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First visit to Orkney
- Thread starter Ingwe
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- Jul 3, 2019
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reminds me of walking past the Seamen's Mission in Stornoway, which had this big notice in the window listing their purpose and objectives...
It was a proper Mission Statement!
- Jun 25, 2013
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Good pay thou ?
- Jun 25, 2013
- 2,105
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- Old wild camper in transit
Nice one
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We like lunch in the Kirk Cafe at Sheila Fleet in Tankerness, worth it even just to see the beautiful renovation of the building. You might want to keep your wallet locked up if browsing the attached jewellery gallery.
They were a fantastic organisation, often found in the most unlikely of places.reminds me of walking past the Seamen's Mission in Stornoway, which had this big notice in the window listing their purpose and objectives...
It was a proper Mission Statement!
In Port Sudan, halfway down the Red Sea, in the 60's, all there was there, was a Seaman's Mission and a cluster of mud huts.
Now it's a sprawling port and metropolis!
There is still Seaman's Padre that visits the container ships in Felixstowe (and probably other places) not just religion down your throat but help if needed.
Apologies for thread spread!
Jane NotRog
LIFE MEMBER
Are you taking the van over to Scara Brae? There’s a fantastic spot to wild camp - we had it entirely to ourselves.
Rackwick Wild Camp
Outerhouse, Stromness and South Isles Ward
GPS: 58.873,-3.386
Notes
Amazing spot all alone near beach.
Shared from Mundus, an app by Jane Sales
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Rackwick Wild Camp
Outerhouse, Stromness and South Isles Ward
GPS: 58.873,-3.386
Notes
Amazing spot all alone near beach.
Shared from Mundus, an app by Jane Sales
Mundus
Mundus is your map for your world. Speedily add your favourite places and save friends' recommendations for later. Mundus is perfect for planning holidays and weekends away. Free to use for 14 days, then a single in-app purchase buys the app forever. No recurring subscription! Mundus is super...
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- Apr 12, 2010
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When we went to Scapa flow there was a small church built and decorated by Italian prisoners made from Nissan huts. A truly magical place and definitely worth visiting.
Phil
Phil
Spose if i were to go again now (no plans) i would look on the place with a different light than being there for work in the mid 70s for Oxydental.
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CAB96
LIFE MEMBER
We made the mistake of following a caravan into Stromness!
Fortunately we realised our mistake and were able to turn right halfway through, and we're only a VW, but there were some unhappy people, locals and driver alike!
Fortunately we realised our mistake and were able to turn right halfway through, and we're only a VW, but there were some unhappy people, locals and driver alike!
Rackwick Bay is nowhere near Scara Brae! Rackwick is on Hoy, and Scara Brae is on Orkney Mainland.Are you taking the van over to Scara Brae? There’s a fantastic spot to wild camp - we had it entirely to ourselves.
Rackwick Wild Camp
Outerhouse, Stromness and South Isles Ward
GPS: 58.873,-3.386
Notes
Amazing spot all alone near beach.
Shared from Mundus, an app by Jane Sales
Mundus
Mundus is your map for your world. Speedily add your favourite places and save friends' recommendations for later. Mundus is perfect for planning holidays and weekends away. Free to use for 14 days, then a single in-app purchase buys the app forever. No recurring subscription! Mundus is super...
Jane NotRog
LIFE MEMBER
Yes, I misspoke, sorry. Too late to delete it now :-((((
Apologies again for my mistake.
No, we went to Skara Brae on the X1 bust from Stromness. But thanks for the information and details of app. This will not be our only trip to Orkney. Deo (or other) volente. More in my post.
- May 13, 2016
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Back in the 80s and 90s we used to travel 'down south' from Glasgow to fish matches in the open match circuit and on the way home when passing Lesmahagow my dear Late friend Jim Brown would always announce, 'there it is Wogahamsel, we'll soon be home lads'! Brings back wonderful memories
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Friday dawned sunny and the wind, for which Orkney is renowned, dropped to a gentle breeze. I’d missed two of my three runs last week due to travelling so, at 6:30, I set off for a 6km jog from the campsite. As it barely gets dark here at night this time of year, it was light enough to run at 3:00 but I snuggled cosily in bed until about 6:00.
It was lovely to run along the cinder path and I jogged alongside the Northlink ferry, setting off for Scrabster for all of 200 yards, before it passed me. You jog alongside a golf course which at this time of the morning was deserted. There is a WW2 (I guess) gun emplacement and a couple of ruined houses on the route. Oyster-catchers flew just above me and chirruped the whole time. Quite beautiful.
