Orkney and Shetland, June 2024

Wonderful Westray Walks – Westray Heritage Centre, Noltland Links and Loop Walk, Noltland Castle, Noup Head Loop

It was another rainy morning in Kirkwall and I decided on taking an afternoon ferry instead of waking early for a morning boat. I enjoyed my cozy airbnb until check out time, and then I spent some time at the Orkney Library which was founded in 1683 and is one of the oldest public libraries in Scotland. I then shopped for groceries for my three day stay on Westray before heading to the ferry terminal for the 85 minute journey. Here is a photo looking back towards Kirkwall,

and here is a photo some time later as we passed by Egilsay (you can just make out the tower of St Magnus Church), with the heather-covered hills of the island of Rousay behind.

It was a fun crossing, with good conversations with fellow travellers and a nice rolling sea. A local bus service dropped me off at my accommodation, The Barn Hostel, which is located on the seafront at the edge of Westray’s main town of Pierowall. The town curves all along the edge of a large shallow bay. This is the view from opposite the hostel!

Rain was threatening, and I wanted to do the Noltland Links loop hike before it started so I headed out straight away after dropping off my backpack and groceries. I walked into town and made a brief stop at the Westray Heritage Centre. Outside, there was a skeleton of a sperm whale, and an example of a boat noust – a fence of stones arranged above the beaches to store and protect boats. There are examples of old nousts, some dating from Viking times, all over Westray and the other Orkney islands.

I spent a brief amount of time inside the small but informative centre, intending to visit again another day but sadly I never found the time. I did look at the Westray Wife, a tiny stone figurine, only 4cm high, carved over 5,000 years ago, which is the oldest known representation of the human form ever to be found in Scotland (unfortunately my photo is poorly lit). I also viewed the Westray Stone which was found at Pierowall village. The beautiful spiral and lozenge design is similar to that of carved stones found at Newgrange and other tombs in the Boyne valley in Ireland, suggesting interconnections between the two areas more than four thousand years ago.

Back outside, I walked along Pierowall’s waterfront road and stopped at the ruins of the Lady Kirk, a 13th century church with later modifications made in the 17th century.

I continued along, past the far end of Pierowall Bay and then took a road that cut northwest across the island. I was walking straight into the wind and of course rain started to fall. I pushed my way through the wind and the wet with the help of my umbrella and seriously considered turning around and returning to my warm hostel, but I carried on and was soon very glad that I did. The rain squall didn’t last long and it was over by the time I reached Rack Wick Bay, with its long curve of steep stony beach where islanders used to gather seaweed. Here is a view looking north, and I considered adding to my hike by walking to the far headland to visit Quoygrew, the remains of a 10th century Viking settlement that included a long house, dwelling houses, farm fields, and a fishing station.

Deciding against a longer walk, I turned south for this view, zoomed in, looking towards Noup Head in the far distance, its lighthouse just barely visible in the photo.

Just behind me, at the top of the steep beach there were examples of nousts, and to the southwest was a clear track leading across a lovely expanse of turf covered in small flowers including many buttercups and my first sighting of the very pretty little flower called eye bright.

The air was fresh and invigorating and I felt good as I walked along by the sea. The end of the bay was marked by sandstone rock formations lined with bright sea pinks. I had read that fossils can be found here.

After exploring the rocks, I continued along on the grassy machair and could see dunes in the distance as I approached the beaches at Grobust.

At the start of the dunes was a bench, well-placed for the view, but it was too cold and windy to sit! I continued along on the narrow trail that angled across the dune,

to the first of two beautiful white shell beaches and a turquoise sea.

Here is the second beach, looking back to the far headland,

and looking directly out to sea.

On one section of beach there were deep mounds of seaweed at the high tide line. Nearby there are a series of low drystone walls known as tangle dykes. Until recently, great amounts of kelp were harvested during the winters and left to dry on the walls before being sent away for processing.

Also nearby are the hidden remains of the Links of Noltland, a very well-preserved Neolithic farming settlement dating from 3300 BC to 800 BC. Excavations here revealed at least a dozen dwellings and many artefacts including the Westray Wife. Orkney’s largest Bronze Age settlement has also been discovered here. The excavations have been halted for several years, and the sites reburied in sand for protection, but they are set to resume soon as the ancient settlements are threatened by coastal erosion, as are many important archaeological sites in Orkney.

I continued around to the end of the bay to locate the Knowe of Queen o’ Howe broch which was a rather nondescript grassy mound topped with fallen stones, but the walk there was lovely with swathes of bright yellow birds foot trefoil, tiny daisies, and white clover in the grass.

Then it was up a long farm track, and then down a road toward Noltland Castle, with views of fields, low hills, and a loch. There were many blackbirds and sparrows on the fences, and nesting curlews and oyster catchers in the fields. And, I was very lucky to see a pair of lapwings!

Noltland Castle is huge and imposing with walls more than two metres thick, 71 gun holes, and few windows. It was built between 1560 and 1574 for Gilbert Balfour but never fully completed.

I was the only one there in the rather dark and gloomy castle, though some areas including the magnificent spiral stairscase were lit by motion detector lights. It was a bit of a creepy castle to be honest with sudden and unexpected rustlings, flappings, and noisy complaints as I disturbed pigeons and crows from their nests.

Perhaps my feelings regarding the castle were coloured by the character of the man who had it built. Disliked by the local population, Gilbert Balfour, Sheriff of Orkney and Master of the Household for Mary Queen of Scots, was implicated in the murder of Mary’s husband, Henry Lord Darnley and in an earlier murder of a Cardinal at St. Andrews. He was eventually executed in Stockholm for participating in a plot against King John III of Sweden!

