Orkney August 2015: Part the Seventh.

Part the Seventh? Yes, indeedy, but we're almost at the end of our stay on the Islands. Today we decided we needed some fresh air and what better way to get our lungs full than with a walk along the coast? So off to the Deerness Peninsula to walk around Mull Head, via The Gloup, the Brough of Deerness and the Covenantors' Memorial. Spectacular cliff scenery, wide ranging sea views, birds and seals all made for an extremely pleasant 6 mile walk in perfectly acceptable weather.

The wonderfully named Gloup - a deep cavity joined to the sea by an arch of rock.

A typical seascape of the day. This one shows the southern islands in the distance.

The ruins of the Norse chapel (tenth century) on top of the Brough of Deerness. This was built on top of an eight century structure and continued being used until the mid seventeenth century.

The Brough of Deerness is a rock stack barely joined to the mainland and accessed by a rather vertiginous narrow path (with a chain handrail, I'm glad to say). On the seaward side is another stack, which is an ideal roosting place for many shags.

Here's a beautiful flower - the Grass of Parnassus. But it's not a grass and its range is getting increasingly northern as its preferred boggy habitat is becoming more and more scarce down South. It is said to smell of honey and a quick sniff suggests that this description isn't too far out.

 

A curious Grey Seal, one of many we came across. Curious is the correct word to use as they genuinely seemed to be interested in the strange creatures they could see on the cliffs looking down at them.

A geo - a narrow inlet caused by erosion and rock falls. There are a lot of them around this part of the coast. 

Shags on a wave swept rock.

The Covenantors' Memorial, erected in 1888 in memory of 200 Covenantors, taken prisoner at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge, who were shipwrecked on the rocks below while being transported to the Americas. This brief description does not do justice to the cruelty and tragedy behind the story. Try Googling to find out more.

Despite all of their positives, I find it difficult to reconcile their intrusion into some beautiful scenery. However, they are making most of the islands net generators of electricity. It's a great pity that the cable infrastructure limits what they can feed back in to the National Grid on the mainland of Scotland.

The series of Southern Islands are joined by the Churchill Barriers, erected during WW2, after a German submarine entered Scapa Flow one night and sank HMS Royal Oak, with the loss of over 800 lives. I don't think I'm being too fanciful in thinking that this string of low lying islands and their linking causeways reminds me of the Florida Keys. Am I the only one who makes this comparison?

At the end of the day, another sunset.