The steps are located just south of the town of Wick in Caithness on Scotland's most northeasterly coast.

They date originally from the mid-18th century and were once used by fisherwomen to haul up the creels of herring landed at the harbour beneath.

Crews of women, some in their early seventies, would gut the fish — Herring, cod, Haddock, or Ling — and would carry them up the steps in baskets to be taken on foot to be sold in Wick, some 7 to 8 miles away.

[1] Sea birds such as oystercatchers and terns nest in the cliffsides and circle on the wind down to the water.

The late Etta Juhle cleared about 30 tons of rubble by herself in 1975 after a landslip and David Nicolson of Ulbster has worked continuously on the steps with local historian Iain Sutherland and many other volunteers since 1998, repairing the barking kettles, quarrying stone, manually carrying it up or down the cliffs and grass-cutting about every three weeks during the summer season.