The second story of the castle, open to the sky, with its Great Hall and various chambers was less spooky, though my heart did beat a little fast again when I climbed a thin, narrow, and very much eroded sandstone staircase to the fourth floor to look way down into the Lord’s Chamber and out to the surrounding countryside.

Back at the hostel I relaxed in their large and comfortable lounge and retired early, ready for the next day’s walk of about thirteen kilometres of walking from town and then on the Noup Head Loop. The first three kilometres led me back past the castle and on single lane roads past farms to the trailhead here, where the path led straight to the sea.

Looking south, the coastal trail follows the cliff tops for about five kilometres to East Kirbest,

but I was headed north towards Noup Head with its cliffs, seabird colonies, and lighthouse.

I passed the first of several small sea stacks,

and then a second, seen when looking back.

Fulmars were the first nesting birds that I encountered,

and each time I neared any nesting area fulmars sailed close past me as a warning to stay away.

It was wonderful coastal walking, with calmer winds today and just sprinkles of rain. I was blissfully all alone except for the company of some sheep, some very timid hop-away fast rabbits, and one Arctic tern who flew directly above me to chase me away from a nearby nest.

But the real draw on this walk were the nesting seabirds on the cliffs,

and the beautiful gannets soaring over the sea below me, their long wings outstretched.

The guillemots, black and white, were aligned on narrow shelves with their backs to the wind to protect their precious eggs.

These gannets were busy preening while sitting on nests made of seaweed and guana,

while this gannet flew in with more material for its nest.

I loved watching the gannets soar – the one on the left below is a youngster whose plumage has not quite finished turning white.

Sadly, my zoom lens is not a very powerful one but I am quite happy with this photo of a large black backed gull who soared past rather nonchalantly!

I watched the birds for a long time and then finally made my way to the lighthouse. From there it was an easy walk along a track that led me back to the roads and on to Pierowall.

The reward for my efforts was of course the walk itself and the glorious birds, but my day ended with a few more pleasures – the sighting of a seal on the beach in front of the hostel, a fish and chip dinner, and then this sunset at around nine p.m.,

that went on and on and eventually morphed into this blazing sky by about eleven p.m.!

It was definitely wonderful walking on Westray!

Orkney and Shetland, June 2024

Visiting Kirkwall and the Broch of Guerness – St Magnus Cathedral, the Earl’s and Bishop’s Palaces, Orkney Museum, and Tankerness House and Garden

After Rousay I spent two days in Kirkwall and they were the coldest and wettest of my days in Orkney so far. Luckily, I had a lovely airbnb accommodation that was warm and cozy. There was a mini self-catering area with breakfast items provided and the opportunity to microwave a dinner and make many cups of tea. It was a lovely refuge from the weather! It was also within easy walking distance to Kirkwall’s historic town centre,

and so after the first of those cups of tea, and a welcome clearing of the sky, I headed out to explore Kirkwall. I expected the historic main street to be very busy with cruise ship passengers milling about (one or two large cruise ships dock in Kirkwall each day) but it was surprisingly quiet, perhaps because it was a Sunday.

It didn’t take long to reach St Magnus Cathedral which is visible from miles around. Built of red sandstone, its tower is 50 metres high!

The cathedral was founded in 1137 by Earl Rognvald who was a nephew of Saint Magnus and the Earl of Orkney and Shetland under Norwegian rule. Earl Rognvald was canonized in 1192, and the remains of both saints are buried within pillars in the choir, the oldest part of the church.

Here is a view from near the west entrance, looking down the nave towards the chapel. The length of this impressive cathedral is 66 metres.

There was an excellent pamphlet provinding information about the history of the cathedral and describing many of the historic items to be found within. From left to right below are: a medieval town cross (1621), moved here from Broad Street; a statue of Dr. John Rae, employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company who explored the Canadian Arctic and helped discover the Northwest Passage; a 13th century gravestone, the cathedral’s oldest, with a carved “morning star” symbol and sword, possibly denoting a crusader; a memorial to the HMS Royal Oak, a battleship sunk in Scapa Flow in 1939, featuring the ship’s brass bell and a Book of Remembrance to honour those who died – the pages are turned every week by the cathedral custodians. (Click on any photo in this to see an enlargement.)

Also in the cathedral were many 17th century tombstones that once covered burials in the floor of the nave. At some point in a later century the remains were exhumed and reburied in the graveyard, and the headstones were arranged along the walls of the cathedral. As well as inscriptions and some elaborate carvings such as coats of arms, all of the tombstones feature grim reminders of death in the form of images such as skulls, crossbones, hour glasses, and gravediggers’ spades. Many also end with the blunt words, “Remember Death.”

After visiting the cathedral I walked across the street to visit the Earl’s and Bishop’s palaces. The set of photos below is from the Earl’s Palace which was built around 1606 by Patrick, Earl of Orkney, who ruled the Northern Isles for Scotland from 1592 to 1615.

The nearby Bishop’s Palace was built in the early 1100s when the Northern Isles were under Norwegian control. Constructed at around the same time as the cathedral, the palace was a grand residence for the bishops of Orkney and was a symbol of their political importance, prestige, and power.

After my visit to the Earl’s and Bishop’s palaces I continued along the main street, past its shops and cafes, and soon reached Kirkwall’s harbour. This harbour is where I would catch my next ferry to the northern isle of Westray.

Next I visited Kirkwall’s “Peedie Sea” (“peedie” means little), a large circular pool and adjoining pool of salt water where I saw two lovely swans who very protective of their five little gray cygnets. Other birds are to be found here and sometimes even otters!

I really enjoyed my walking tour of Kirkwall. I shopped for groceries and then returned to my accommodation just as the rain started to fall again. It was a perfect time to start a new book, “The Golden Bird”, by the well-known Orcadian poet and author George Mackey Brown.

