Day 18-Gills Bay-St. Margarets Hope-Kirkwall-40miles
Up early, pack the panniers, more cornflakes, write name on box and leave in hostel kitchen, down to Gills Bay for the 9.45am sailing. A heavy drizzle can't dampen our enthusiasm and it seems really exciting getting on a ship-the rest of the passengers are a mix of holiday makers and delivery drivers. As soon as the ship is at sea the cafeteria opens and people queue up for their fried breakfasts but just coffee for us as we're full of cornflakes.
Camera out and straight on deck to see the view. Well I must admit you couldn't see a thing, According to the map we were sailing past and between many islands but we never saw one of them. As we approach St. Margarets Hope the fog just starts to lift and we can see our destination(photo below).
At this point I must admit to a very good idea that turned out to be a tactical error. I had booked three nights at St Margaret's Hope Cottage, only a minute from the ferry. The idea was that we could go straight there drop off our luggage and then go off exploring and this worked perfectly well on this first day but of course this then meant coming back to this end of the island (the biggest island is called the mainland on Orkney) each evening when many of the sights we wanted to see were at the other end! On reflection I would still come over on the same ferry but then cycle to and stay in Kirkwall so as to be more central. Having said that the B&B was very good and I'd stay there again-St Margarets Hope Cottage 01856 831637 www.stmargaretscottage.com
The rain had stopped and so once the bags were dropped we set off over the Churchill Barriers towards St Marys and there turned right and followed the signs to Mine Howe a mystery prehistoric sight that is basically a stone spiral staircase down into the earth. There is nothing at the bottom, it just comes to a dead end. It has never been fully understood but the most popular theory centres around a site of worship and/or burial and that the staircase leads to the underworld. It is a bit creepy and many people refuse to go down there-including Alison-but I'm fearless! An interesting site is www.orkneyjar.com
The cycling was a little up and down but relatively easy and while we were on Orkney the weather was good. Everywhere you went we came across lovely wild flowers such as the poppies below and throughout mainland Scotland yellow broom covered the road sides. After Mine Howe we went to the Sheila Fleet jewellery craftshop to buy Alison her birthday present-I'd actually seen some of the jewellery at the Harrods shop at the Falls of Shin but decided it would be nice to buy a piece from the lady herself. Alison is now the proud possessor of a Primula Scotica necklace-don't wear a lot of jewellery myself but it is lovely stuff. Suggested she needed a cafe and she is actually building one in the disused chapel nextdoor and she even lent us the keys to have a look inside. www.sheilafleet.co.uk
No cafe at Sheila's so off to Kirkwall Airport for lunch and a very nice airport it is with flights coming in from all over-in fact one idea might be that when you've finished your end to end why not go over to Orkney and then fly home?
There is a very good bike shop in Kirkwall that I'll be mentioning later they could even pack your bike perhaps for a small fee. To save hassle you could even send bike home using the cycle shop's regular carrier then you could fly without worrying. The airport was amazingly busy, I thought it would be just a field. I got Alison to take a photo just to prove I'd been there.
The Orkneys consist of about 70 islands, 16 of which are inhabited with a total population of 19,245-I counted them and 8,000 of them live in Kirkwall and that's where we cycled off to next. Again this immediately struck us as a place we'd like-just a quick stop this time to get some money but back tomorrow and then there was the biggest hill in Orkney to get out and back towards St Margarets Hope. This is about 17 miles and takes you across all the Churchill Barriers that were built during the second world war to stop attacks on Scapa Flow by submarines. They were built using Italian prisoners of war who then went on to construct the Italian Chapel-beautiful inside and out.
Below are photos of the chapel and Alison crossing one of the barriers-the barriers replaced sunken ships which did not keep out the u boat that sank the Royal Oak with the loss of 833 men.
After a quick shower we went off down into St Margarets Hope for a meal. We went into the Murray Arms to be greeted by what we assumed were local Orcadians gathered around the bar. You often worry wether you will be welcomed but when they all started talking we had a surprise-they were all from Yorkshire. Most of them were divers working in the oil industry and later when recounting the story to our landlady she said that all the locals call this pub the Woolpack.
Day 19: A Non Cycling Day
The place I really wanted to visit above all others was Skara Brae and today was the day. Because Skara Brae is at the other end of the mainland(largest island) we came up with a cunning plan. We found out that several coaches go around the sights everyday-they pick up from the John O Groats ferry and then any spare seats can be bought at the tourist office in Kirkwall. We caught a regular bus from outside our B&B to Kirkwall-it was more like a roller coaster as it flew up the hills and down to each Churchill barrier. At the tourist info office we booked seats on the coach tour-our driver/guide was very good and from Yorkshire!
The trip took us around Scapa Flow and to Stromness where we stopped for an hour and then onto Skara Brae where we were given two hours. The setting is beautiful and you cannot help wandering if the inhabitants had time to appreciate the scenery or was life just a constant battle- I would love to visit early in the morning when there were no other tourists around. If you stayed in Kirkwall you could easily plan a circular cycle each day to take in all the sights it would a good touring holiday and you could spend time on the other islands.