Showered and dressed, we walked the gentle mile into Stromness. I had a bacon butty from Julia’s Shed while Mrs Ingwe had another crab roll while we waited the half hour for the X1 bus to Skara Brae. Although we have the motorhome, we can’t be ar**d to pack up for day trips and, besides, we really enjoy using local bus services wherever we can. We’ve had some great trips in the Caribbean where sticking to the formal route is an exception. A quick word about the bus service and the timetable. The X1 seems to go everywhere but there are different routes taken and when looking at the timetable, it is easy to be confused as to which exact X1 to take for a given destination. Anyway, our bus departed on time and the return fare for two, Stromness to Skara Brae, was £9.50. The journey takes half an hour, or would do, if it wasn’t for cows needing to change fields for grazing. Just as the bus, which doesn’t hang around, reached Skara Brae, the road was closed by a farmer parking his pick-up across the entrance and farm workers stopping vehicles in both directors while a herd of cows and calves were herded up the road and into a field across the road. Apart from us, there was only a German couple on the bus and we all had a bit of a giggle at the cow antics.
Skara brae is a gem. I’m often a little disappointed when visiting ‘must see’ places. I suppose one gets a little blasé as one ages but Skara Brae exceeded my expectations. The site is not that big although the whole site includes the Skaille House and your admission ticket allows admittance to the house as well as the site. The warm, sunny weather had been succeeded by cool, windy, misty weather but still the site was magical and the beach, with opalescent seas was very inviting. There seemed to be only about thirty people at the site which surprised us. We expected hordes and having to move along swiftly but you could spend as much time in front of each of the 5,000 year-old dwellings as you wanted.
Stone furniture from IKEA….(not)
Beach at Skara Brae
We decided two hours was enough to enjoy the site so went into the Skaille House and looked at the furnished room, occupied by Scots aristocracy until 1991. I get easily bored looking at huge dining room tables set for a banquet and plush drawing rooms, left exactly as if the last occupiers had just popped out for a minute, but there was enough of interest to keep me engaged.
Skaille House
The library at Skaille House
The X1 bus to Stromness was bang on time and this time, we and the German couple were joined by a Dutch couple. Despite seeing coaches arriving with tourists while we waited for the outward trip to Skara Brae, we saw hardly any tourists in Stromness. They seem to arrive, get off the bus, use the toilets, then a swift five minute walk into the town centre, then back on the bus and away. To somewhere……..
Today being midsummer’s day, Mrs Ingwe decided to continue her recent (last three years) practice of swimming in the sea on midsummer’s day. St Davids in Wales and Newton’s Farm in Dumfries and Galloway, are other places where she’s braved the icy seas. Yesterday, she was looking for a likely spot from which to dip and met some local women actually swimming. Turns out that they do daily swims there all year round. They were most supportive of the idea of a plunge and said that they’d be there at 10:00 on the 21st. And they were true to their word. Mrs Ingwe was ready and waiting at 9:55 and this remarkable bunch of not-so-young women arrived one by one and were keen to offer advice and support. It was a very windy and overcast morning and I was cold even fully dressed! Anyway, they all walked down a slipway into the sea as if they were going into a pool somewhere warm and sunny. Mrs Ingwe also went straight in and swum about for a bit before coming out.
Mrs Ingwe in the sea
Some of these hardy swimmers are going on a 14 mile walk this evening to raise money for cancer charities and they’ll be back tomorrow at 10am for their daily swim. That’s dedication.
Today, Saturday,is very windy and the sun has disappeared. We walked into Stromness to get some groceries and tonight there is a quiz being held in the golf club which hosts its rooms to the campsite’s residents. This should be fun but our collective knowledge of pop music of the 70’s and 80’s will prevent us reaching a reasonable total, I fear. We will possibly go somewhere tomorrow like Kirkwall and St Margaret’s Hope but there is an 85% forecast for rain tomorrow so we’ll wait and see. The bikes haven’t even been taken off the new Thule tow-bar rack so far……
Enjoy the weekend.
It was lovely to run along the cinder path and I jogged alongside the Northlink ferry, setting off for Scrabster for all of 200 yards, before it passed me. You jog alongside a golf course which at this time of the morning was deserted. There is a WW2 (I guess) gun emplacement and a couple of ruined houses on the route. Oyster-catchers flew just above me and chirruped the whole time. Quite beautiful.