The following morning it was very gray, very wet, very windy, and very cold! I briefly considered not heading out to visit the Broch of Guerness, but in the end I put on my waterproofs, grabbed my umbrella, and headed out. At the bus stop I met Gerard again. He was embarking on the next leg of his St Magnus Way walk and we enjoyed talking together on the bus until we both exited at the small community of Evie – Gerard to head north towards Birsay, and I to head down a long hill and then along a puddled track that led past and around a long curve of beach.

It was a wild and wet walk and really quite wonderful! When I reached the Broch of Guerness though I was definitely ready to warm up and dry off a bit in the small but excellent Visitor Centre. Here is the Broch of Guerness, an Iron Age broch that was built sometime between about 500 and 200 BC. It was encircled by deep ditches and ramparts which were filled in sometime after AD 100.

Outside of the broch there was a small accompanying settlement of stone houses, yards and sheds. At first glance (top left photo), I was looking at a rather confusing jumble of stones, strikingly covered in thick white lichen. But, as I entered each home things became more clear. Each house had a main room with a hearth, a waterproof tank for water (lined with clay), cupboards, and sleeping spaces. Some of the houses also had a small yard, open to the sky, and a shed. In the bottom photo, you can clearly see the hearth, water tank, and a quern stone used for grinding bere (an early form of barley) and oats.

There was a clear passageway leading to the entrance to the broch where the most important family would have lived. Inside, the broch originally had one central hearth and would have been at least three stories tall. In later centuries, the central space was divided into multiple living areas by slabs of stone.

Here is a view from the back of the broch,

and here is a view looking across towards Westness on Rousay where I had visited the Midhowe Broch.

I was very glad that I had braved the elements to visit the Broch of Guerness, but was less glad when there was no prospect of begging a ride back to Kirkwall. There were only a few other parties visiting the broch (the weather!), and they were all heading north to Birsay rather than south to Kirkwall. I did get a ride back up the long hill to the main road, and then I started walking and hitchhiking because the return bus wasn’t coming for another three hours. Google told me that it would take 5 hours and 36 minutes to walk to Kirkwall! I walked for maybe 40 minutes, in thankfully just a light rain now, but there was little traffic. Finally, the sixth car stopped and whisked me back to Kirkwall! Thank you kind sir!

I was dropped off at the harbour and decided to treat myself to a hot lunch at Helgi’s pub. I had read that there were illustrations and text on the walls here copied from the Okneying Saga. They were quite marvellous!

Then, en-route to my accommodation, I stopped to visit the Orkney Museum which is located almost directly across from St Magnus Cathedral. It is housed in Tankerness House which was built in the mid 1500s as a manse for the archdeacons and choir masters of the cathedral.

It was an excellent museum, with well-curated and presented exhibits covering the history of the Orkney islands from prehistory through the 20th century. There was a lot to see! I spent most of my time in the Neolithic, Iron Age, and Viking-era exhibits. Below are Neolithic decorative inscribed stones, and to the right is a beautiful 6th or 7th century Pictish sandstone tablet, carved with the image of an eagle and elegant geometric designs.

I was very interested in a display of items found in a Viking burial ship that was discovered on the island of Sanday after a storm revealed it (I will be visiting Sanday and the beach where the remains of the ship were found). A woman, a man, and a child were buried in the ship with their grave goods that included a beautifully carved whalebone plaque, whalebone gaming pieces, antler combs, shears, a spindle whorl, a double-bladed iron sword with its guard decorated with silver and brass, arrows in a wooden quiver, and an ornate brooch of mercury-gilded copper alloy with silver capped bosses.

As well as the many excellent collections and displays found in multiple rooms of the manse, there was an exhibit of the drawing room, dining room, and staircase as they would have looked in the 1820s when the prominent Baikie family owned Tankerness House. The curving stairway was so beautiful!

After my time in the museum I stepped out into the walled garden of Tankerness House. What a delight! It a refuge from the wind and, after enjoying the flowers and other plantings, I found a place to sit and rest my feet a bit before the walk back to my accommodation.

The garden was a lovely way to end my two days of exploration in Kirkwall and at the Broch of Guerness. I returned back to my cozy accommodation to read, rest, write, and prepare for my next day’s onward journey. Thank you to Kirkwall, Orkney’s historic capital, and to Fiona and Ian for their kind hospitality.

Orkney and Shetland, June 2024

A Quick Trip to Egilsay – St Magnus Way and Church, RSPB Onziebust Nature Reserve, and Eastside Beaches

On my last full day on Rousay I took a morning ferry to the nearby small island of Egilsay where I would have four hours on the island before the next return ferry. On Saturdays and Sundays, this ferry service is only available on prior request. I wasn’t willing to request an entire ferry just for me, but after enquiring I learned that the ferry had already been requested and so I was able to go. It was another beautiful morning – hurray! – and I headed down to the ferry terminal early to visit the Rousay Heritage Centre which has some displays about the history and flora and fauna of the island. Back outside I admired the sailboats at anchor off shore and the view of the hills from the far end of the pier.

Here comes the boat! Vehicles that take this ferry need to drive onto the deck in reverse, but there were no vehicles driving either off or on this morning.

Up in the passenger lounge I met Gerard, a Dutchman who had requested the ferry as he was starting his walk on the St Magnus Way which begins on Egilsay. We were the only two passengers! It felt odd to have the entire ferry operating just for the two of us, but I was grateful that Gerard had requested it or else I would have been unable to visit the island. Gerard led mountaineering trips in the Alps for thirty years, and he has walked many long distance trails, chiefly in Scotland and Spain, so we had lots to talk about. We landed at the Egilsay pier and this was the view over to Rousay (the tall lone windmill located at the Heart of Rousay Boardwalk is just visible on a hill on the left side of the photo).

