Journey 8
HV Morton
Tongue
Why did Morton head so far north?
From Inverness, Morton made a snap decision to head for Scotland’s northern coast. It meant passing through 100 miles of the bleakest landscape in Britain – the blasted and bare moors of Sutherland.
He did it to prove that the motor car truly opened up travel to the average person like never before. Even the
remotest places were now accessible, despite the sense of loneliness Morton feels.
At Tongue, a fishing village, Nick discusses the legacy of the car with a local resident. While it may have made places such as this popular from Morton’s day onwards, could that be about to change again if driving for pleasure decreases in our era of ‘carbon footprint’ awareness?
The answer is complex: the car is still vital to communities where even a trip to the dentist can involve huge distances. Here, at least, things are unlikely to change just yet.