Orkney Trip Day 5

Day 5 of the Orkney trip was the only one we spent on the main island, confusingly called the "mainland" . We would also have spent day 2 on the "mainland"  but Storm Arwen robbed us of this, as it delayed our outward ferry journey by 24 hours. Waking up in Stromness that morning we were well aware that we had until nightfall to cram everything in. We had no idea what was possible, but were going to give it our best shot.

The plan was:

• Skara Brae
• Ring of Brodgar
• Standing Stones of Stenness
• Maeshowe (recommended by Rhys!)
• St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall
• Bishop's and Earl's Palaces, Kirkwall

I found this simplified map of Orkney online. The layout of the main attractions was a godsend so I was able to order our visits. In fact, the big Neolithic sites are arranged along an isthmus so our itinerary was largely planned by the planners of pre-history. :-)

simplified and useful map of Orkney mainland

We passed the brown sign to the Yesnaby cliffs. Katherine wanted to go down the narrow path leading to the cliffs - apparently it is a popular suicide spot. So we had an unscheduled stop. In fact, I was so glad we made the detour. The storm was still raging, with the wind blowing in fiercely from the sea, and the  cliffs in the storm were spectacular. I saw what I thought was a flock of white birds flying above a sea inlet. However, this turned out to be a formation of small spherical globs of spume that has risen up from the surface of the sea. Later, I did see a flock of small birds flying above the cliffs just as these begin to level out, and I had to marvel at wildlife which can live in such wild and freezing conditions and in such a harsh landscape. 

The advantage of being here was that we were so blasted by the wind, that other inland sites we visited felt more sheltered. The experience cleared the cobwebs away and was quite exhilarating.

The legendary Skara Brae was my main objective - and if I did this alone I would be happy. A visit had been long planned. As we approached the visitors' centre a wonderful and distinctively Scottish country house also came into view. This is Skaill House: Orkney’s finest mansion, built in the 1620's, and the home of the man who discovered Skara Brae in 1850.

Skara Brae with Skaill House in the background

 

I was excited to discover that entry to Skara Brae gives you free entry to Skaill House, but the ticket seller indicated this was only in the summer, and accordingly the winter Skara Brae ticket is correspondingly cheaper. My plan was to walk around Skaill House after Skara Brae, but the weather was so bad that discretion was the better part of valour.

The ticket seller said "My colleague will be waiting for you at the site proper". Making conversation, I casually remarked, "That job must be the short straw, in this weather.". I had unintentionally pressed a button. "I was out there yesterday." came the rather too prompt reply.

How the colleague survived her outdoors shift is unknown, though many layers of clothing were in evidence, including a hood over the top of a woolly hat with sides.  Katherine and I managed about 15 minutes outdoors looking around Skara Brae. In fact, there is a replica of House 4 just outside the visitor centre with a roof, so this provided initial shelter and an excellent opportunity to study the layout in advance and at our leisure, which really helped later on.

House 4 with stone dresser

Skara Brae was surprisingly compact but not disappointing for this. However, I was expecting a more extensive site for whatever reason. Mark mentioned there is a similar site on Westray currently falling into the sea, that he suspects is just as distinguished as Skara Brae, as ever it's about obtaining excavation money and having the right location. Westray is an extra degree of remote.

for a VR panorama of Skara Brae click on this image multiple times

By the time we were walking around the next site, the Ring of Brodgar, both of us were soaked to the skin and beginning to seriously suffer from exposure. I realised I was looking towards the ground all the time to avoid stabbing sleet getting into my eyes, so I was not actually looking at this awe-inspiring vast ring of standing stones. This was crazy. At one stage, I became disoriented walking round the ring and could not even see Katherine's car (to which she had retreated by this stage) so I had no idea which way to remove myself from this perilous situation.

for a VR panorama of the Ring of Brodgar click on this image multiple times

The drive to the Stones of  Stenness was thrilling: we crossed a narrow causeway with water on each side of the road. The first standing stone, dark and sculptural, was right at the edge of the causeway: it was an astonishing approach. I felt like I had crossed the river Styx and, and was now passing though the gateway to Hades. This was a deliberate mise en scene that would have assaulted the Neolithic mind just as it assaulted mine. The drama of the approach was worthy of the attached video:

The  Stenness stones were far older than the ring of Brodgar but larger and more carefully crafted. I would find out later they are almost exactly  contemporaneous with the first wave of building at Stonehenge. It was so cold that someone had built a snowman amongst the stones.