This was the curving beach just north of the pier with an enticing-looking headland beyond.

I started up the road (a little ahead of Gerard as we both like walking alone), and this was an early view of St Magnus Church, seen from across a field full of tiny buttercups and daisies.

St Magnus’ Church was built in the late 12th century on the site of a much older church. The tall round tower is reminiscent of round towers found in Ireland except for the tapering of the shape. The tower is fifteen metres high but it was originally twenty metres and would have had five or six stories inside.

I walked all around the church and inside. I loved the colour of the stones and the irregularity of their shapes and placements.

Inside the sanctuary of the church there were two small recessed shelves. There was an old nest tucked into the back of one, and a new nest in the other with eggs in it! Sadly my photo did not turn out well. I had plenty of time on the island, and I wasn’t planning to walk far, so I sat for a while on a bench seat in a corner of the church yard, protected a bit from the wind by the high stone fence. I enjoyed my views of the church, the sea, sky, and Rousay in the distance.

I left the church via a track, with this view back. I was officially walking on St Magnus’ Way, a 58 mile pilgrimage route through Mainland Orkney, inspired by the life and death of Magnus, Orkney’s patron saint.

I turned onto another track which led to the crossroads of the island. At present, less than thirty people live on Egilsay.

Then a left turn led me due east towards the sea. The bird life here was amazing! I was walking through a part of the RSPB Onziebust Nature Reserve which covers more than 55 percent of the island, in cooperation with island farmers. Curlews and oyster catchers were rising into the air noisily as I walked, but not just because of me. There were gulls about, flying low over the fields likely looking for eggs or chicks, and I saw two small hawks that I think were Kestrels hovering and swooping as they hunted. I loved watching them. Small birds sang from somewhere out of sight or sometimes on fence posts, and I’m quite sure that I saw several Arctic terns fly in from the sea.

I stopped often to watch the birds, but I didn’t do any photography as I was eager to get to the beach while the sky was still blue because…..it looks like this!

What a beautiful beach! And here was the view to the south.

I headed north up the beach and didn’t get far before stopping to admire the angled rock formations, decorated with sea pinks and bright yellow lichen.

This was the next beach on, and then another after that. Wow!

The sky to the west was starting to darken so I headed back to the first beach to have my lunch and I met up with Gerard who kindly took my picture.

There he goes, off to explore the north beaches.

There is more walking to be had on the island, south down the main road, but I decided to spend my time here, sitting quietly and looking out to sea, waiting for the birds and other wildlife to say hello. A grey seal came by for a peek at me, and a small flock of shore birds landed on the beach for a few minutes to quickly scamper over the sand and seaweed before lifting off again. One stayed a minute or two longer than the rest.

The sky was just as mesmerizing as the waves and the shifting colours of the sea. While I watched rain fall in the distance, dark clouds approached from behind and surprised me with sudden rain and then an onslaught of hail. But, I had my trusty umbrella with me and sat huddled beneath it, quite happily dry as I watched the hail fall and bounce off of the beach rocks all around. Ten minutes later it was all done!

I said goodbye to the lovely beach and headed back up the track towards the centre of the island – the tallest hill on Rousay is centred in the distance.

I had attached my zoom lens onto my camera at the beach, but the birds were much quieter now at around noon. The hawks, terns, and gulls were no longer in sight but I did manage these two feeble photos of a curlew and an oyster catcher.

In a field near the track is a monument dedicated to St Magnus that marks the place where he was slain by order of his cousin Earl Hakon. Magnus shared the earldom of Orkney with Hakon and in 1117, at an Easter-time parlay here on Egilsay to resolve differences, Hakon arrived with an army of eight boatloads of men rather than the agreed-upon two boatloads of men each. Magnus – pious, peaceable, and well-liked – was slain by one of Hakon’s men who was forgiven by Magnus prior to the deed being done. The story is told in the Orkneying Saga. (You can hear a narration of the text in this YouTube video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C-bBXX8_AB0)

I returned to the crossroads and had some time remaining before the ferry so I spent a few minutes in the island’s wonderful little community centre which is always open for islanders or visitors to enter, make a cup of tea or coffee, use the computer, or maybe even play a game of ping pong. I perused some of the bird books, trying to identify the little bird I had seen on the sand.

Then it was time to return to the pier to catch the ferry. The sky was mostly blue but the wind was still strong and cold so Gerald and I sat and chatted in the small but nicely warm waiting room. I thanked him again for having requested the ferry, so glad that I had had the opportunity to visit wonderful Egilsay.

Here comes the ferry, again just for the two of us!

Back on Rousay, I had planned to hike up to the top of the moor but after four hours outside in the sun and the wind, and despite the small amount of walking I had done, I felt tired and decided to head to my accommodation for a rest, perhaps to do the hike in the early evening. Some rain moved in later in the day, not much, but it was enough to justify my laziness and decision to save that hike for, hopefully, another time. The next morning, I said goodbye to beautiful Rousay and its farms and hills,

and then looked forward out of the ferry window, towards Mainland Orkney and new sights to come.

Orkney and Shetland, June 2024

Visiting the Beautiful Island of Rousay – Neolithic Chambered Cairns, Iron Age Broch, and Stunning Scenery

After my stay in Stromness, I took the ferry from Tingwall, on the east coast of Mainland, to the island of Rousay which is the fifth largest of the Orkney islands and has the second highest hills after Hoy. Roughly circular, farms occupy the lower slopes, close to the sea, while the hilly centre of the island is rather wild with heath and moorland and small lochs. Rousay has more than 160 archaeological sites, and it is rich in flower meadows, birds, and other wildlife. My accommodation (a lovely little self-catering studio suite at Trumland Farm) was located close to the ferry. I settled in and then set off on foot along the main road to visit three Neolithic chambered burial cairns which are located within about two and a half miles of the ferry terminal.

