Day 62: Deerness Peninsula to Stromness, Orkney Mainland

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021

7th March 2021: 104.74km walked today taking the total to 6406.13/8868km. 16% of 84 entries submitting 654.62km.

Today we walk round the rest of Orkney, taking in Scapa Flow, the island of South Ronaldsay and the Ring of Brodgar before heading back to Stromness.

Route 19: Shetland

Route 18: Orkney

We retrace our steps along the A960, leaving the peninsula to turn left to head south-west on the B9052 through remote grassland to Holm Sound on the south coast.

Following the coastal road, we arrive at Scapa Flow, where one of Orkney’s famous landmarks from modern military history is located, the Churchill Barriers. Scapa Flow is a body of water that is sheltered by several of the Orkney islands, creating a natural sea harbour. Over the centuries, this has proved a valuable asset for seafaring defence. During World War 1 (WWI) the Navy placed anti-submarine nets and sank a large number of boats, called blockships, in-between the east-lying islands of Scapa Flow to prevent enemy U-boat access. There are actually 3 German battleship and 4 battle cruiser wrecks here. At the end of WWI, the German High Seas Fleet surrendered and came to Scapa Flow, where 7 months later at the orders of their commander-in-chief they intentionally sank their vessels. Many were salvaged, some were beached by the Royal Navy, and others remained where they sank. By the time World War 2 (WW2) happened the blockships and nets had deteriorated, allowing an enemy U-Boat to find a gap into Scapa Flow. They torpedoed a battleship, the HMS Royal Oak, lying at anchor just off Gaitnip Craig in October 1939. It resulted in the loss of 834 lives, prompting Winston Churchill to order the blocking of the eastern side of Scapa Flow to protect the ships. The Churchill Barriers were constructed by Balfour Beatty between 1940-45, between the islands of Mainland, Lamb Holm, Glimps Holm, Burray and South Ronaldsay. Over 1,300 Italian prisoners of war were the labourers for this massive undertaking. The barriers were officially completed a few days after VE Day. Post-war they became road causeways connecting the islands to the Mainland and are now the route we take (A961), crossing Barrier No 1 to visit the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm.

The chapel sits just on the left after leaving the causeway. This island is uninhabited today but during WW2 Camp 60 was based here, where 200 of the Italian prisoners were held; it was these prisoners who built the chapel using 2 Nissen huts. They became quite imaginative with concrete and whatever they could find i.e. the candle sconces are made from corned beef tins! They also had some talented artists among them because what emerged is the highly ornate Italian Chapel, now part of the Roman Catholic Parish of Our Lady & St Joseph in Orkney. We take a peek inside, careful not to touch any of the delicate surfaces, amazed at the intricacy achieved. The quarry for the barriers’ stone is also on this island; it has since been converted into a fish farm.

We cross Barrier No 2 on to Glimps Holm, another small uninhabited island to walk over Barrier No 3 onto Burray. As we cross here the most famous of the blockships can be seen above the water, SS Reginald, on the East Weddell Sound. The wrecks in this area are great for diver training before they visit the deeper dives in Scapa Flow. Burray is an inhabited island, and as we walk south through its heart, looking right gives us some of the best views across Scapa Flow, whilst to our left, there is a bird sanctuary at the eastern tip of Burray Ness, where a few brochs have also been discovered. A wind turbine emerges from the landscape as we see Bu Sands in the east, near where the larger Italian Prisoner of War Camp 34 was based; nothing of it remains. One of the largest Viking hoards in Scotland was found in this area, at a place called North Town Moss, while peat cutting in 1889. You can view the hoard, consisting of over 140 pieces of silver bullion, at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

We pass a large sand quarry and the Orkney Fossil and Heritage Centre on our way into Burray village, which has a great fossil collection and exhibition on life in Orkney. During the 19th century, it was a bustling place with boat builders and herring stores. Novelist Mary Brunton was born here in 1778. The uninhabited island of Hunda, Norse for ‘dog island’, lies off the west coast in this area where a smaller version of a Churchill barrier stands, known as the fifth barrier. Visiting this island is by permission only as it is a breeding ground for birdlife and seals; locals also used it for goat and sheep rearing.

