14 October 2006

October

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Saturday 14 October 2006--Another fine day weatherwise, Although it's very hazy. Hard to complain when it's sunny and warm in October. We start the day with a look at Kirkwall's main attractions.

The Earl's Palace, close by St Magnus Cathedral, was built by the evil Earl Patrick Stewart in the early years of the 17th century. He was heavily in debt by the time of its completion in 1607, and eventually he was executed for treason.

The Bishop's Palace dates from the 12th century, and was in a ruinous state when Stewart was building the Earl's Palace. He intended to incorporate it into his complex. From the interior, the steeple of the cathedral is visible.

We leave Kirkwall and drive toward the western part of Mainland; we will sleep in Stromness the next two nights. On the way, we visit the heart of neolithic Orkney--the great chambered tomb of Maes Howe, the Standing Stones of Stenness, and the Ring of Brodgar. These are all described in October In Orkney, and as with all of Orkney's archeological sites, more information can be found at Sigurd Towrie's marvelous website, Orkneyjar.

After spending some considerable time at Brodgar, we look for a site I've seen on the map, but never visited. The Ring of Bookan looks as though it might once have been similar to Brodgar, but some archeologists speculate that a Maes Howe-like cairn once stood here. In any case, all that shows now is the circular ditch and a few fallen stones.

Skara Brae is the archeological jewel of Orkney, a 5,000-year-old village that was preserved beneath the dunes above the Bay of Skaill until a storm in 1850. Further excavations in the 1920s revealed the complex we see today.

From Skara Brae we drive to Yesnaby. I hiked south from the car park last time I was here, and we'll do that again before we leave Orkney, but today we are hiking north to see what is a new site for me, the Broch of Borwick. The orange stone of the broch and the cliff upon which it perches glow in the afternoon sun. It's a stunning setting, and a place I will be sure to visit again on a sunny afternoon, reminiscent of Culswick in Shetland.

We find our room at the Orca Hotel and have a pint at the Stromness Hotel, but have to vacate the lounge for a pre-booked event. We spend the rest of the evening in the Ferry Inn, which is more publike than the lounge at the Stromness Hotel, and has real ale available; but for some reason I've never really warmed up to the place. It serves the purpose, though. I know it is very popular with the divers who flock to Orkney to investigate the many wrecks in Scapa Flow.

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