It was a lovely walk, despite the very strong wind and occasional drenching sweeps of rain! (I was prepared though, wearing my waterproofs and armed with a strong umbrella.) In the photo below (centre) is Trumland Farm and to the left is the ferry terminal, with part of the island of Wyre opposite.

As I walked I had fields to my left, sloping down to the sea, and fields to my right sloping up to the heather-covered hills. Curlews and oyster catchers were nesting in the fields and as I passed near they would rise up and fly about noisily, warning me away. These lovely horses, however, were calm and sedate, and barely noted my presence as I walked by. It was great to be alone, on this quiet single-lane road and I was already in love with this island.

The first chambered cairn was Taversoe Tuick which is around 4,500 years old and, unusually, it has two stories, with an upper and lower chamber. There was no one else about and it was thrilling to enter the cairn and descend down a metal ladder from the upper chamber into the lower one. When first discovered, the bones of five people were found here, together with flint, stone tools, and pottery fragments.

The next burial tomb was Blackhammer Cairn, entered through a sliding hatch. It is a stalled cairn, thirteen metres long, with seven compartments. It has been damaged over time but a concrete roof with skylights now protects it. The bones of two individuals were found here and it is believed that the tomb was probably cleared periodically over many centuries. The far end of the mound was rounded, and faced with a large flat stone. I got chills here, but it wasn’t creepy or because of the cold – it was reverential, and a privilege to see the work of people from 5000 years ago as they created these homes for their dead.

The next tomb, the Knowe of Yarso, required a good steep climb up the hillside to reach a level terrace on the moorland, with views of farmland, the sea, and a ferry below.

This cairn was also protected by a concrete roof with skylights, and was in better condition than the last, with higher walls and the slabs of rock dividing the space into chambers were more intact. The bones of 29 individuals were found here, and it is thought that the tomb was in use for at least a thousand years. Again, I felt very privileged to be here, all alone, to walk through this space and imagine the lives of those who built this place.

The following morning dawned brighter than previous days, hurray! Trumland Farm rents bicycles and I splurged on a electric one for the day which was a wise choice given the strong winds and many steep hills on Rousay.

The first stop of my round-the-island tour was at Midhowe Broch and the Midhowe Chambered Cairn. This 5,400 year old chambered cairn is so immense that it is protected by a hanger (the large building at the bottom of the hill, below).

Once inside the hanger there was a bit of a surprise. Catwalks have been built above the cairn, enabling visitors to view the structure from above. The cairn’s passageway is an astonishing 23.6 metres long and features 12 stalled chambers. The upright stones marking the chambers rise to a height of 2 metres and the remaining walls rise to a height of 2.5 metres.

It was thrilling to walk down one side of the catwalk and back along the other. Looking down, one chamber reminded me of the box beds found at Skara Brae.

The remains of 25 people were found here when the site was excavated in 1932. Cattle and sheep bones, antlers, fish bones, shells, worked flint knives, and pots were also found, possibly due to ritual feasting in the space, or possibly placed with the bodies for use in an afterlife. I was rather awestruck by the enormous effort it would have taken to quarry and fit all of the stone for this enormous tomb.

Back outside, the unceasing wind had cleared away a few dark rain clouds – the sky was blue and the coastline ahead was wild and beautiful. Just ahead was Midhowe Broch, the best-preserved of three Iron Age brochs that were built on this section of coast and occupied sometime between 200 BC and 100 AD. Brochs are round defensive residences that are particular to Scotland, and when I visit Shetland I will view the best-persevered of all.

The siting of this Broch is spectacular. It was built on a promontory, with ditches cut through the rock on two sides and also a ditch and rampart on the landward side for defence.

I enjoyed walking around and through the broch. Again I was here all alone, but for the wheeling gulls over the sea and swallows swooping low over the turf.

I headed back towards the chambered cairn hangar,

and then beyond it to view and learn about even more historical sites in this area called Westness.

There were the jumbled remains of a Viking hall (the Wirk), the ruins of 16th century St. Mary’s Church, built on the site of an earlier medieval church, and the ruins of Skaill Farm. The current ruined buildings of the farm date from the early 18th century, but are built atop and amongst many Viking farm buildings and field structures of the early 12th century when Sigurd of Westness ruled here.

There were interpretive panels at each site and it was a lot to take in! Here, an archaeological dig is ongoing. I am so impressed by the painstaking work that archaeologists do to make sense of the structures and artefacts they find, and to try and piece together the very complex story of human occupation and use of the land here over many centuries and even millennia!

But that was enough history for one morning! I left Skaill Farm, and the entire Westness site, very happy with my visit to this incredibly historic and atmospheric place. These sheep wanted their quiet grazing time back, and I had more of the island to discover.

I climbed back up the hill and hopped back on my bicycle to continue my counter-clockwise circuit of the island. There was no traffic to worry about and the fields, hills, and scattered farms were wonderful to take in. Soon I had reached the northwestern part of the island and I stopped for this wonderful view across farm fields to a small loch and beyond it the Bay of Saviskaill where I had read that seals sometimes pull out to rest on the shore. I passed several more farms on my way to the bay, including one with old out buildings deeply covered in yellow lichen. At the beach, the tide was high and the shore was thickly covered in rich mounds of deep burgundy/brown seaweed. I sat and had a light lunch here and watched the gulls and several curious Grey seals who watched me as much as I watched them.

