Kirkwall; a land I could call my own

8th September 

Instead of a long tender as was expected we were able to use the only docking point for ships with our sort of draft. Last time I was here there was a German ship here and it had booked the berth ahead of us. I didn't realise but to get a berth, ships itinerary has to be finalised several years ahead and berths books asap. Doesn't leave much room for last minute changes does it.

As you can see its early morning once more and the various buses are already ready ad waiting for us to disembark. We're in the UK so there are no customs checks this time, and clearance is much quicker.

Looking out over the berth, I could see Kirkwall in the distance and was glad to here there was a free shuttle to take us the two miles into town.

I'm off on my trip bright and early....oh, hang on a moment, no, its been pushed back for some reason. That's ok I'd prefer 10:30 to 08:45 any day, right, back to deck 7 for coffee at the Coffee House.
This was a trip I had been looking forward to; Scapa Flow, Scara Brae and the associated house, Skaill House.
We had an excellent tour guide once more and she was full of knowledge not only about the island as it is now, but its history. She did have an advantage, she not only lived here and raised her family but she married an islander and being a foreigner, had to learn the dialect and its history in a short space of time. She took her exams in becoming a qualified tourist guide and I think has been doing it ever since. With all the tourism now coming to the area, she would not be out of employment during the tourist season.

Hearing about Scapa Flow and all that went on there was fascinating and has whetted my appetite to explore this aspect of the 2WW in more detail. I didn't get to see the Italian chapel which has been built there, but some one else of the ship told me its history and showed me his pictures. It did look lovely.

area around scapa flow

Passing through rolling country side we saw fields of barley ripening in the sun and silage being cut ready to care for the animals during the winter. Like in Iceland they have a very short growing season and have to restrict what they grow to short season crops. They do manage to grow some vegetables, unlike Iceland, especially in the sheltered areas which don't suffer from the incessant wind but they are held back in the variety they produce by the amount of sunlight they get.

one of the many farm houses along the way, and yes, it was that blue

fields of barley ripening ready for harvest. in some places the combines were already getting the crop in whilst the good weather lasted.

 Whilst driving along to Scara Brae and the archaeological remains there, we got to pass the famous Ring of Brodgar. As it was not a planned stop on our tour, the driver could only slow down so we could take photographs but we had an archaeological place to get to and then the house which was the original lairds home. I get the impression there would be other groups arriving and we had to keep to a schedule.

The house and remains are almost within spitting distance of each other and I do wonder if they are actually on the same grounds, but we started by going along a track to the site itself.
What was nice were a series of marker stones on the left hand side which were placed at appropriate time intervals which gave an indication of just how old these buildings really were. As I passed a marker indicating the Great Pyramids, it began to sink in just how lucky we are to have them let alone that we found them. If it hadn't been for the winds blowing in the sands all those years ago causing the occupants to abandon their homes, chances are we wouldn't have them now to marvel at.

The bay in front of the site is exquisite and goes round in a complete horse shoe. A mixture of sand and stones, the water appears a lot further away from the site than it probably did at some time in history. I have never seen water as blue as it was that day and I have never felt so strongly that snorkel, wet suit and flippers were in order as I did off this beach.

The houses themselves must have been single storey constructions with turf rooves as there was no evidence of wood or wood decay within the dwellings when they were first uncovered. There appeared to be on a terraced set of levels with the first house central at the top of the mound. Doors, walls and even hearths were evident as well as beds and fish tanks! Yes, fish tanks. It was clear they had two water retaining areas within the house, one for fresh water and one for bait or fish they'd caught one presumes. The beds were against opposite walls and had remnants of the hay and grass they would have used to keep it soft and warm. I some of the beds there was evidence of animal skins but all this is long gone, moved to some private Victorian collection somewhere no doubt.

This is the central house and is presumed to be the Chieftains house as it appears larger. What got me was the set of shelves, presumably to show off the prestige of the house, as it was situated opposite the entrance way?
So many pictures and to be honest, a blog is not the place to see them all, but safe to day I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and if you decide to go, make it a nice day. I would imagine it the rain would not be as wonderful.

Next was the house of the laird, Skaill House. With numerous additions to the fabric of the building the original entrance is now completely obscured and to get in one uses the original servants entrance. That door you can see now obscures he once magnificent entrance it seems.

The house itself is now open to the public and is the property of Scottish Heritage but whilst it was still privately owned it had many a notable guest staying here. The queen came to stay and the dining table in the large room downstairs is still laid out in the way it was when she came. What tickled me were the papers in the magazine tidy; copies of The Queen and an old Radio Times.

The last person to live there was the last laird's wife and she stayed at the house until she died. The house was in a terrible state but with Scottish Heritage it was returned to its former glory and her belongings left as they had been when she was still alive. Her bedroom and bathroom were pink. For those old fogeys amongst you, you may remember this awful bathrooms in avocado green and canary yellow. Well, hers was dusky pink with the grey tiles to match.
The gardens outside were in a sunken area again to keep it from the incessant wind. Under that protection it as filled with annuals filling the borders with splashes of colour. All in all a wonderful trip.
Now it was back to the ship and a quick hop out to the town itself. I will write about that in the next blog.