Crossing No 4 barrier brings us to the largest island in the chain, South Ronaldsay, the nearest of the Orkney Islands to the Scottish mainland at John O’Groats. Its main town is St Margaret’s Hope, which is full of character and charm so we head along the coast on Water Sound to pay a visit. It isn’t agreed as to why the village is called St Margaret’s Hope, there is a whole story if you want to check it out online. It is the third-largest village in Orkney and sits in a sheltered bay on the island's northern coast. The establishment of a herring fishery here, followed by the naval base development at Scapa Flow, saw its growth into what you see today. Pentland Ferries has operated an hour-long car ferry service from here to Gill’s Bay, near John O’Groats, since 2001. We wander through the streets to the harbour area. Aside from the ferry, it sees activity from leisure crafts more than fishing boats these days. We pause for a moment in the peacefulness before proceeding south.

From the village, we rejoin the A961, which runs down the centre of South Ronaldsay. We are making this journey of just over 13 kilometres to visit a famous cairn, Tomb of the Eagles, at Liddel in the south of the island. The Isbister chambered cairn, its official name, was discovered by a farmer on his land in 1958. Fed up of awaiting an official dig he excavated the tomb in 1976. Dating back to c3000BC they found 324 human burials in the tomb, along with a good number of white-tailed sea eagle bones and other animals, hence the tomb’s nickname, and outside further bones and pottery were found.

From the Visitor Centre, run by the farmers’ family, we follow the grassland path to reach the Liddle Burnt Mound, about halfway to the tomb, another Bronze Age site found by the farmer in the 1970s. It contains a lot of burnt material and is believed to have been connected to cooking. The tomb itself is situated on the South Ronaldsay cliffs and access to its interior is via a low tunnel. We take it in turns to visit, some of us crawling, others using a low trolley to ‘scoot’ along the 3-metre access to view the tomb itself. Following our visit, we return to the Visitor Centre by a scenic cliffside route.

From the Tomb of Eagles, we cut across to Burwick, a small peninsula village, whose name means ‘bay of extremity’. The closest harbour to the Scottish mainland is here and where the passenger-only ferry comes in from John O’Groats. Now we retrace our steps, nearly 21 kilometres, across the Churchill Barriers to Mainland Orkney, enjoying the views once more on our return journey. We spot Flotta Island sitting between South Ronaldsay and Hoy en route, where the major North Sea oil Flotta Terminal has been based since 1976; 10% of the UK’s oil is transported and processed in the north of this island. The terminal has very little environmental impact on Orkney and is the only place where you can see Stromness and Kirkwall in the same view.

At the end of the barriers, we take a left heading west on the Bay of Legrow through the settlements of St Mary’s and Holm, before heading inland at Loch Ayre. We are still on the A961 heading along the coastline of Scapa Flow. As we do so we pass a large green buoy 2 kilometres offshore where the war grave for HMS Royal Oak lies. We reach Scapa Bay where we see a pyramid-shaped roofed building, the Scapa Flow Control Centre, monitoring the movements of all the ships sailing through the Flow. A Memorial Garden to HMS Royal Oak is sited next to this building, in front of which expands the white sand Scapa Bay Beach. We head inland, following our route past Highland Park Distillery, producing whisky on Orkney since 1798, and the world’s most northern whisky distillery until a new one opened in Norway last year. As we walk on from the Bay we also pass Scapa Distillery which has been distilling unpeated whisky on the island since 1885.

Now on the A964, we walk 16 kilometres through the settlements of Greenigoe and Hobbister before turning north at Waulkmill Bay, passing Loch Kirbister to reach the A965. We take a left leading us into an area where a number of Neolithic monuments are concentrated, between Loch of Harray and Loch of Stenness. Three of these monuments are World Heritage UNESCO sites; Maeshowe, Standing Stones of Stenness and Ring of Brodgar; all are in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

We arrive at the Maeshowe Visitor Centre first, where we join the guided tour leading us along the grass path to the mound in the middle of a field. A chambered cairn constructed in c2800 BC, its entrance aligns with the setting midwinter sun. It is a masterpiece of Neolithic engineering and quite an achievement for its time. Climbing inside the world falls silent, and as our eyes adjust to the darkness, we see a beehive-shaped vault with Norse runes carved on some of the stones. The cairn was broken into by Viking crusaders in the 12th century at which point the carvings were made.