Leaving the bay, I passed the end of the small loch and traversed a bit of boggy ground to get a picture of the yellow iris blooming near the shore. Down low, I saw a purple bog orchid with two very large and fat bumblebees on it. I think that they may have been Great Yellow Bumblebees which were once found throughout the U.K. but are now quite rare and mostly found in northern Scotland and the northern isles. I crouched low for a photo but was not quick enough and they flew off a second before I pressed the shutter so a positive ID can’t be made!

My next stop was at the trailhead for a loop hike of Faraclett Head where Arctic terns and Great Skuas nest. I climbed up a steep hillside and then across sheep-shorn turf, with great views ahead and down towards a small loch situated behind a curving beach.

The walking was great but after only about a kilometre dark rain clouds were approaching fast and so I decided to cut my hike short and retrace my steps. I arrived at my bike just as the rain started and decided to crouch down beside one of the two cars parked at the trailhead. Now one advantage of Orkney’s wind-driven rain is that it comes in at quite an angle, versus straight down, and so I stayed surprisingly dry sitting on the ground against the lee side of the car, knees tucked in to my chest, boots tucked under my waterproof pack. I snacked on a granola bar, shook my head half-admiringly at the rapid changeability of the Orkney weather, and quite enjoyed the sight and sound of the heavy fall of rain around me. Ten minutes later it was all done! I walked to my bike, swept the water off of the seat, and continued on my journey.

My next stop was at the Heart of Rousay Boardwalk. The electric bike was so helpful in getting me up a fairly steep dirt road to the summit of a hill that was topped by one lone and very large windmill. The boardwalk passes over a tufty expanse of cotton grass and heather and provides great views across to the hills at the centre of the island, and also out to the sea, looking towards the island of Egilsay, which was my destination for the following day. A string of circular pens, probably of farmed salmon, was in the sea between the two islands.

I cycled back down the hill, and then continued along on the quiet road, sad that I was nearing the end of my tour around the island. I made one last stop to check out the trailhead for a hike that leads up onto the moors and through the Trumland RSPB Reserve to the highest point on Rousay. I had read that it is a good place to view raptors such as Hen Harriers, Merlins, and Short-eared owls. My reconnaissance done, I took in the view of this beautiful wildflower meadow, with the ferry terminal below and my accommodation just minutes away. What a day! I was definitely in love with Rousay and wishing that I had many more days here to explore and enjoy. It is the kind of island where, of the few cars that passed me on the road, everyone waved.

If I could do it again I would definitely stay on Rousay for at least four or five or seven days as there are more walks to do and places to discover such as a large standing stone, sea stacks, bird colonies, and isolated lochs where red-throated divers nest. But, I still had one more full day here to look forward to, with a planned morning outing to Egilsay and an afternoon hike up on the moor. I was already looking forward to it, and I felt so thankful that I had come to visit the beautiful island of Rousay.

Orkney and Shetland, June 2024

More of Neolithic Orkney and Historic Stromness – The Barnhouse Settlement, Stones of Stenness, Maeshowe Chambered Tomb, Stromness Heritage Walk and Museum

I started my second full day on Orkney Mainland with an excellent guided tour of the Barnhouse Settlement and the Stones of Stenness. Older than the nearby Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness were built around 5,400 years ago and are possibly the earliest henge monument ever erected in the British Isles (it is older than Stonehenge by a millennium). It once consisted of 12 stones, encircled by a large ditch and bank, but now only 4 stones remain standing and the shapes of the ditch and bank have been erased over time by ploughing.

The site was very busy as many tour buses stop here but, with patience, I was able to photograph some of the individual stones on their own. Our guide related many facts, stories, and theories about this ancient stone circle and the roles it may have played in the ceremonial and spiritual life of the Neolithic farming culture that built it.

Close to Stenness is the Barnhouse Settlement, the remains of a small village which is the same age as the Stones of Stenness Circle and it is thought that those who lived here built the stone circle. As we neared the site, I turned for this lovely view of the pathway to the stones and of the mountains of Hoy in the distance. They were no longer encased in mist!

Unlike at Skara Brae, the structures here have been reconstructed, with stones placed as they were found during excavation. Our guide showed us three structures, the first of which was a small rectangular home with a layout similar to those found at Skara Brae with box beds, central hearths, and storage dressers. At least 15 such homes were found in the village. The second structure (below) was more like a duplex, with a passageway entrance and then the space is divided into two non-symmetrical halves, each with its own central hearth. It is possible that the spaces were used as workshops.

The third structure was comprised of a large circular outer wall, 1.5 metres thick, that would likely have been quite high. Inside the wall was a large rectangular structure with the entrance aligned so that the midsummer sunset shone down its entrance passage. The structure is thought to have had a ceremonial function because of its large size, alignments, enclosing wall, and archaeological finds.

After my guided tour I walked the short distance to the Maeshowe Visitor Centre to wait for the start of my next tour, this one into the finely constructed and nearly perfectly intact Maeshowe chambered cairn, built around 3500 BC. The long, narrow, and low entrance tunnel is aligned to let light shine onto the back wall of the tomb’s central chamber on the day of the winter solstice. The main chamber is roughly square in shape and surrounded by three smaller cells, and the high corbeled ceiling was built without mortar. Etched into the walls are Nordic runes, the largest collection of Norse runes outside of Scandinavia. The Orkneying Saga, written in Iceland in the 13th century, tells of a band of Vikings that took shelter here during a storm a century before. One set of runes tells of a great treasure, but many are boasts such as this one, “These runes were incised by the best runester in the west, using the axe that Gaul Thrandilsson once owned in south Iceland.” There are boasts of another kind as well, for example “Thorny was bedded”, and “Ingigerd is the best of them all.”

