Our Last Day on the Orkneys, Scotland 2013

9 May, 2013

Thursday was to be our last day on the Orkneys so we had a very full agenda. First we headed into Kirkwell to visit St Magnus Cathedral and “do the shops over!”

St Magnus Cathedral, Britian’s most northerly Cathedral, is often referred to as the “Light in the North.” It was built in red sandstone in 1137 by the Norwegians but has weathered badly. The unusual interior reflects the Viking origin as most of the walls have ancient memorials and there is a beautiful stained glass window which was commissioned for the 850^th anniversary of the Cathedral. 

(Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them.)

St Magnus Cathedral

The Royal Oak Memorial

A section of the 850th Anniversary Window

Memorial to John Rae Scottish Doctor, Artic  Explorer and Surveyor of parts of the Northwest passage in 1846

Tom with the amazing door at the Cathedral

Another view of St Magnus Cathedral

After checking out the shops we headed off to yet another Neolithic site. Maeshowe Tomb is a 5000 year old chambered cairn that is entered by a long passage way which opens out to reveal a central chamber and 3 small chambers radiating out from it. Originally it had a conical roof but was broken into by the Norweigans about 1000 years ago. Unfortunately, once again, we were unable to take photos.

When we came out of the Tomb we were surprised and somewhat distressed to hear the bellowing of cows as if they were getting their throats cut. It turned out that they had just been separated from their calves while the cows walked across the road to the paddock. The calves were transported by truck to the same paddock as this was the calves first outing into the “light” after being born in the brye (barn). When released from the truck the calves frolicked around for a while before finding their mums. Then amazingly all was quite again.

Later we drove across two of the Churchill Barriers which link the Orkney mainland with Burray. The barriers were built in 1940 to protect the Scapa Flow anchorage and to prevent German submarines from entering the Flow after one had managed to manouver between the the blockships to sink the Royal Oak in 1939. Today the rusting hulks of the blockships (obsolete merchantman ships) can be seen near the Barriers.

Part of the Churchill Barriers

Rusting Blockship

The Churchill Barriers were built by Italian prisioners of war and during their leisure time they built the amazing Italian Chapel at Lambholm. It was built from two end-on-end nisson huts and anything else the prisioners could find and was decorated by some very talented chaps.

The Italian Chapel

We had been told that it was a delight to see but we were absolutely amazed at the beauty of interior of the building.  Today it is a major tourist attraction and is still maintained by Italian artists who make a “pilgrimage’ back to the Orkneys to ensure the Chapels beauty is continues.

Fran adding to the colourful interior!

Isn't this amazing?

Our day ended with a visit to St Margaret’s Hope where we had an entering afternoon tea with a couple we had met on the ferry. 

Scarpa Flow Naval Museum and Naval Cemetery, Hoy Island, Scotland, 2013

8 May 2013

After a very early start we were drove to Houton to catch the car ferry across to Hoy Island so we could visit The Scarpa Flow Visitor’s Centre and the Naval Museum as well as the Naval Cemetery at Lyness.
(Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them.)

It was a tad chilly on the Ferry!

The wire is used as a submarine defence barrier.

The Museum Complex is just a few steps from the Ferry Port in the former oil pumping station at the  Lyness Naval Base. We absolutely enjoyed browsing around both indoor and outdoor displays of WW I and WW II paraphernalia as well as, spending  ages looking at the  a large photographic collection. It was very interesting hearing the story of the scuttling of the German Fleet at the end of WWI and the efforts to protect the British Fleet during WWII 

Fran with a Mine

Tom enjoyed looking at this machinery.

It took us a while to find the air-raid shelter  because it was covered with weeds but we persevered until we found it. All of us went down into the shelter and were surprised by its size.

As we wandered around the outdoor museum we were able to photograph the propeller from HMS Hampshire, which was mined off Orkney in 1916, with the loss of many lives, including Lord Kitchener. We were also able to see the guns salvaged from the German High Seas Fleet which was scuttled in Scarpa Flow in 1919.

Propeller from HMS Hampshire

Some of the exhibits are in displayed in an enormous old oil storage tank that has been restored an now displays among another things,  a search light, a bren–gun and  even a tiny boat that sailed to Orkney from occupied Norway!