Showered and dressed, we walked the gentle mile into Stromness. I had a bacon butty from Julia’s Shed while Mrs Ingwe had another crab roll while we waited the half hour for the X1 bus to Skara Brae. Although we have the motorhome, we can’t be ar**d to pack up for day trips and, besides, we really enjoy using local bus services wherever we can. We’ve had some great trips in the Caribbean where sticking to the formal route is an exception. A quick word about the bus service and the timetable. The X1 seems to go everywhere but there are different routes taken and when looking at the timetable, it is easy to be confused as to which exact X1 to take for a given destination. Anyway, our bus departed on time and the return fare for two, Stromness to Skara Brae, was £9.50. The journey takes half an hour, or would do, if it wasn’t for cows needing to change fields for grazing. Just as the bus, which doesn’t hang around, reached Skara Brae, the road was closed by a farmer parking his pick-up across the entrance and farm workers stopping vehicles in both directors while a herd of cows and calves were herded up the road and into a field across the road. Apart from us, there was only a German couple on the bus and we all had a bit of a giggle at the cow antics.
Skara brae is a gem. I’m often a little disappointed when visiting ‘must see’ places. I suppose one gets a little blasé as one ages but Skara Brae exceeded my expectations. The site is not that big although the whole site includes the Skaille House and your admission ticket allows admittance to the house as well as the site. The warm, sunny weather had been succeeded by cool, windy, misty weather but still the site was magical and the beach, with opalescent seas was very inviting. There seemed to be only about thirty people at the site which surprised us. We expected hordes and having to move along swiftly but you could spend as much time in front of each of the 5,000 year-old dwellings as you wanted.
Stone furniture from IKEA….(not)
Beach at Skara Brae
We decided two hours was enough to enjoy the site so went into the Skaille House and looked at the furnished room, occupied by Scots aristocracy until 1991. I get easily bored looking at huge dining room tables set for a banquet and plush drawing rooms, left exactly as if the last occupiers had just popped out for a minute, but there was enough of interest to keep me engaged.
Skaille House
The library at Skaille House
The X1 bus to Stromness was bang on time and this time, we and the German couple were joined by a Dutch couple. Despite seeing coaches arriving with tourists while we waited for the outward trip to Skara Brae, we saw hardly any tourists in Stromness. They seem to arrive, get off the bus, use the toilets, then a swift five minute walk into the town centre, then back on the bus and away. To somewhere……..
Today being midsummer’s day, Mrs Ingwe decided to continue her recent (last three years) practice of swimming in the sea on midsummer’s day. St Davids in Wales and Newton’s Farm in Dumfries and Galloway, are other places where she’s braved the icy seas. Yesterday, she was looking for a likely spot from which to dip and met some local women actually swimming. Turns out that they do daily swims there all year round. They were most supportive of the idea of a plunge and said that they’d be there at 10:00 on the 21st. And they were true to their word. Mrs Ingwe was ready and waiting at 9:55 and this remarkable bunch of not-so-young women arrived one by one and were keen to offer advice and support. It was a very windy and overcast morning and I was cold even fully dressed! Anyway, they all walked down a slipway into the sea as if they were going into a pool somewhere warm and sunny. Mrs Ingwe also went straight in and swum about for a bit before coming out.
Mrs Ingwe in the sea
Some of these hardy swimmers are going on a 14 mile walk this evening to raise money for cancer charities and they’ll be back tomorrow at 10am for their daily swim. That’s dedication.
Today, Saturday,is very windy and the sun has disappeared. We walked into Stromness to get some groceries and tonight there is a quiz being held in the golf club which hosts its rooms to the campsite’s residents. This should be fun but our collective knowledge of pop music of the 70’s and 80’s will prevent us reaching a reasonable total, I fear. We will possibly go somewhere tomorrow like Kirkwall and St Margaret’s Hope but there is an 85% forecast for rain tomorrow so we’ll wait and see. The bikes haven’t even been taken off the new Thule tow-bar rack so far……
Enjoy the weekend.
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You were lucky at Skara Brae, the last time I went about 40yrs ago, it was all fenced off so one could only just see down into the dwelling and no mention of the house.
Sadly, I was greatly underwhelmed!
Puddleduck
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- Jan 15, 2014
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Not last time but the time before when I was a Skara Brae it was possible to walk through the houses. Quite spine tingling.
The Italian Chapel is worth a visit.
The Italian Chapel is worth a visit.
- Jun 25, 2013
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Yes the stone bed made ne smile , the house looked foreboding and spooky to me , but thankful for the winter storm to expose the site
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Our first Orkney experience is almost at an end. As I write this entry, we are sitting in an aire in Springfield which is right next to Gretna Green. There are five pitches none with hookup but all with their own fresh water. There are black and grey water drains. The charge is £15 per night but we haven’t yet found how to pay. There is no honesty box so we suppose someone will be around later to collect the money.
