Scotland Trip - Orkney: Maeshowe, Stones of Stenness, Ring of Brogdar and the Barnhouse

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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

We left Tongue with our goal of the ferry to Orkney in mind.  My mother got the ferry from Scrabster (Northlink) on the phone to reserve a place for our car.  Booking the ferry turned out to be pretty complicated - my mother had to answer a whole string of questions.  It was amazing how long it took.

This little guy was waving to us as we pulled out from the pier in Scrabster

We arrived in Thurso about 11 AM.  Thurso is a pretty large town that is next to (almost connected to) Scrabster.  Scrabster is, essentially the ferry port, a restaurant and a handful of other buildings.  Thurso however, is a charming little town with everything you might need.  We went to the bakery and got some bread and tarts that were very nice!

At the ferry, you have to sit on the pier in your car for about an hour - so we ate our lunch in the car while we waited.
Leaving Scrabster you are left with breathtaking views of the mainland.

Leaving Scrabster Harbour

The Old Man of Hoy

We could see the southern most Orkney's to the east of the boat almost immediately.  The weather was amazing, 17° with still waters and the sun shining.  The ferry is one of the large ones like is used to cross between Ireland and Britain - complete with full restaurant, bar, video arcade and reclining seats.  Of course, it's a waste to stay inside unless the weather is bad(the rocking actually isn't noticeable on the deck, but it is very noticeable inside).

The ferry passes very close to the cliffs and the rock formation, the Old Man of Hoy, making for a great photo.  After that you enter the harbor and pull into the ancient port of Stromness.  Stromness is what a tourist hopes for when traveling.  It's picturesque with old hotels and restaurants lining the old main street just off the pier.

Stromness as seen from the ferry

Maeshowe

We left the ferry and proceeded to our B&B (Kenila B&B)  in Harray.  Our Bean an Tí, Sheila Nicolson is wonderful!  She made some tea when we arrived, then we began exploring.  We began with Maeshowe a couple of miles down the road.  A chamber tomb in the manner of Newgrange, this one has a complete henge (ditch of turf) still surrounding it and you can go inside.  If you haven't been in one of these before, it is something not to be missed.  There is a guided tour which is nice and some Viking graffiti from the 1100s when they took refuge inside the tomb.

the Stones of Stenness

After this we visited the Stones of Stenness which are a nearby stone circle.  Only a few of the stones remain, but again the henge is still present which indicates the entrance and adding a little to the appearance.

We intended next to visit the Barnhouse, a Neolithic village, but we missed it!  So, we continued about a mile down the road to the Ring of Brogdar.  This is a well preserved, very large stone circle.  It too still has it's henge and still has most of it's over 60 original stones.  A lot of the missing stones still have little stubs remaining, so you can see the base.  It is surrounded by about 4 earthen mounds.  It's a very interesting site.

the Ring of Brogdar

Barnhouse Neolithic Village

We followed this with a trip to the Stromness Hotel.  We ate in the restaurant that is located in the lounge because 6:15 was too early for dining in the proper restaurant!  It was a nice meal with a pleasant wait staff.  After our meal, we returned to the Stones of Stenness.  The path to the Barnhouse is at the edge of the pasture which contains the stones.

The village consists of four buildings which have been uncovered and apparently two more that are underground.  This site is a more recent discovery than most of the places on Orkney.  I would recommend visiting before the late evening though as the midges were so thick that it seemed unreal.  On the other hand, the setting sun at that time of day added to the special feeling of the place.

It was a lovely and very active first day on the island, we didn't leave Kenila (our B&B) until 3:45 PM!

Scotland Trip - Castle Aardvrek, Dun Dornaigil and Tongue

An updated version of this site can be found here

Monday, June 26, 2006

Sarah and I began the day with a run from the house over the mountain.  The first half mile was on the road and then the rest was on a track through the bog -- it was a pretty rough path.  The views were gorgeous though.

After breakfast we reunited with my parents and then began the trek from Lochinver to Tongue. First, we wanted to make sure we visited Castle Aardvrek, a former MacLoed stronghold that was built in Loch Assynt near the junction of the A837 and A894.  The castle has a stone barrier in the water and it looked like a dream to defend.  It apparently wasn't that easy though as they lost a few battles there.

Castle Aardvrek, Sutherland, Scotland

Loch Assynt

I thought we might take the scenic route out of town along the coastal road (B869) to see a broch, only we couldn't find it!   It was a beautiful, but tough to drive (my poor Dad).  It's a single track road for about 15 miles, but it was VERY slow going.  I also ended up sleeping through a lot of it, my poor Dad.

 We then went up the coast and stopped for a picnic lunch in Scorbie.  The scenery through here is exactly what you would expect the highlands to look like - but it is so devoid of people.

When we reached Durness, we stopped briefly to contemplate Smoo Cave but the tide was out so there was no waterfall.  It didn't seem worth £3.  Up the road a ways we went off the main road down a really small (terrible) road past the car park for Ben Hope looking for another broch.  This one was sign posted on the main road.

It is found at the head of the longer Ben Hope Trail.  On the way, my father drove off the road making the whole adventure that much more exciting!

The trail up Ben Hope

Highland coos

The broch, Dun Dornaigil, was interesting and worth the 10 mile pasture penetrating drive.

Dun Dornaigil, Iron Age broch

The road to the broch

From there we reached the village of Tongue where we stayed at Rhian Guesthouse on a farm.  We ate at the Cragness Hotel which was in a picturesque village (I think it was called Milknes) and had nice seafood.

Rhian Guesthouse, Tongue

Rhian Guesthouse

Rhian is a nice house, but when we arrived it seemed as if they were hosting some sort of party.  Our interaction with the owners was thus very limited.  However, after we returned from dinner we were treated to this view:

Sunset at Rhian Guesthouse, Tongue