06.26.09
The tea shop at the end of the universe
posted by Johanna Pick | 4 comments
If the names Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and Zaphod Beeblebrox bring a smile of recognition to your face, you’re obviously acquainted with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams’ 1970s BBC radio show that spawned a multi-media cult phenomenon.
When the iconic Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles reopened after a four-year renovation, it included a new dining facility named “The Café at the End of the Universe”, an homage to the second book in the Hitchhiker series, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
In early June 2009, a tea shop opened, formally called “The Ozone”, but popularly dubbed “café at the end of the universe”, because of its location on the cliffs of Cape Wrath, the most northwesterly point on the British mainland.
About ten years ago, John and Katherine Ure, a Scots couple from Glasgow, were looking for a “fixer upper”, when they found a lighthouse and its collection of outbuildings that had been made redundant by a new radar station. The lighthouse itself was designed in 1828 by Robert Louis Stevenson, grandfather of the author, and was operational until 1998. At present, the Ures are the only year-round residents at the site, sharing it with the British military, which uses it as a bombardment range, which tends to restrict tourist access.
Mr. Ure opened ” The Ozone” after doing a “feasibility study” based upon the findings of running a snack bar at the Cape for two years, during the May to September season when visitors number close to 2000. The results were sufficiently favorable to encourage the expansion to the tea shop, a project not without inherent difficulties, there being neither electricity nor running water at “The Ozone”’s location. However, at the moment, adding toilets tops the list of proposed improvements.
Because the weather in the area can be quite treacherous, Cape Wrath appears a fitting name for the site, however the name actually comes from the Old Norse, meaning “turning point”, because this is believed to be the point at which Vikings turned their ships for home.
The nearby Clo Mor Cliffs are the tallest in the British Isles; the area also boasts an exotic mix of wildlife, including red deer, eagles, and puffins, and serves as an excellent vantage point for viewing sea mammals.
That the isolation and difficult access, by foot, or by ferry via the Kyle of Furness, and an 11-mile minibus ride (a segment which can also be traversed by bicycle or on foot) has considerable appeal is attested to by the Cape Wrath Challenge, a week-long festival of running events in late May, that climaxes with a regulation-length marathon out to the lighthouse and back, a race that has become so popular it is now booked almost to capacity.
Recognizing that it takes considerable planning and effort for visitors to get to the Cape, Mr. Ure has vowed that the tea shop will be open 365 days a year, and that anyone who shows up at the door 24/7 will be served a cup of tea…although according to press reports, it was another well-known Scottish beverage that was offered at the grand opening.
Many thanks to Iris Mackay and the Cape Wrath Organization for permission to use the photos.
June 26th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Amazing location for a tea shop worth visiting!
June 26th, 2009 at 10:18 am
What a wonderful place. Tea at the end is a fitting reward. I’m certainly going to add this to my “bucket list” of must see tea locations. Thanks so much for telling us about it. I’m inspired. If anyone has other such places on their list, I”d love to hear to about them.
June 29th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I’m adding this to my list, too! It sounds fabulous. Now I want to go back to Scotland!
August 12th, 2009 at 11:10 am
NEVER LET THE FACTS GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STORY
The story above is interesting as far as it goes, but it is fearfully misleading.
For instance. the lighthouse at Cape Wrath is not and never has been redundant. It has functioned every day and night since it was first illuminated on Christmas Day, 1828, and it continues to fulfil its primary purpose.
But it was automated in March 1998.
The radar station was initiated in 1944, not 1998.
The Cape Wrath lighthouse is easily accessible between May and September inclusive, weather permitting. The minibus and ferry service operates every day. The ferry service traverses the Kyle of DURNESS; Furness is some hundreds of miles away. The minibus takes passengers along the entire eleven-mile route between the ferry landing stage and the lighthouse, the whole of which is passable by determined walkers and cyclists as an alternative.
The lighthouse was designed by and built under the direction of Robert Stevenson, who was the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson the author.
For those readers eager to further their Cape Wrath experience and knowledge, the following publications might well be of interest.
For a fascinating description of the building of the Cape Wrath lighthouse and a comprehensive survey of this last remaining wilderness on the British mainland see A LIGHT IN THE WILDERNESS by David M. Hird, ISBN 978-19059740-16, published by Balnakeil Press, 2 Balnakeil Craft village, DURNESS IV27 4PT, Sutherland, UK tel 01971 511777, or see http://www.scottish-books.net “Beautifully researched, it brings to life the reality of living and working in the last wilderness in Europe” (Lord MacKenzie of Culkein).
Or for a shortened description with many stunning colour photographs of the ferry crossing and the route to the lighthouse, see CAPE WRATH - The Penetrable Wilderness, by David M. Hird, available at £4.50 post free from Bridgeside, Dalchalm, Sutherland KW9 6LP, UK.