaelic) (grid reference ND380734) is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. Once a part of the county of Caithness, John o' Groats is usually regarded as the most northerly settlement of mainland Great Britain. The actual location of the most northerly point, however, is at nearby Dunnet Head (ND202767).

The name John o' Groats has a particular resonance because it is so often used in outlining the length of Great Britain when races, walks and charitable events take place between the Cornish point, Land's End (at the extreme south-western tip of the Cornish peninsula in England) and John o' Groats, although nearby Duncansby Head is actually slightly further from Land's End. The phrase Land's End to John o' Groats is frequently heard both as a literal journey and as a metaphor for great or all-encompassing distance, similar to the American phrases coast to coast or sea to shining sea. The village has two bars, a fire station, post office, sports park and many gift shops around the harbour area.

The punctuation and capitalisation in John o' Groats is the correct form. The space after o' appears to vary but was probably the correct older form. The town takes its name from Jan de Groot, a Dutchman who obtained a grant for the ferry from the Scottish mainland to Orkney, recently acquired from Norway, from King James IV in 1496.

1 Demography
2 Tourism
3 Signpost
4 Sport
5 Hotel
6 External links

[edit] Demography

The population of John o' Groats is approximately 300, ±10 (John o' Groats tourist information, 29 October 2007). The village is dispersed but has a linear centre where council housing, sports park, and a shop which is on the main road from the nearest town of Wick.

[edit] Tourism

John o' Groats attracts large numbers of tourists from all across the world all year round, despite critism from the national press slamming the village as "seedy"^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Signpost

The famous "Journey's End" signpost at John o' Groats is privately owned and operated by the same Penzance-based photography company which operates its counterpart at Land's End, with a fee payable for having pictures taken next to the signpost. A free signpost is situated on the wall next to the First and Last souvenir shop and the harbour.

[edit] Sport

John o' Groats is home to two football clubs, John o' Groats and Canisbay Juniors. John o' Groats Fc are an amateur outfit who play in the top flight of Caithness Amateur Football, they also enter a team into the Winter 7s which are played in Thurso. They are current champions of the second division. The also have the distinction of being the most northernly mainland club on the British Isles. Canisbay Juniors are the "feeder" team to John o' Groats Fc with many of key first team players having played for the juniors side at one time. They play in the youth development leagues in Caithness where they enter teams at all age groups.

[edit] Hotel

The famous hotel has very much became a landmark to recognise John o' Groats by. It is no longer a hotel and the public bar was shut down recently as it will move across the carpark to the hexagonal building where it will become a cafe/bar. That makes the building empty and locals are trying to mount a community buyout of the hotel. It was built on the ground where Jan de Groot's house lay.