Knap of Howar – christineswalkabout

A Perfect Day on Westray and Papa Westray – Castle o’Burrian Puffins, The World’s Shortest Commercial Air Flight, Papa Westray Coastal Walk, Knap of Howar, and More Puffins!

On Westray I had contacted Westraak Tours, a local company, hoping to join one of their evening puffin watching tours at a sea stack known as Castle o’Burrian. They weren’t running those tours on my dates but offered to take me there for a morning visit on their way to the ferry to pick up clients, and then after about an hour of viewing they could take me north to the airport which was perfect as I was taking a flight to Papa Westray.

It was an easy walk, first past a large 19th century water mill that used to grind bere and oatmeal, and then along a pleasant path lined with flowers. It was a surprisingly calm morning with just the slightest breeze so I was able to photograph some white sea campion and two varieties of red campion, a dark pink and a very pale pink.

It was just a short distance to reach the sea stack and, having been warned that the puffins might all be out at sea, I felt very lucky indeed to see puffins flying in and landing on the rock shelves and turf, as well as popping into and out of burrows. Please click on any photo for an enlargement – they are such appealing birds!

Here is one photo of a charming fellow (or Miss) that I have enlarged for a closer view.

I had the entire place to myself for about a half hour before the small Westraak group joined me, and it was wonderful to sit quietly alone and watch the puffins.

Then, it was north to Westray’s small airfield and into an 8-seater Logan Air plane for the shortest commercial flight in the world from Westray to neighbouring Papa Westray, a flight of only about two minutes. Mine was two minutes and five seconds – it says so on my certificate!

It was a very short but exciting flight and little did I know I would do it again the following day as a stop on my flight from Westray to Kirkwall. We landed perfectly on Papa Westray and I headed south down the island’s main road to the very large collection of farm buildings, some dating from the late 17th century, that belong to the steading of Holland.

This working farm once owned the entire island of Papa Westray, as well as land on Westray and Mainland. They have a small Bothy Museum, open to visitors, that is filled with historic items typical of a small early 19th century farm dwelling.

From there I walked about a half mile to the west coast of the island to view the Knap of Howar, which are the oldest Neolithic buildings to be found in northwestern Europe. The dwellings were occupied from 3700 BC to 2800 BC and are very well preserved. The two connected homes are similar to those found at Skara Brae, with low entrance doors facing the sea, central hearths, storage cupboards, stone slab partitions, and bed areas. It was magnificent to view the site, to enter through the low front doors and walk through the space, and to crawl through the low tunnel that connects the two dwellings. I felt very privileged and happy to be there.

I was also happy to begin walking up the coast. It was a beautiful day! The wind was much calmer than on previous days, and although the sky was hazy not one drop of rain fell all day. Papa Westray is a small island, only four miles long by one mile wide, and a coastal trail of about eleven miles goes all the way around the island. My plan was to travel a short ways north to reach an early Norse church, and then cross over to the east side of the island to visit its white shell beaches and then walk south to the ferry terminal. The trail along the grass and beside the sea was well defined and wonderfully scenic. There were enticing views of the coast ahead, the splash of waves on the shore, and lovely cattle and their calves in the fields to my right. What a glorious place to walk!

I soon arrived at St Boniface Kirk which dates to the 12th century (as St Olav’s Kirk), and was built on the site of an 8th century church. It is one of the few churches that survived the Reformation and is still in use today. It was abandoned in 1929 but then restored in 1993. The interior was pleasingly sparse and very peaceful, with a bouquet of fresh flowers adding a touch of colour to the space.

I had planned to head back to the main road from the church but the walking was so wonderful that I just kept on going. I soon left the church behind,

and here is a view, some time later, looking forward and inland (zoomed in) to the RSPB North Hill Reserve bird viewing building. That was my new destination!

I started to climb towards it across the heath but many gulls rose up around me to complain about my presence. I persisted and walked a bit further, but then I saw a toddler-aged (in bird years), round and fuzzy gray chick awkwardly running away at speed. Oops! So sorry! I apologized to the birds, turned around, and quickly walked away as non-threateningly as I could! (I imagined that there might be some serious birders up in the building “tsk, tsking” as they watched me scuttle away!)

Back at the shore, I returned down the coast to the church and from there walked inland to the main road. I walked past the airfield back to Holland Farm, and then turned to walk towards the east coast of the island. Here I passed the health centre, a small school and playground, the community shop, and a really wonderful hostel. I truly wished that I had several days to be here on the island instead of just one.

I reached the east coast of the island and arrived at this splendid white shell beach with other beaches visible in the far distance.

Across the water was a small islet called the Holm of Papa Westray. The distinctive shape of its chambered cairn is clearly visible. Boat rides can be arranged to view the cairn which has a twenty metre long central passage with twelve side chambers, and it apparently houses a collection of Neolithic artwork.

I turned to the south and headed off down the grassy path towards a lovely old farmhouse,

and shortly afterwards I stopped to look inland and out over the Loch of St Tredwell. A small peninsula reaches out into this loch and there one can find the remains of a late medieval church, St Tredwell’s Chapel, built atop a conical mound of Iron Age remains. The chapel was a pilgrimage centre and was associated with miraculous cures, especially for eye problems. I had planned to walk out to the site but missed seeing the side trail that leads out onto the peninsula.

From here I continued along on the path, walking past many curved stony beaches, dark rock outcroppings, and the remains of old crofts. There were also lovely wildflowers to photograph, including one newly-met – the lavender star-shaped flowers are called Spring Squill.

I finally stopped for a rest and a snack at one steeply-sided beach and scanned the shore, hoping for a glimpse of an otter.

I was not lucky, but I did have a surprising and rather unusual wildlife experience a little later, just beyond this fence and stile where I had stopped to photograph the think curling lichen that covered the stones (it is known as Sea Ivory).

As I was taking the above photos, several fulmars soared by rather close but I was used to this. Then, when I stepped up and over the stile, at first I didn’t notice the fulmar sitting on her nest just below. She coughed up and ejected a copious amount of bright orange fluid towards me. Thank goodness it didn’t reach as it is apparently very oily, sticky, and foul-smelling.

She was getting ready to do it again so I had to leap off of the stile backwards away from her! As I moved away, I saw that there were multiple fulmars nesting on the south side of the stone fence. Again, I apologized for causing a disturbance!

I continued on down the coast enjoying my best day of walking so far – it was warm enough to take off my rain jacket! In the distance, I saw the silhouette of some birds that I immediately knew were shags.

Look at these two!

I’ve enlarged the next photo so it is not in great focus, but you can just see the lovely dark coppery-green sheen on the plumage. The bright yellow feathers on its cheek are below its bottle-green eye.

I was so busy watching the shags that it took me a few moments to notice the puffins on a nearby ledge!

Here is one enlarged image.

I had plenty of time before the next ferry back to Westray so I watched them for a long time before finally moving on. I was nearing the south end of the island and felt quite replete with all that I had seen. I thought that Papa Westray had shown me plenty of beautiful sites and then I turned a corner to this stunning view across a flowery field of the pier and a white sand beach beyond.