Day 10 - Orkney Islands

Saw the sun rise and oistrned to the farm noises outside. I love the fact that this area is so unspoiled and there is just you and nature.

Today I took a ferry from Gill's Bay (4 miles from John o'Groats) to the Orkney islands and spent the day riding the island and visiting some of its most well known sights.

The ferry in the morning was fantastic as it was a beautiful sunny day and captain sailed the boat very close to the islands of Stroma and Swona so you could see the wild life (mainly hundreds of birds and seals).

We had to cross the Pentlandite Firth which usually is quite stormy. Today it was a piece of cake although you could clearly see where currents collide and in a non-calm day it would be difficult.

Port of arrival was St. Margaret's Hope and rode to first stop which was the Italian Chapel.

To connect the various islands there are some interesting "bridges" that are called Churchill Barriers. After the attack on and sinking of the HMS Royal Oaks, at Scapa Flow harbor in the Orkney islands, Churchill ordered the construction of several permanent barriers to prevent any further attacks. Work began in May 1940 and was completed by September 1944. However the barriers were not officially opened until 12 May 1945, four days after the end of World War II in Europe. Today they are used as road links.

 

The Italian Chapel is a highly ornate Catholic chapel on Lamb Holm in Orkney, Scotland. It was built by Italian prisoners of war, captured in North Africa, during World War II, who were housed on the previously uninhabited island while they constructed the Churchill Barriers to the east of Scapa Flow. The chapel was constructed from limited materials by the prisoners. Two Nissen huts were joined end-to-end. The corrugated interior was then covered with plasterboard and the altar and altar rail were constructed from concrete left over from work on the barriers. Most of the interior decoration was done by Domenico Chiocchetti, a POW from Moena. He painted the sanctuary end of the chapel and fellow-prisoners decorated the entire interior. They created a front facade out of concrete, concealing the shape of the hut and making the building look like a church.

It is very beautiful and the history on how it was built makes it a very special site to visit.

Next stop was for lunch at the Ferry Inn in Stromness. The old town is clustered along the characterful and winding main street, flanked with houses and shops built from local stone, with narrow lanes and alleys branching off. An unusual aspect of the town's character is the large number of buildings decorated with displays of whale bones outside them.

 

No visit to the Orkneys should miss Skara Brae, Europe's most complete Neolithic village. Older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids, it has been called the "Scottish Pompeii" because of its excellent preservation.

To get to the actually excavated site you need to walk about 5 minutes on a narrow path. To make it more interesting they are some stones on the ground that gives you an indication how old the site is by having a number of stones indicated other critical events in earth's history.

 

I specially enjoyed the location as it is just next to a beach that is quite unspoiled and there are cows and sheep grazin just next to the World Heritage Site. Very beautiful and worth a visit.

 

Just next to the site there is a house built in 1620 called Skaill House. I visited the house which has a number of artifacts and beautiful decorated rooms that have been quite well preserved.

 

Next stop was The Ring of Brodgar which is a Neolithic henge and stone circle. Most henges do not contain stone circles; Brodgar is a striking exception, ranking with Avebury (and to a lesser extent Stonehenge) among the greatest of such sites. The stone circle is 104 metres (341 ft) in diameter, and the third largest in the British Isles. The ring originally comprised 60 stones, of which only 27 remained standing at the end of the 20th century. The tallest stones stand at the south and west of the ring. The stones are set within a circular ditch up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep, 9 metres (30 ft) wide and 380 metres (1,250 ft) in circumference that was carved out of the solid sandstone bedrock by the ancient residents.

It is an impressive sight and I did one anti-clockwise lap around the perimeter of the circle.

 

Next stop was The Standing Stones of Stenness. The stones are thin slabs, approximately 300 mm (1 ft) thick. Four, up to about 5 m (16 ft) high, were originally elements of a stone circle of 12 stones, laid out in an ellipse about 32 m (104 ft) diameter on a levelled platform of 44 m (144 ft) diameter surrounded by a ditch. The Watch Stone stands outside the circle to the north-west and is 5.6 m (18 ft) high. The site is thought to date from at least 3000 BC.

The three sites visited plus Maeshowe (a unique chambered cairn and passage grave, aligned so that its central chamber is illuminated on the winter solstice), are called Heart of Neolithic Orkney and since 1999 are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As it was getting late to catch the ferry, made my way to Kirkwall (largest city in the Orkneys) to see the St. Magnus Cathedral. I was sorry I did not have time to visit the Cathedral which dominates the skyline of Kirkwall. The Romanesque Cathedral is impressive and the masonry uses red sandstone quarried near Kirkwall and yellow sandstone from the island of Eday, often in alternating courses or in a chequerboard pattern to give a polychrome effect. It takes beautiful pictures at the end of the day.

 

 

The trip back on the ferry was very nice as we were able to see the sunset. Riding on the open deck was bitterly cold and was very happy I was well dressed for it.

 

When I arrived at the B&B, Gordon the owner invited me to visit with his sister and a friend where I was also offered a gin and tonic and we had a great chat about Scotland and other parts of the world.

For dinne went to local pub and just sat there watching how much the pub is part of Scotland lifestyle. It was darts night and the competition was high. Loved it ...

I have missed my companion of many months for these last two days, on the other hand I have thoroughly enjoyed them as I have found the time alone very good for thinking and I have really enjoyed this part of the world.

 

VIDEOS

On the Ferry

 

Skara Brae

 

Click HERE for all the pictures for Day 10

 

Posted by Armando