I've never been on one of these coach tours before and thought the whole thing highly entertaining-"on your left you will see, on your right you will see".
Below are photos from today.
Stromness.
Skara Brae (3)
Ring of Brodgar
The coach eventually dropped us back to Kirkwall and we then diced with death a second time on the bus back to St Margarets Hope. A second evening meal in The Murray Arms and then a drink in the Galley Inn which we preferred.
Day 21: Exploring Locally-12miles
It was Sunday and we had a relaxing day exploring around St Margarets but only after a very amusing breakfast conversation with Barbara the landlady. We asked if she could do porridge for breakfast and she said, "I'll go and get some".
Being helpful I offered to run the errand myself as I was about to go out for the paper.
"You'll go to the wrong shop" she said.
"Which one should I go to?"
"The one I own"
"Is that the one near the Post Office?"
"Yes, I own that too."
"I notice there's a backpackers in the village."
"That's mine as well."
"We went to the Murray Arms last night."
"That was mine I sold it the other day."
And so it went on, seems like she had a bit of an empire going- but a very friendly and helpful Orcadian-don't call them Scottish, they feel more closely linked to Norway. Barbara's husband had a boat and was a scallop diver-he prefered this way of fishing as it did not adversley effect the seabed-good for him.
Alison cycled off to St Peter's Church while I sat by the harbour reading the paper. When she got back we bought some cheese and oatcakes from Barbara's shop and cycled off towards Hoxa Head stopping on the way at a lovely sandy beach-The Sands O' Right- for lunch. Every year in August a boy's ploughing match is held here-all the local lads dress up and push miniature ploughs through the sand.
Hoxa head is a fascinating place as it guards one of the deepwater entrances to Scapa and is full of wartime evidence-(photo above).
Next stop was a tapestry workshop. The tapestries were designed and made by Leila Thompson who is the sister of Sheila Fleet the jewellery lady. The tapestries were beautiful and well worth a look if you are in the area. www.hoxatapestriesgallery.co.uk
That evening we ate in the Galley Inn and listened to two elderley ladies complaining about their accomodation in Barbara's backpackers but we didn't like to tell them we knew her.
Below:
Hoxa Head from the ferry.
Beautiful Hoxa Hedgerow.
Day 22: Into Kirkwall and back 35 miles
On our final day in Orkney we decided to explore Kirkwall and take my bike into the bike shop for a check up especially the tyres, as by now it had covered over 1500 miles with training. We were due to catch the last ferry from St Margarets at 18.00. By today the calm weather had come to an end and a strong SW wind was blowing. So that we would have longer in town I set off at 9.00 on my bike and Alison came on the bus-the wind was with me on the way in but it was obviously going to be a difficult return journey.
As I approached Kirkwall centre Alison went past-we had arranged to meet in the bike shop. The two fellows running the shop were related by marriage and had both come to Orkney originally to work for the NHS but had then decided to set up their own business. My rear tyre was looking quite worn to me and so I left the bike with them and Alison and I went off to find a cafe and visit the Cathedral.
St Magnus Cathedral was started in 1137 and took 300years to complete and we thought builders today were slow but it is an impressive building (photos below).
Next we went into the Reel Cafe which we had dicscovered on our last fleeting visit. It is owned and run by the Wrigley sisters who are well known traditional Scottish folk musicians on the islands and further afield. The coffee, cakes and the lunches were excellent while downstairs is a music shop and there are also several music studios and practise rooms with a steady flow of youngsters coming for lessons. On weekend evenings they turn the cafe into a music venue which we would have gone to if we had been staying in Kirkwall, Highly recommended if you're on the islands. www.wrigleysisters.com
After lunch I went back to the bikeshop where I was informed that my Continental 4 Season tyres had plenty of life in them yet- just a bit of air needed-they had not been touched since Alison had taken the car home on day 4-and the bike itself was fine mechanically. I would like to say thank you to the owners who did not charge me a penny and put my mind at rest. www.cycleorkney.com If you want to travel to Orkney without your bike you can hire bikes here.
The ride back to St Margarets was tough with the wind straight into my face and before I got back rain as well. We picked up our panniers and headed off down to the ferry for what was to be quite a rough crossing. At one point we passed the much smaller John O Groats ferry and I was glad I wasn't on it. We had a much clearer view on the return journey of some of the smaller Orkney Isles and of the abandoned island of Stroma before docking at Gill's Bay with a short cycle up to the Youth Hostel to find our cornflakes were still there.
We had really enjoyed our few days on Orkney and had really only scratched the surface. You could easily spend a couple of weeks here cycling and visiting the other islands. You can travel here by ferry from Aberdeen and could also go on to Shetland and if you are really adventurous there are links from there to Iceland and Scandinavia- the possibilities are endless.
The second photo below shows some of the deserted homes on Stroma.