After lunch and an afternoon rest at my hostel, I headed out to do the Stromness Heritage Walk and to visit the Stromness museum. Armed with my pamphlet guide, I walked along the winding harbourfront street looking for the blue plaques that highlighted places of interest. At one stop was a cannon that was reputedly fired to signal the arrival of the Hudson’s Bay Company ships into the harbour. Another, most interesting stop, was at an old stone plaque marking the site of Login’s Well. This well supplied water to the ships of the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1670-1891, to Captain Cook’s vessels, the Resolution and Discovery, in 1780, and to Sir John Franklin’s Ships, Erebus and Terror, for their Arctic expedition of 1845!

Next, I visited Stromness Museum which was founded in 1837 and has quite an eclectic collection of artefacts. I learned that Stromness was a base for the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1670 to 1891. The company recruited men from Orkney to work in the fur trade, and by the late 18th century, three-quarters of the company’s work force in Canada were Orkadians!

Stromness had a very active Natural History Society during the Victorian age, and some of their collections of taxidermy, rocks, shells, fossils, etc. take up most of the second floor of the museum. I spent a lot of time here, especially looking at the beautiful birds, and at the collections of nests and eggs.

There were also some items in the museum which were found at Skara Brae, including “Buddo” a small figurine carved from whale bone sometime between 2900-2400 BC. It is one of only a few known human-like figurines that date from the Neolithic period of Great Britain. Also on display from Skara Brae were a stone pot containing crushed red ochre, bone points and pins, and necklaces of bone and shell. The blackened urn contains cremated human bone, found in a burial mound near Sandwick.

Whaling was also prominent in Stromness’ maritime history. From about the 1770s to the 1870s, whaling ships took on crews in Stromness, looking for young men who were skilled in handling small boats in rough seas. In 1816, the Aberdeen Chronicle recorded 34 whaling ships docked in Stromness Harbour. On display were models of boats and harpoons, etc., but my attention was caught by a set of scrimshaw (decorated bone or ivory objects crafted by whalers) that included two walrus tusks and four whale’s teeth. The etched images, chiefly of Arctic animals, are very beautiful and the artist must have been a somewhat soft-hearted whaler to have depicted the mother polar bear and her cub so tenderly. He may also have been missing the comforts and safety of home as whaling voyages often lasted four years or more and were very dangerous. The scene of the whale breaking the small boat apart, with all of the whalers tossed into the frigid seas, destined to drown, surely depicts a fear held by many, if not all, of the men who took on this dangerous job.

After my time at the museum I strolled further along Stromness’ harbourfront street, eventually leaving the town behind. It was a wonderful walk, with a fresh breeze, bright sun, and a beautiful sky and sea. Here, the NorthLink ferry is leaving Stromness harbour.

I descended to the beach for this photo of the Hoy Sound High lighthouse. Look at the colour of that water!

I continued along, sometimes down on the beach and sometimes up higher on the path beside the road. The mountains of Hoy were beautiful in the distance,

and I appreciated this silhouette of two friends enjoying a peaceful moment.

I considered walking a little further (you can continue from here on a coastal trail for seventeen kilometres all the way to Skara Brae, and then walk another twelve kilometres to the Brough of Birsay), but I was happy to turn around and make the return journey to my hostel, now with a greater appreciation for the historic harbour town of Stromness, and for long human history and timeless landscapes of these Orkney islands.

Orkney and Shetland – June 2024

Old Man of Hoy, Stromness, Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, and the Brough of Birsay

Hello everyone, I’m in Orkney!

I arrived in Scotland a little over one week ago, somewhat worse for wear after a sleepless flight and with the onset of the early symptoms of a cold or flu that has worsened as the days have gone on. I managed to do some sightseeing in Stirling and Inverness (posts to come), while also trying to get enough rest. I’m feeling better now but am still low energy so I am continuing to take it easy. It is sad, though, to let go of some of my looked-forward-to activities, including today’s planned 20 km loop hike on the Isle of Hoy, up onto its high cliffs to overlook the Old Man of Hoy, a famous sea stack that soars 450 feet high. Sigh! Oh well, at least I had a good view of the Old Man and the cliffs as I passed by on my ferry ride over to Mainland Orkney!

I loved the ferry ride from Thurso, on the northern coast of Scotland, to the historic town of Stromness on Mainland, the largest of the Orkney Islands. It was an exciting crossing, with a bright sky (at the start!), strong winds, and a rollicking swell on the sea. Here are several more views of the Old Man of Hoy and the cliffs of Hoy as we passed.

Hoy is the second largest of the Orkney Islands (of which there are more than seventy). It is also the highest of the islands, with its geology and landscape more akin to the Highlands of Scotland than to the more low-lying, pastoral landscape of the other isles of Orkney.

Here is my last photo view from the rear sun deck of the ship, with the tops of Hoy’s mountains obscured in the mist and a fishing boat heading out to sea.

And here is a photo of the historic town of Stromness as we entered the harbour and approached our dock.

How exciting to arrive! Thank you North Link Ferries!

It was a very short walk down a narrow winding street to my accommodation of four nights, Brown’s Hostel. (The bicycle parked for the moment in front belongs to a couple, “older than me” who have been cycling all around Scotland, including the Outer Hebrides, for over six weeks!)

The rain settled in soon after my arrival, and so did I. I abandoned my planned afternoon activities and headed out only briefly to buy groceries and to find a good book to read. The following morning, I took an early stroll along my street and explored many of the little lanes between the homes and cottages that lead to the waterfront where there are piers and ramps down to the water. In days gone by this was a very busy harbourfront full of sailing ships, whalers, and fishing boats stopping for provisions or to unload cargo. (I saw my first Orkney flag flying! This is a reminder that you can click on any photo if you would like a larger view.)

