We’ve landed in heaven

That ferry we mentioned is calling, Scrabster here we come!

We were incredibly lucky with our voyage across the sea. It may have been misty, but it’s calm and every so often the sun pops out. It’s cold, but what would you expect this far north. We were hoping to get a glimpse of the Old man of Hoy, but it wasn’t to be, he was shrouded in mist, but we did get a fab view of Hoy itself though with its beautiful coloured rocks.

Before we knew it Orkney was in sight and we were docking in Stromness. 

Arriving during the evening we needed a park up that wasn’t too far, so we could rest up and plan our next few days. It turns out you can stay for free overnight in the carpark of the Ring of Brodgar.

If you don’t know about the Ring of Brodgar,  the Stone Circle and Henge is part of a ceremonial site dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. It had a ring of stones, burial mounds and a deep ditch. It’s nothing like the size of Avebury or Stonehenge, but it is spectacular. Especially when you have it all to yourself. There is an atmosphere that’s very special, I don’t know how to describe it - spiritual, certainly, but also warm, comforting, welcoming. It felt a real privilege to have it all to ourselves.

The stones are weathered, one was struck by lightning and has a huge split in it, many are covered in lichen. They are beautiful, majestic, and a place everyone should visit once in their lifetime.

Not wanting to overstay our welcome, we packed up early and headed off to look for Puffins. I've always wanted to see Puffins and I’d read that they might be found at Marwick Bay.

With a tiny car park, we were ucky to get a space, but we did, having asked if another couple could move into the smaller car spaced spot, so we would fit in the last van size space. Before puffin hunting we spotted a sign for fishermans cottages and thought we’d have a look. Just along the coast from Marwick Bay walking along a stony path you find Sand Geo, a sheltered spot with a shallow bay. Perched up high above are three old stone huts, built to house boats and equipment, and to provide shelter to generations of Birsay fishermen.

The huts have small, shaped windows, and driftwood beams at the doorways. There are nearby   winches for hauling boats up during the winter months and other pieces of equipment salvaged from the wreck of a ship along the coast. They were built in the late 1800’s, and early 1900’s. The fishermen caught Cod and Haddock, mainly to feed themselves, but occasionally to sell. 

We never did see Puffins here, despite climbing the cliff path and hearing chicks in the nest but it was worth coming, despite the lack of Puffins.

Our next must see was the Italian Chapel, The only remaining structure of Camp 60, Prisoner of war camp, constructed towards the end of 1941. 

The Italian Chapel consists of two Nissen huts transformed into a chapel by Domenico Chiocchetti and his colleagues, Italian prisoners of war captured in North Africa and transported to the Island of Lamb Holm in Orkney.

In October 1939, a German submarine under the command of Gunther Prien entered Scapa Flow and sank the British battleship 'HMS Royal Oak' with the loss of 834 lives. Winston Churchill, at that time First Sea Lord, visited Orkney and the decision was taken to construct barriers to close off four of the entrances to Scapa Flow to make the base for the home fleet more secure.

A shortage of manpower to construct the barriers coincided with the capture of thousands of Italian soldiers fighting in North Africa, so a decision was taken to transport 550 men to Camp 60 on Lamb Holm. Following a request from the camp priest, Fr Giacobazzi, it was agreed that two Nissen huts would be joined together to provide a chapel. Among the Italians in Camp 60 was an artist, Domenico Chiocchetti, and he was given the task of transforming the two Nissen huts into a chapel. He was assisted by other tradesmen - in particular Giuseppe Palumbi, a blacksmith, and Domenico Buttapasta, a cement worker.

Domenico Chiocchetti carried in his pocket a small prayer card given to him by his mother before he left his home in Italy, and it was the image on that card of the Madonna and Child by Nicolo Barabino that Chiocchetti based his painting above the altar in the Chapel.

When the Camp Commander, Major Buckland, realised that the prisoner was a very talented artist he was allowed to continue painting to make the building more attractive.

They even made lamps from tinned meat cans.

 

Another place full of emotion and history, well worth a visit.

Having spent a fair bit of time in Agy travelling the island looking out at beautiful scenery we decided we needed a walk, and Mull Head and the Gloop was our chosen spot. ‘The Gloop’  probably named because of the sound the water makes as it  sloshes through the hole in the rock at high tide.

But as often happens the thing we went to see wasn’t the star attraction. Once we were there, we noticed a path in the grassy moorland with the most beautiful scenery, sea birds, cliffs, tiny flowers growing in unlikely places, and cairns.

This time we weren’t quite alone, we met a couple of other people at the entrance, but that was it. Mainly just us and the birds.

Neither of us are very knowledgeable about wild birds so I have been using an app called Merlin; you enter a  few details, size, location, colour etc. and it gives you suggestions for what they might be. I’ve managed to identify the bird every time.. Brilliant!

On our final day in Orkney we wanted to visit The Standing Stones of Stenness, a Neolithic monument thought to be the oldest henge site in the British Isles. It is very close to the Ring of Brodgar where we started our Orkney trip, and although smaller, just as beautiful.

While we were there, we noticed a footpath with a sign to a village next to the stones. Little did we know this is another neolithic village like Skara Brae, if we had known, we’d have walked along.. But we didn’t know until we’d left Orkney, so if you are visiting… walk along and tell us about it please!

Orkney has been amazing, we didn’t visit a distillery (which we had anticipated doing), but it captured our hearts. It is beautiful from the bird life, rolling hills, cliffs and history, a fabulous place to stay. And we did see a puffin… flying past us as we drove along.

Back on the ferry it was a glorious day, so we finally were able to see the Old Man of Hoy - why anyone would consider climbing it, I have no idea, but it is beautiful.

Thank you Orkney, we are sure we will be back.