There is a small honesty box cake cupboard that also contains local honey, bottles of water and biscuits. The site is right next to the main train line to Glasgow so the trains pass regularly but at such high speed, the noise doesn’t intrude much.
Anyway we got here after a quiet night at a site Inver Mill near Dunkeld. Probably the cleanest and best showers and toilets I’ve experienced. Nice and quiet site and would have been happy to spend longer here if we didn’t need to be home.
Dunkeld was about three hours down the A9 from where we parked up at Tain after disembarking from the MV Hamnavoe the ferry from Stromness to Scrabster. We’d boarded the ferry at 10:45 for the 11:00 sailing, slightly apprehensive about the prospect of a rough crossing. Since Saturday afternoon, the weather on Stromness had got progressively worse with non-stop gale force winds that buffered the van constantly. Even the skylights were being drawn up by the side winds and we feared that they could be actually ripped off. The wind blew all night and there was also heavy rain. We could hardly hear the TV even with the volume on maximum.
On Saturday, we had gone along to the quiz, graciously hosted by Stromness Golf Club. As expected, our knowledge of 1980s pop music let us down and we finished “also rans”. On Sunday we planned to take the X1 bus to Kirkwall but, although the wind had abated somewhat, we decided instead to breakfast in Stromness and then to go to a chamber music concert being held in the town hall in the afternoon as part of the St Magnus Festival. There was a number of events over the weekend that were tempting but we opted to go to this one due to the music being played which included Beethoven’s Razoumovsky suite and a Robert Schumann quintet. There was also a work written by a local composer being premiered.
We’d been recommended the scallop, bacon and black pudding served on an Argo’s cobbler from stall opposite the ferry so we ordered two of them. Just then, the rain resumed and we adjourned to the pub next door to eat our butties indoors. I have to say, I’m not a convert to the scallop, black pudding and bacon cobbler whether Argo’s or other cobbler. Mrs Ingwe enjoyed hers but I’d have been happy with a cheese and onion roll instead. I also believe Mrs Ingwe would have preferred another crab roll from Julia’s shed around the corner.
Anyway, we killed time until the concert time of 14:00 then trudged up the steep hill to the concert venue. A lovely old wooden-ceilinged hall. The musicians were the Resol quartet and they were joined by and excellent pianist for the Schumann quintet. The playing really was first rate and I recommend you keep an eye out for them. As an encore, the quartet, of two violins, a viola and a cello, played a local folk tune that was enchanting and made us wish we’d gone to a folk event earlier in the week when that song and others were played by the Resol quartet.
Spiritually uplifted after the musical afternoon, we returned to the site, had a light tea and then went back to the golf clubhouse which was supposed to have been hosting an evening of ‘Sticky 13s’. But, for reasons unknown to us, this was cancelled and we stayed for a drink and a chat instead.
The wind picked up again and we were surprised when some motorhomers decided to take the ferry a day early on Monday. The sea was choppy and the crossings had been slower due to rough seas. We were booked for Tuesday morning and we hoped that the winds would die down before then. And so it transpired. We packed up, said our farewells to our neighbours and drove to the terminal. Our crossing was as smooth as could be.
After we’d parked at Tain on a free parking, a number of fellow Orkney visitors arrived to spend the night. There is a reataurant called ‘Platform 1864’ converted from the old railway station. We learned, after a lovely meal of mussel starter for Mrs Ingwe and haddock and chips for us both, that you can reach the restaurant from the parking in 5 minutes by crossing the railway line over a bridge and walking along a field fronting the estuary.
Tain parking is a very quiet spot for a night, right on the estuary which when we arrived was a massive mud flat but soon filled with water as the tide came in.
Here at Springfield, we walked the short distance to Gretna Green and had a look at the old blacksmith shop and other places of historic interest. We feel a bit put out that we paid £10 to share the Gretna romantic experience and then found that due to ongoing weddings we were prevented from seeing the interior of the original old smithy where couples plighted their troth (or whatever it is they did). Had they warned us, we wouldn’t have paid to go in and instead mingled outside with the many Japanese tourists photographing everything and paying over the odds for shortbread in tartan tins. However, I carp.
Mrs Ingwe has found some lovely free park-ups from the usual sources and, in between, we’ve stayed at sites so we can shower, take on water and empty the toilet. We thoroughly enjoyed our time on Orkney and we will return. The driving in Scotland has, for the most part, been a pleasure and stress-free. Even the busy A9 was fine with a good surface not too much traffic. And tomorrow we have the trip down the M6, A66 and A1 to York. Clean the van and then start preparing for our next trip……..
Thanks for reading.