Following our visit, we return to the main road and pass the Barnhouse Stone, which stands in a field just along from Maeshowe; it is perfectly aligned with the cairn entrance which is believed to be of some significance. We then turn right onto the B9055 heading along the Loch of Stenness shore, a seawater loch, to arrive at the next World Heritage site, the Stones of Stenness Circle and Henge. Over 5000 years old, they may be the earliest henge monument in the UK, a large hearth sits at its centre and the whole area is encircled by a large ditch bank. They are the remains of a large stone circle on an ancient ceremonial site and the stones have long been associated with rituals, drawing the likes of Walter Scott to visit in 1814. That same year the landowner tried to destroy them, but due to local outrage was unsuccessful. We wander through the site, watching out for the wandering sheep, enjoying the views and taking photos. On a nice evening, the sunset is breathtaking.

On the other side of the road, sitting by Loch of Harray, a freshwater loch, is the Barnhouse Settlement. At least 15 houses were discovered here in 1984 dating from circa 3000 BC. The site has similarities to Skara Brae, with grooved ware pottery and flint finds, and also abandoned by c2600 BC. We wander through the floor plans musing over their usage, before returning to the main road to cross the narrow strip of land between the 2 lochs. It is on this narrow strip, Brodgar Peninsula, that the Ness of Brodgar was discovered in 2003. The discoveries, which are still ongoing, are leading to a greater understanding of Neolithic life dating back to 3300 BC; the site has been dubbed ‘Orkney’s Neolithic Cathedral’. It comprises a massive walled enclosure containing well-preserved stone buildings, ritual and domestic, on an unequalled scale, giving it another nickname, ‘Britain’s Ancient Capital’. Excavations still happen every summer and bookable tours are offered; during winter months the area is protected from the weather with huge tarpaulins and 1000s of tyres and sandbags to hold them down! To see the site virtually, and understand more about the finds, visit www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk.

We move just a short distance along the road, past the Comet Stone, to reach the Ring of Brodgar, another part of the World Heritage Site. The area around them is the RSPB Brodgar Nature Reserve. The Comet Stone appears to have been part of a group; its position suggests that it played a part in a ceremonial procession between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness. There is a great view of the Ring from the Comet Stone, whose name is a 19th century one, given because the stone was seen as orbiting the Ring. At that time the Stones of Stenness were called ‘Temple of the Moon’ and the Ring of Brodgar the ‘Temple of the Sun’. Locals also referred to the Comet Stone as the ‘Ulie Stane’, which suggests it was part of another ritual of anointing stones with oil. The reality? We just don't know.

At the Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle and Henge, we follow the path through the circle of 27 upright stones. The third-largest circle in the UK, the area has never been fully excavated but is believed to date 2500-2000 BC. There were 60 stones initially, the construction of which would have been a huge undertaking. At the time of its use, the lochs would not have existed but would have been boggy, wet areas surrounding lochans. Why the Ring was built is a mystery, as for most of these monuments, but it was for either ritual or astronomical use. There are fantastic views from its sloping plateau looking across Loch of Harray and mainland Orkney.

From the Ring of Brodgar, we walk just under 12 kilometres, around Loch of Stenness through the settlements of Voy, Quholm and Cairston, to arrive back in Stromness. We look out for seals as we walk because, as it is a seawater loch, when the tide is very high the seals can get access to enjoy the sea trout here.

Before boarding our ferry back to Scrabster, we visit the Pier Arts Centre on the quayside, established in 1979. It houses the collection of author, peace activist and philanthropist Margaret Gardiner (1904–2005) and is regarded as one of the finest in the UK. The building in which it sits is an inspiration in itself as the Centre underwent redevelopment, mixing modern design with historical architecture, reopening in 2007.