Day 32 – To the Sands of Evie

Thursday 27th May

I headed out to the northwest of the Mainland this morning. There’s so much history all over the 70 odd islands that it’s difficult to decide where to go first.

The Orkney Islands have been inhabited for more than 8,500 years, originally with Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes. From the year 875 for about 600 years the islands were annexed to Norway after vikings had made it home following several aggressive expeditions. This period, and the various sagas, fascinate me. The piece of writing is called the Orkneyinga Saga, or The History of the Earls of Orkney. There’s a exhibition in the south of the island, which I will visit in a few days. I’ll include a book review and some music at the end if this post.

In 1468 Orkney and Shetland were pledged by Christian I, in his capacity as king of Norway, for the payment of the dowry of his daughter, Margaret.

So, this morning, to the Brough of Birsay, which can be reached at low tide over a narrow causeway. We arrived with an hour or so to wait until it was passable.

The dog was the first across. A few other people hesitated to get their feet wet. He then swam back, and led me across. A few others followed.

There is the ruined Viking settlement, and a lighthouse, built in 1925 by David Stevenson, the last of the Lighthouse Stevenson family. It was the calmest of Orkney days and a great chance to observe the fulmars on their nests on the cliffs, as well as Arctic Terns, Black Guillemots and Black-headed Gulls; seabird flavour, as Terry Jones would say..

Though there were quite a few motorhomes in Kirkwall, the campsites were full, out in the wildernesses of the islands it is quiet. Many of the tourists on Orkney come from the cruise ships, and there are none of those at the moment. Also the ferries are limited to a third of occupancy. The inter-island ferries are particularly struggling in the pandemic. Due to track and trace they have disabled their online booking system, and take all bookings by phone. Even foot passengers must book and pay two hours at least before travelling. Consequently costs are higher, and fares are 150% of what they were, sometimes more. Their call centre cannot cope with booking demand at the moment, so unless things can change, they will not be able to cope with demand.

I found a tremendous place to stay for the night, at the Sands of Evie. There’s a small car park with toilet that is chiefly used by locals with their dogs, or by several swimmers. Midway through the evening the skies cleared and at 10.07 pm, provided an entertaining sunset.