There is a small honesty box cake cupboard that also contains local honey, bottles of water and biscuits. The site is right next to the main train line to Glasgow so the trains pass regularly but at such high speed, the noise doesn’t intrude much.
Anyway we got here after a quiet night at a site Inver Mill near Dunkeld. Probably the cleanest and best showers and toilets I’ve experienced. Nice and quiet site and would have been happy to spend longer here if we didn’t need to be home.
Dunkeld was about three hours down the A9 from where we parked up at Tain after disembarking from the MV Hamnavoe the ferry from Stromness to Scrabster. We’d boarded the ferry at 10:45 for the 11:00 sailing, slightly apprehensive about the prospect of a rough crossing. Since Saturday afternoon, the weather on Stromness had got progressively worse with non-stop gale force winds that buffered the van constantly. Even the skylights were being drawn up by the side winds and we feared that they could be actually ripped off. The wind blew all night and there was also heavy rain. We could hardly hear the TV even with the volume on maximum.
On Saturday, we had gone along to the quiz, graciously hosted by Stromness Golf Club. As expected, our knowledge of 1980s pop music let us down and we finished “also rans”. On Sunday we planned to take the X1 bus to Kirkwall but, although the wind had abated somewhat, we decided instead to breakfast in Stromness and then to go to a chamber music concert being held in the town hall in the afternoon as part of the St Magnus Festival. There was a number of events over the weekend that were tempting but we opted to go to this one due to the music being played which included Beethoven’s Razoumovsky suite and a Robert Schumann quintet. There was also a work written by a local composer being premiered.
We’d been recommended the scallop, bacon and black pudding served on an Argo’s cobbler from stall opposite the ferry so we ordered two of them. Just then, the rain resumed and we adjourned to the pub next door to eat our butties indoors. I have to say, I’m not a convert to the scallop, black pudding and bacon cobbler whether Argo’s or other cobbler. Mrs Ingwe enjoyed hers but I’d have been happy with a cheese and onion roll instead. I also believe Mrs Ingwe would have preferred another crab roll from Julia’s shed around the corner.
Anyway, we killed time until the concert time of 14:00 then trudged up the steep hill to the concert venue. A lovely old wooden-ceilinged hall. The musicians were the Resol quartet and they were joined by and excellent pianist for the Schumann quintet. The playing really was first rate and I recommend you keep an eye out for them. As an encore, the quartet, of two violins, a viola and a cello, played a local folk tune that was enchanting and made us wish we’d gone to a folk event earlier in the week when that song and others were played by the Resol quartet.
Spiritually uplifted after the musical afternoon, we returned to the site, had a light tea and then went back to the golf clubhouse which was supposed to have been hosting an evening of ‘Sticky 13s’. But, for reasons unknown to us, this was cancelled and we stayed for a drink and a chat instead.
The wind picked up again and we were surprised when some motorhomers decided to take the ferry a day early on Monday. The sea was choppy and the crossings had been slower due to rough seas. We were booked for Tuesday morning and we hoped that the winds would die down before then. And so it transpired. We packed up, said our farewells to our neighbours and drove to the terminal. Our crossing was as smooth as could be.
After we’d parked at Tain on a free parking, a number of fellow Orkney visitors arrived to spend the night. There is a reataurant called ‘Platform 1864’ converted from the old railway station. We learned, after a lovely meal of mussel starter for Mrs Ingwe and haddock and chips for us both, that you can reach the restaurant from the parking in 5 minutes by crossing the railway line over a bridge and walking along a field fronting the estuary.
Tain parking is a very quiet spot for a night, right on the estuary which when we arrived was a massive mud flat but soon filled with water as the tide came in.
Here at Springfield, we walked the short distance to Gretna Green and had a look at the old blacksmith shop and other places of historic interest. We feel a bit put out that we paid £10 to share the Gretna romantic experience and then found that due to ongoing weddings we were prevented from seeing the interior of the original old smithy where couples plighted their troth (or whatever it is they did). Had they warned us, we wouldn’t have paid to go in and instead mingled outside with the many Japanese tourists photographing everything and paying over the odds for shortbread in tartan tins. However, I carp.
Mrs Ingwe has found some lovely free park-ups from the usual sources and, in between, we’ve stayed at sites so we can shower, take on water and empty the toilet. We thoroughly enjoyed our time on Orkney and we will return. The driving in Scotland has, for the most part, been a pleasure and stress-free. Even the busy A9 was fine with a good surface not too much traffic. And tomorrow we have the trip down the M6, A66 and A1 to York. Clean the van and then start preparing for our next trip……..
Thanks for reading.
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