Clarkie's Orkney Tour
- April 2005
by
The sky looked a mite threatening as we left Gills Bay on the old Claymore.
When we booked the ferry, we didn't realise the Pentalina B was undergoing some pre-tourist-season refurbishment, and they'd brought the Claymore off the bench, as it were. She's an ex Caledonian MacBrayne ferry, registered in Glasgow, and if I recall correctly she used to sail from Oban to Mull, Tiree and so on. I'm sure it was her I was on, when I went to Coll many years ago.
So many years ago, little wonder she's now in semi-retirement. And little wonder I checked out the many rusty bits with some apprehension. I don't like water at the best of times, and the Pentland Firth does have a certain notoriety. However, being tour guide for the day, I didn't share my reservations with my friends from Aberdeenshire and France. They were engrossed in checking guidebooks and replacing batteries in cameras, and apparently quite content.
I did, of course, share my limited knowledge of the Claymore after we were home. With an Old Pulteney nightcap in their hands, and smothered by a home-alone big bouncy dog, they were fortunately unfazed by my doubts about seaworthiness.
The cloud broke up a little as we passed Stroma. Stroma is uninhabited now, apart from seasonal sheep, but was a thriving island community until the last residents left in 1962. Its population peaked in 1901 at 375, but the decline begun with the downturn in the fishing economy, which was the main income source. Stroma comes from Norse, and means "The Island in the Stream". So presumably the BeeGees, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton have all been here.
As we arrived at St Margaret's Hope, the weather had worsened again, and we were beginning to question the wisdom of a day trip to Orkney in a Scottish April.
The tour guide in his wisdom suggested we whiz past the Churchill Barriers with their visible wrecks - scuttled to block the channels into Scapa Flow during WWII - and the Italian Chapel (built by Italian POWs) and pick them up on the way back to the ferry. Likewise, I suggested only a brief stop in Kirkwall to update our information at the TIC. We could visit St Magnus Cathedral on the way back.
So we headed for Maeshowe, the finest chambered cairn in Western Europe, built before 2700BC and containing the largest collection in the world of runic inscriptions to be found in one place. It was shut. Albeit temporarily, for a guided tour of luminaries, but Joe Public with a ferry to catch had to move on. The day was getting better, though. The sun was shining.
Next stop, the Standing Stones of Stenness, dating from the third millennium BC. This is what Orkney's about, for me. It has an incredibly rich and varied pre-history.
And just up the road is the Ring of Brodgar. It dates from the same period as the (perhaps) more famous Callanish, on Lewis. But for me it is equally awe-inspiring.
Both the Stenness Circle and the Brodgar Ring rest on the shore of Loch Harray, where anglers were standing patiently up to their oxters, and an array of wee boats on the shore promised much more fishing in more favourable weather. Today's pastimes seem to rest easily alongside these emotive monuments of our ancestors. I guess that's the sort of place Orkney is.
And so to Stromness, Orkney's second town, for a much-needed sandwich and an overdue pee. (Note for Aberdonians and Yorkshirefolk - Kirkwall PCs charge; Stromness PCs are free.)
Stromness is sheltered from the west, and thence from the prevailing wind, and with the sun shining it was an absolute pleasure to wander through the tiny streets. It is so narrow, you expect it to be pedestrianised, but every so often you have to clamber into a doorway to let a car past. Vans with dents and scratches on the sides are everywhere.
And sometimes you're just so glad you didn't leave the camera in the car. The lazily-grooming Stromness moggy was my pic of the day.
As ever on a day trip, you run out of time. So already in Stromness, we were checking watches and reminding ourselves of the departure time of the last ferry. The tour guide took an executive decision. You cannot visit Orkney without seeing Skara Brae, even if it means missing out Kirkwall on the mad dash back to the ferry.
Skara Brae pre-dates the Pyramids. Skara Brae has been described as the most perfect Stone Age village in Europe, and has been remarkably well preserved in the sand which covered it for so many centuries.
A Neolithic village of the period 3100-2400 BC, Skara Brae was buried in a sudden sand storm, forcing its inhabitants to flee, and leaving their belongings scattered behind them. It remained buried until a storm in 1850 exposed parts of it. The settlement was then excavated in 1932.
The village consists of a group of ten huts, and the furnishings within, including cupboards and box-beds, are all made of flagstone. There are even flagstone-lined water tanks set into the floors. These were probably used for keeping shell-fish (the staple diet) alive and fresh. The individual huts were connected by covered passageways, and an intricate drainage system was uncovered beneath the entire complex. Within the site is a paved communal courtyard, and the whole layout suggests that the people here lived as one large extended family.
The extensive middens revealed remains of sheep, cattle, deer and wild boar, as well as fish and shellfish. Other finds include the remains of wooden tools, rope, pottery and wall-etchings. Remains of stored grain have also been discovered, all of which points to the existence of a self-contained, self-sufficient community at Skara Brae.
We had to compliment Historic Scotland on their visitor centre, with its exhibitions and audio-visual displays. I'm not the biggest fan of turning our historic sites into tourist circuses, and I remember fondly my last visit here, when there was a wee sign off the public road, a wee grassy patch to park the car, unrestricted access and self-interpretation. And a Wallace Arnold coach trying to get out of a ditch, having over-estimated the turning area. But credit where it's due - HS have done a good job here.
There was nothing else for it now, though. I'd wanted to go back the long way round, via the Broch of Gurness. But not only was that out of the window, so too were stops at Kirkwall and the Italian Chapel. It was a mad dash for the old Claymore.
The feedback from the guests was positive. It's not how much you see which matters, it's how much you enjoy what you've seen.
But the moral of Clarkie's Orkney Tour 2005 is simply this - whatever you think you can do in a day, halve it, then halve it again.
Better still, have a week on Orkney.
And before you go, check out the Orkney Tourist Board's website.
© Mike Clark 2005
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