A Brilliant Day on Sandy, Sunshine and Sparkling Seas! – Lopness Bay, Start Point Lighthouse, Cata Sand, Tres Ness Peninsula and Cairn

On my second full day on Sanday I again woke up to a gray and drizzly morning. Sigh. By the time I headed outside, the rain had thankfully stopped but the wind was very strong and very cold. I had two destinations planned for the day: Start Point Lighthouse, about ten miles away at the far northeastern end of Sanday, and a ten kilometre walk along a beach and dunes to the end of the Tres Ness peninsula and back. Now more familiar with the island’s roads I headed off and cycled past the airfield,

and past many farm fields including this one with very fat sheep,

and this one with curious cows.

I cycled through Lady Village and on to Cata Sand. Like the nearby Peedie Sea, it is a large and very shallow bay that is almost circular in shape. To the left of centre in the photo below is a long sand spit, lined with tall dunes, that connects to the Tress Ness peninsula.

Leaving Cata Sand, I continued north on the quiet one-lane road. I was fighting a very strong headwind so I was thankful to have the extra power of the electric bike! For much of the way, low dunes were on my right and farm fields to my left. I could hear the ocean but not see it so I stopped when I saw a faint trail leading up onto the dune.

This was the view of the beach at Lopness Bay looking to the south,

and to the north. Wow! My destination, the lighthouse, is invisible in the far distance.

I continued further up the road and reached a small parking area for beach access to Lopness Bay. An interpretive sign told the story of a World War I B-98 German Torpedo Ship-Destroyer that was wrecked in these shallow waters. Her remains can be seen on a low tide,

but I was more interested in spotting the lighthouse. Barely visible (a tiny vertical speck in the very centre of the photo below), it was still so far away!

I continued my ride north, against the chill wind, and finally arrived at the starting point of a two-kilometre walk to the lighthouse which sits on a small tidal island.

I had read that access is possible for about ninety minutes on either side of the low tide, and I was there sixty minutes before the low tide, but there was still a fair amount of water between myself and the island. I explored options for possibly crossing over from rock to rock but the few paths I tried were incredibly slick and slippery with seaweed. I did not want to risk a fall at this point on my trip, with several weeks of travel still ahead,

so I retreated, sat for a while, and contemplated waiting for the water to recede further. Deciding not to wait, I contented myself with this zoomed-in view of the lighthouse – not exactly the majestic photo of this lighthouse that I was hoping for! Built in 1806 by Thomas and Robert Stevenson, it is 23 metres tall and is the only lighthouse in Scotland painted with vertical stripes.

I turned to walk back and was struck by the beauty of this curve of beach and its stones and seaweed,

and a little further on I took this photo of the long white shell beach at Scuthvie Bay. There is one lone walker on the beach! A few miles to the west of here is a very special place, the Tofts Ness peninsula, which contains an astonishing number of ancient sites including settlement mounds, a burnt mound complex, chambered cairns, and a network of banks and enclosures, dating from the Neolithic, through to the Bronze Age, and into the early Iron Age. But, that exploration would have to wait for, hopefully, a future visit to Sanday.

My return bicycle ride south was much easier, with the wind behind me instead of against me, but I was feeling rather low in energy and spirits – I had not been successful in visiting the lighthouse, and I realized that I had forgotten my lunch at the hostel. I wasn’t keen to cycle all the way back, but I definitely had to eat before my ten kilometre walk. Luckily, the community shop in Lady Village was open. I choose some nutritious items and enjoyed my lunch on a bench outside the shop when something wonderful happened – the sky had slowly been brightening and then rather suddenly it cleared and the sun shone! Happy and rejuvenated, I cycled back to Cata Sand for this epic view – it is quite a contrast from my morning photo taken from the same spot!

A wonderful grassy path filled with tiny flowers curved all the way along the edge of the bay,

and then angled towards and through the dunes. It was so beautiful and so exciting,

and then I rose up to here!

This is the view south, looking towards the Tres Ness peninsula,

and this is the view to the north. Wow!

I walked down the steep dune and straight to the sea, entranced by its colour and the wispy clouds in the sky,

and then I started down the beautiful wide beach.

Ringed plovers and other small wading birds were feeding on the shore,

and the beach stretched almost endlessly ahead.

There were fabulous views looking back as well!

I neared a low break in the dunes and crossed over it. The tiny flowers growing directly in the sand are called Sea Rocket (Cakile maritima).

This was the view looking into the bay of Cata Sand at low tide. My bicycle was parked somewhere way back there!

I crossed back over to the sea side and saw a couple walking towards me. They were the only two people I would see on this entire walk.

I continued up the beach to another break in the dunes ahead, and then turned for this view back,

before crossing again to the Cata Sand side near to the narrow channel where the sea enters into the bay. I joined a grassy track and was now walking on the Tres Ness peninsula towards the remains of an old farm. A sign near here warned walkers to stay on the path and to keep dogs on leash as Little Terns nest in fields nearby.

Abandoned for many years, someone has now created a beautiful house at the farm site. The hexagonal building with a pyramidal roof was once a “horse-engine” in which horses would walk round to power a threshing machine.

A grassy path stretched out into the distance. Where was the end?!

I actually didn’t want it to end! Here is a view looking back towards the dunes and beach,

and here is a view towards the west of geese rising from a small loch and flying over a grassy mound which is the remains of an Iron Age broch.

Here is the mound again, in the distance across the loch.

After a while the path became almost indiscernible through the thick vegetation, but I carried on and eventually I could see a low mound ahead, the Tres Ness chambered cairn. It was located near a section of fence and a trig point marker, exactly as described in my trail notes from walkhighlands.co.uk (a fabulous resource).

The Tres Ness Neolithic chambered burial cairn is beneath this grassy and wildflower-covered mound. Threatened with erosion by the sea, the cairn was excavated in 2021 and then it was recovered with soil and its entrance was closed with repositioned stones.

I sat by the mound, looking out to this view of the sea, and felt extraordinarily grateful to be here.

I returned to the fence and looked back across this beautiful field towards the dunes in the distance. It was a long way to go,

but the journey back was just as soul-stirring and inspiring as the journey out had been and I enjoyed every moment of the walk.

I walked back all the way to the farm, and then out to where the sea enters Cata Sand. The tide was coming in now, and this time as I walked by the sign about nesting terns, about thirty or forty terns rose up into the air as I passed. I was elated and watched them for a moment, but then hurried past so as not to bother them too much. There is one tern in the photo below.

I walked along the edge of Cata Sand to the low point through the dunes,

and crossed back to the wide sand beach.

I walked and walked,

and then I realized that I hadn’t made proper note of which dune I had come down!

Three times I climbed up onto the dune on what I thought might be the correct path, only to find out that it wasn’t. The third time, though, I knew from the shapes of the dunes ahead that I was close so I just stayed on top of the dune and pushed my way through the tall grasses to connect onto proper trail. Whew! Just like the previous day, my trusty bike was waiting patiently,

and I cycled home very happy indeed. The clouds had already returned, but Sanday had generously granted my wish to walk one of its most splendid beaches in bright sunshine, with blue skies and sparkling seas. Thank you Sanday!