Next, I was off to visit Skara Brae which is one of Orkney’s most important archaeological sites. It is a wonderfully preserved Neolithic village that is over 5000 years old, sited above a stunningly beautiful beach at the Bay of Skaill.

In 1850, the ferocious winds of a winter storm severely eroded a high dune, known as Skara Brae, and revealed a marvel – the stones of an ancient farming village older than the pyramids of Egypt and Stonehenge. The site has now been excavated to reveal the shapes and interiors of ten clustered stone structures, most of them homes.

A reconstructed house (below), sited near the Visitor Centre and filled with replica artefacts, allows visitors to walk through and experience what it would have felt like to be in one of the homes found at Skara Brae. Semi-buried, these small rectangular dwellings featured a narrow and low doorway, rock-lined “box beds” to either side of a central hearth (that would have been filled with warm materials such as furs or straw), small storage spaces in the walls, and a shelving unit opposite the door where functional and special objects such as pottery could be stored and displayed.

Below is a photo of the interior of one of the homes. It would have been roofed, likely with timbers and with hides or turf. What is amazing at Skara Brae is that what you see onsite is not a reconstruction. The stones are left as they were found during the excavations, amazingly protected and preserved for over five millennia by the sand dune.

The structure in the photo below, larger than the other dwellings, is thought to have been a workshop for the making of stone and bone tools and perhaps pottery. The excavation of Skara Brae led to many archaeological finds and discoveries and shed much new light on the day-to-day lives of early Neolithic farmers in Britain.

In the distance (in the above photo) is Skaill House, a 17th century mansion that is open for viewing on a joint ticket with Skara Brae. I had been looking forward to that visit but, mindful of my energy levels, I sadly decided to skip it. But, there was certainly time for a brief visit down to that gorgeous beach,

before exploring the exhibits in the Visitors Centre and then catching the bus to my next stop, the Ring of Brodgar. The Ring of Brodgar is part of the “Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site”, along with Skara Brae, the Maeshowe chambered tomb, and the Stones of Stenness. It is dramatically located on a narrow strip of land between two long lochs and is the third largest stone circle in the U.K.

Thought to have been constructed between 2600 and 2400 BC, the massive stone circle has a diameter of 104 metres and is surrounded by a henge (deep ditch). There are 36 remaining stones, of an original 60, and there are also 13 prehistoric burial mounds located in the nearby landscape.

I loved walking around the outside of the circle (the inner path is currently closed for restoration). The stones were each unique and beautiful and the setting was tremendous. But, bad weather was moving in quickly, more quickly than I expected, and after just one circuit of the stones I had to scurry away at speed, turning for one last photo that is blurred from the drops of water on my camera lens.

There was no shelter to be had anywhere, and the bus was still 40 minutes away! I had my rain jacket on, but not my rain pants (rookie mistake), and as I fumbled in my day pack for my small umbrella the wind-driven rain lashed at me and laughed at my efforts. Within minutes I was completely drenched and I looked as if I had stepped into a shower with all of my clothes on! There was no question of waiting it out so I begged a ride from a woman who was also scurrying away and she kindly rescued me from the deluge! (The weather here changes constantly. Sitting here as I write in the hostel kitchen, the scene outside the window has alternated between rain and sun at least four times this morning!)

Later that afternoon, the clouds magically cleared and the sun came out. At the hostel I had changed, rested, and had a hot lunch so I felt as if I had enough energy to make the journey to the Brough of Birsay, a small tidal island located off of the northern shore of Mainland. The island is only accessible by foot via a causeway for two hours on either side of the low tide. The bus dropped me off beside the ruins of the 15th century Earl’s Palace in Birsay,

and it was an easy 15 minute walk out towards the causeway and this stunning view of the island.

I made my way across (what fun!), and then rose up onto the island to look back at the causeway and Mainland.

It was so beautiful there! The island features early Pictish, Norse, and Medieval remains. The structure in the photo below is thought to have been a Norse sauna.

The small island has a rich history. It was occupied in the 5th century by Celtic Christian missionaries, and was a Pictish stronghold in the 7th century. Archaeologists have found Pictish brooches, rings, dress pins, fragments of glass, and also moulds for the creation of fine Bronze jewellery. In the 9th century, the Norse arrived and built a settlement here which lasted several centuries. The remnants of Norse longhouses, barns, a smithy, a church, and the sauna are all beautifully outlined by stones, deep green grass, and lovely wildflowers including bright yellow vetching, and (my favourites) deep pink sea thrift.

After exploring the ruins, I made my way uphill for a closer look at the lighthouse,

stopping often to catch my breath and to look back down the hill and over the causeway to Mainland.

What a charming lighthouse!

Just beyond it, the wind was blowing, and gulls wheeling, over sheer cliffs. I stopped and took it in for only a few moments as I had arrived to the island a bit late and the tide was steadily rising. Back down the hill I had enough time to walk through the Norse ruins again, and then sit and view the misty headlands and wild waves to the east where there is a coastal trail one can hike.

I was sad to leave such a beautiful place, but it was time to cross back over the causeway,

But not for everyone! This fellow decided to risk a quick visit, despite my warning him about the rising tide!

Up at the level of the car park, I glanced longingly at the trailhead for the coastal walk to the east. This walk had been on my itinerary because of the two hour wait for the return bus, but my energy was quickly waning despite the exhilarating surroundings and the bracing air.

I walked the road back to the Earl’s Palace and spent just a few moments touring its interior,

and then I was not too shy to ask for help a second time in one day. I begged a ride to Stromness from a couple as they were approaching their car and they kindly said yes so I was happily whisked home to my hostel for a lovely evening of rest. It had been a magnificent day in Orkney!