Stenness Stones with resident snowman

 

After leaving Stenness, we came to a T-junction. Katherine wanted to head left towards Kirkwall. I pointed out that our last Neolithic site Maeshowe  was just to the right. Katherine said "I am broken David. I need food and warmth. We can come back this way".  I pointed out that we would not be coming back as our lightning tour was one way, but that food and warmth was very appealing. Later at the Kirkwall Museum, I discovered that Maeshowe has a large underground central chamber which puts it ahead of  Stenness  and Brodgar: Rhys had advised us well. However, a recent YouTube video showed the metal grill over the entrance locked shut for winter 2021.

Katherine and I had to visit a few establishments in Kirkwall before we found one which did food. One of our discussions in the car was my dislike for cheesy chips - which Katherine felt was a classic dish beloved in Scotland. Given my need for calories, it was my chance to go for a huge, and only my second ever, helping of cheesy chips - which much to my surprise were delicious and just hit the spot!

I think I just hadn't met the right cheesy chips: my first experience about 5 years ago had that plastic cheese with undercooked bland chips - and the whole thing was just too much. On that occasion, the cheese felt like a failed attempt to gild the lily, when chips on their own, were surely the ultimate overindulgence food.

St. Magnus Cathedral and the Bishop's and Earl's Palaces in Kirkwall were closed, but these were beautiful ancient structures and I had a good walk around them all. The ruins of the  Earl's Palace were highly reminiscent of the Scottish Renaissance parts of Stirling Castle, which I had visited recently.

for a VR panorama of St. Magnus Cathedral click on this image multiple times

Earl's Palace Kirkwall

Earl's Palace Kirkwall

Katherine went to buy some dry clothes and  a dry coat in the charity shops of Kirkwall. Her existing coat, which would have been very warm under normal conditions,  turned out to be not as waterproof as it looked.

I went into the Kirkwall Museum on my own in the hope of drying off slowly. I tried to do a covid QR code sign-in at the entrance. There was no mobile Internet, but I did find a Wi-Fi network with the name "museum" which I could not log into. So I went to the lady in the shop, and asked for the password. "We don't have Wi-Fi here." came the reply. I showed her the network with the name "museum" on my phone. "Gosh, I never knew about that." said the lady, who then passed me paper and pencil to sign in. "We are good with old technology like that in museums." she quipped. I complied with the manual sign in, but remained puzzled as the lady was very much of the younger generation.

entrance to Kirkwall Museum is through arch on left

I was able to do the full museum in quite a bit of detail - normally I don't have time for this type of thing - so much enjoyment. It made me think about our tenuous connection to the Neolithic age - a stone with a few simple scratches can be a museum exhibit. There was obviously a vigorous culture all over the Orkney islands but now we have to work with the faintest of shadows from that age.

Kirkwall Museum: Orkney Chairs and staircase 

Kirkwall Museum: Orkney Chairs and staircase 

Kirkwall Museum: Viking whalebone plaque 

There is a rough street game that occurs every Christmas Day in Kirkwall called the Ba' Game. On Christmas Day 1945 the first women's Ba' game was won by  Barbara Yule. Barbara moved to London after the war, but wanted the ball she won to return to Orkney on her death. And so in 1999 the ball was moved to the display cabinet devoted to the game. I found this story very moving: the powerful draw of where you come from and the liberation of women that followed WWII.

There was a portrait of Jo Grimond in the museum. Jo was the legendary MP for Orkney and Shetland from 1950 to 1983,  and was the leader of the Liberal Party between 1956 and 1967. Mark had explained to me, just the day before, that Jo was a frequent visitor to the last resident of Brough House, who gloried in the nickname Jock O' Brough. Jock was a very wise man amongst other accomplishments, and believe it or not, Jo came to him for advice.

Kirkwall Museum: portrait of Jo Grimond

As Katherine drove from Kirkwall to the St. Margaret's Hope, the ferry terminal on the south of the island, the weather was kicking off. Waves were crashing onto the road from both sides on the causeways, and Katherine had visions of us being swept away. 

The plan had been to stay that evening at Balintore Castle, as it was just a 3 hour drive from the Gills Bay ferry terminal close to John O'Groats. However, the news was of blocked roads round the castle and of no power in the building due to Storm Arwen, so we did not know if we could even get there.

I asked Katherine if she could make it all the way to Glasgow in a one-er. She answered in the affirmative, but I could hear the doubt in her voice. After around 9 hours driving, we finally made it to Katherine's flat in Glasgow. It had been exhausting and tiring for Katherine, but she was deservedly proud of her accomplishment - and long drives in future will not present such a head-space challenge. I was so pleased that we had made it in one piece and blacked out on the sofa as soon as my head hit the pillow.