Fran with the Searchlight

The Lyness Naval Cemetery, which was established in 1915, was next on our agenda. This cemetery became the final resting place for the naval personnel who lost their lives whilst on operations in and around the Fleet Base at Scarpa Flow.

It was very sobering walking around this beautifully maintained War Cemetery reading the  heartbreaking memorials on the graves of hundreds of servicemen who served on the ships in during  both WWI and WWII.  Many of the graves are of the officers and crew from the ships sunk locally, including HMS Hampshire, Vanguard, Narborough, Opal and HMS Royal Oak.

What was amazing were the number of WWI graves marked “Unknown seaman-known only to God”

Later we drove around this desolate, treeless island before heading back to the main island via the Hoy Ferry. As we drove home we passed through Stromness with its extremely narrow streets, on our way to the Ness Battery which is the only remaining intact shore battery. Although it was closed we were able to see much of it.

Narrow Street in Stromness

Stromness Battery

Neolithic Sites of the Orkney Islands, Scotland, 2013

7 May 2013

With our trusty map in hand we set off early towards the UNESCO World Hertiage Site of Skara Brae, a stone built Neolithic village on the shores of the Bay of Skaill in Orkney’s west coast. Supposedly it is the biggest tourist attraction on the island.

(Remember to Click the photos to enlarge them)

Skara Brae (3200BC) is one of the earliest and best preserved prehistoric monuments in Scotland mainly because it had been covered by sand dunes until 1850 when it was  ”unearthed” during a violent storm. The site was then excavated by William Watt, the local Laird of Skaill and subsequently revealed 10 ancient dwellings with interconnecting passages. Most of the buildings contained shelves, sleeping areas, stone dressers, fish tanks and a central fireplace.  

There is an excellent reconstruction of Skara Brae House as well as a  hands on exhibition of some of the artifacts found at the site which is visited before heading to the actual site itself.

Tom inside the reconstruction.

As it is so close to the sea Skara Brae is under constant threat from further erosion so attempts have been made to construct a sea wall and wave breakers. It certainly is on very peaceful, picturesque site. We were surprised to see seals frolicking in the shallows.

Skara Brae with Skaill House in the Distance

Roslyn  at the site with the bay in the distance,

It was rather eerie wandering around the site and trying to contemplate what life must have been like all those years ago.

As Skaill House is only 400m away from the Skara brae site  we also visited that. It was built in 1620 and now houses many treasures belonging to the Skaill Lairds including a dinner set used by Captain James Cook on his last voyage!  

Tom with Skaill House in the Distance

Next we visited the UNESCO ancient site of the Ring of Brodgar which is a Neolithic henge and stone circle similar to Stone Henge. The ring is a 104 metre  in diameter and originally comprised 60 stones but only 27 remain standing today. This may be due to storms, lightening strikes, weathering and the passing of 4000 years!  

Fran with one of the stones.

We were pleased to be able to wander, take photos at our leisure and ponder the history of the site as the weather was a tad more pleasant than it had been, in fact the sun was even shining at one stage!

Little fishing boats beside the Loch near the site,

Our tourist day was not over yet so onwards we drove to the Standing Stone of Stenness which was not all that far away. This is a similar but smaller site of 9 to 12 stones with only 4 still standing but the stones are  taller, around 6 metres (19 feet) surrounded by a rock cut ditch.  The site is visible for miles around. However, they are hard to photograph!

We were fascinated by this kneeling sheep near the site,

Our final ancient site for the day was the Broch of Gurness, a ruined Iron Age broch village built in 1st Century AD.  Broch means tower and the remains of the central tower and the surrounding settlement are visible today. We couldn’t help but notice the massive width of the walls, no wonder they are still standing! Within the building there is the original central hearth, upright slabs as “walls” and underground water storage tank, and a well-worn quern (grinding stone). 

The Broch

Fran all rugged up for this chilly adventure.

What was fascinated us about this site was that there was certainly evidence  of later settlements including  visits by the Norse.

So ended another busy, busy day on the Orkney Islands