Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Some of the sites , along with nature from Orkney , can be viewed here :
http://aol.photobox.co.uk/public/detail.html?c_album=437048
http://aol.photobox.co.uk/public/detail.html?c_album=437048
One-day Itinerary , south Orkney Mainland
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Start in Kirkwall . Earl's Palace and Bishop's Palace on either side of the road , in a fair state of preservation , opposite the magnificent St.Magnus Cathedral . The Round Tower of the Bishop's Palace is well worth going up for the glorious panorama from the top , although you feel mighty exposed if you are scared of heights as I am ( but oh , the thrill ! ) . When first built the cathedral was actually on the shore - then the view from the tower would have been all sea right round to the bottom of Wellington Street on the left ( on the left-hand of the big field ) . All that remains of the castle on Castle Street is a plaque referring to it , not even a drawing .
Head out to the airport and past it you will come to the Mine Howe site . Little to be seen on the surface apart from where they have exposed a section of ditch , above which lies the entrance to the famous bit . Not recommended for those prone to bad backs if my experience is anything to go by . To get in you have to go down basically a steel ladder , back to everything . It isn't as deep as the impression you will have gained from the literature - or maybe my spatial perceptions are awry . A good place for digital camera and flash . Mighty fine .If you don't fancy the climb down there is a truncated version on another hillock , less sense of adventure but only a few steps down to the floor . Not much further along the Deerness Road , at a place where it narrows and there is sea on either side , you will find Dingieshowe .To reach Dingieshowe Bay itself means passing through huge grass-covered sand dunes . The one standing on your right is actually Dingieshowe Broch where the trolls have their thing about now . The beach has two distinct sections , the sands in front of you and on the left a pebbly beach for the geologists amongst us . Now down to the tip of Deerness . There was an early Viking settlement at Skaill Bay of which there are no visible remains . The church sits in fine isolation on the edge of the coast , pure and simple against a backdrop of sky . At certain times of the year you may find seals out on the rocks in the sea behind .Just up the road ( if I had had more time ) is a natural arch called the Gloup . The Orkney 2003 brochure says at Mull Head stands a ruinous Norse chapel and village .
Back towards Kirkwall till you hit on the first turn for the Southern Isles ( just past Toab , on the left where there is a big new school ) . Down past the Churchill Barriers and the Italian Chapel you come to the Fossil Museum on the left . As well as some simply superb fish fossils there is a room dedicated to the fascinating world of glow-in-the-dark rocks . Fluorescing and phospherescing specimens actually . Going on now past St.Margaret's Hope you almost reach Burwick at the tip before finding the turning for the Tomb of the Eagles on the left . Never been there yet , but it is the place to go for a real sense of ancient family . This is also one of those archaeological sites that we would not have in all their glory if it had not been for the enterprising curiosity of a native Orcadian . Even emergency excavations often owe more to their location skills in the first place than the reports show .
Coming back up again this time you will be on the outskirts of Kirkwall before you follow a turning ( on the left yet again ) for Scapa Beach and continue on the left till you head back oot from St.Ola ( the district that includes Kirkwall) yet again , this time on the Orphir Road . Past Orphir village on a small side road you will find our next sites , the Bu of Orphir and the Round Church . At one end of the road varying distances are signposted for these and the centre but they are actually all in the same small area ! The Bu is the Viking remains of a dwelling , bumps and hollows on the left of the path directly in front of the churchyard . The Round Church is within the churchyard itself . The books say it is the only copy of Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre in Britain , but this is strictly speaking only in the matter of it being a freestanding structure as there are others incorporated within more traditional ecclesiastical buildings . My last visit to Orphir I discovered a fine water-control system in a fenced-off bit to the left . The chicken-wire had been bent down already or I would have kept out . Going back to Kirkwall you may still have time to visit Waulkmill Bay , poorly signposted on the right . This looks at its best at low tide . Here sea-level is way below road level , a nice walk down . At the opposite side there is a nice view upstream too .
This itinerary might not fit comfortably into a day because it is not really a circular route with zig-zags like the northern itinerary and more three long fingers of a glove .
-----------------------------------------
Start in Kirkwall . Earl's Palace and Bishop's Palace on either side of the road , in a fair state of preservation , opposite the magnificent St.Magnus Cathedral . The Round Tower of the Bishop's Palace is well worth going up for the glorious panorama from the top , although you feel mighty exposed if you are scared of heights as I am ( but oh , the thrill ! ) . When first built the cathedral was actually on the shore - then the view from the tower would have been all sea right round to the bottom of Wellington Street on the left ( on the left-hand of the big field ) . All that remains of the castle on Castle Street is a plaque referring to it , not even a drawing .
Head out to the airport and past it you will come to the Mine Howe site . Little to be seen on the surface apart from where they have exposed a section of ditch , above which lies the entrance to the famous bit . Not recommended for those prone to bad backs if my experience is anything to go by . To get in you have to go down basically a steel ladder , back to everything . It isn't as deep as the impression you will have gained from the literature - or maybe my spatial perceptions are awry . A good place for digital camera and flash . Mighty fine .If you don't fancy the climb down there is a truncated version on another hillock , less sense of adventure but only a few steps down to the floor . Not much further along the Deerness Road , at a place where it narrows and there is sea on either side , you will find Dingieshowe .To reach Dingieshowe Bay itself means passing through huge grass-covered sand dunes . The one standing on your right is actually Dingieshowe Broch where the trolls have their thing about now . The beach has two distinct sections , the sands in front of you and on the left a pebbly beach for the geologists amongst us . Now down to the tip of Deerness . There was an early Viking settlement at Skaill Bay of which there are no visible remains . The church sits in fine isolation on the edge of the coast , pure and simple against a backdrop of sky . At certain times of the year you may find seals out on the rocks in the sea behind .Just up the road ( if I had had more time ) is a natural arch called the Gloup . The Orkney 2003 brochure says at Mull Head stands a ruinous Norse chapel and village .
Back towards Kirkwall till you hit on the first turn for the Southern Isles ( just past Toab , on the left where there is a big new school ) . Down past the Churchill Barriers and the Italian Chapel you come to the Fossil Museum on the left . As well as some simply superb fish fossils there is a room dedicated to the fascinating world of glow-in-the-dark rocks . Fluorescing and phospherescing specimens actually . Going on now past St.Margaret's Hope you almost reach Burwick at the tip before finding the turning for the Tomb of the Eagles on the left . Never been there yet , but it is the place to go for a real sense of ancient family . This is also one of those archaeological sites that we would not have in all their glory if it had not been for the enterprising curiosity of a native Orcadian . Even emergency excavations often owe more to their location skills in the first place than the reports show .
Coming back up again this time you will be on the outskirts of Kirkwall before you follow a turning ( on the left yet again ) for Scapa Beach and continue on the left till you head back oot from St.Ola ( the district that includes Kirkwall) yet again , this time on the Orphir Road . Past Orphir village on a small side road you will find our next sites , the Bu of Orphir and the Round Church . At one end of the road varying distances are signposted for these and the centre but they are actually all in the same small area ! The Bu is the Viking remains of a dwelling , bumps and hollows on the left of the path directly in front of the churchyard . The Round Church is within the churchyard itself . The books say it is the only copy of Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre in Britain , but this is strictly speaking only in the matter of it being a freestanding structure as there are others incorporated within more traditional ecclesiastical buildings . My last visit to Orphir I discovered a fine water-control system in a fenced-off bit to the left . The chicken-wire had been bent down already or I would have kept out . Going back to Kirkwall you may still have time to visit Waulkmill Bay , poorly signposted on the right . This looks at its best at low tide . Here sea-level is way below road level , a nice walk down . At the opposite side there is a nice view upstream too .
This itinerary might not fit comfortably into a day because it is not really a circular route with zig-zags like the northern itinerary and more three long fingers of a glove .
