The Orkney Islands is a small group of islands located approximately ten miles off the north-eastern coast of mainland Scotland. These islands are rich in history and natural beauty, and those that lived here traditionally and settled here were from Scotland or Scandanavia. Visitors to the islands can arrive by ferry or by plane into Kirkwall on the main island.
In early May, I got the Pentland Ferry across from Giles Bay (not far from John O' Groats, the northeastern tip of Scotland) to St. Margaret's Hope on Orkney's mainland. I stayed for nearly a week, which was enough time to see what the main island had to offer and to spend a couple of days visiting two of the other islands.
On the way back to our bed and breakfast in Kirkwall one afternoon, we drove up Wideford Hill. This hill overlooks the town of Kirkwall, and there are excellent views from the top if you can brave the high winds. The summit also seems to be a hang-out place for locals. At the top of the hill is a trail about a mile long to walk down to Wideford Cairn, a chambered tomb. (There are hundreds, if not thousands, of these tombs on the islands.)
Local boys walking on the road on picturesque Wideford Hill
Large clouds and a steep view of one of the sides of Wideford Hill
A view of Kirkwall from Wideford Hill
There are a few interesting historical places to visit in Kirkwall. These include St. Magnus Cathedral, Earl's Palace, and Bishop's Palace. All three are next to each other. The Orkney Museum is also near all three monuments, but it was shut for refurbishment.
Earl's Palace with St. Magnus Cathedral in the background
A view of Earl's Palace.
One of the rooms in Earl's Palace
Bishop's Palace, next to Earl's Palace, is in a worse state of ruin. The main hall is completely in ruins, but it's worth visiting the palace to climb the tower. The views over St. Magnus Cathedral are brilliant.
A view of St. Magnus Cathedral from Bishop's Palace.
St. Magnus Cathedral exterior and interior stained glass windows
The interior of the cathedral contains the tombs of famous explorers, writers, and other important people in history. The cathedral's founder's bones are also inside the cathedral in ones of the pillars, marked by a plaque. A lot of the tombs in the cathedral use skull bone or skeleton imagery.
Skeleton figure in St. Magnus Cathedral
While driving around Orkney, and its many pastures of sheep, I came across adorable lambs in orange plastic jackets. These were cute, so I could not resist taking several photographs of them. Lambs are cute as they are, but they are even cuter when dressed up in little jackets.
I enjoyed seeing these lambs in orange jackets.
Two black-faced lambs wear cute jackets while their mother looks on.
One of the other interesting buildings on the Orkney mainland is the Italian Chapel. This chapel was built in the 1940s on an uninhabited island, which is now a part of the mainland. The chapel was built by Italian prisoners of war (World War II) while they were stationed here. The prisioners also constructed bridges to link two parts of the mainland, called the Churchill Barriers, which prevented ships from accessing the Scapa Flow and attacking the UK's defenses held here. The area is filled with shipwrecks, and you can see many of these. Some of the ships were deliberately sunk at the barriers.
The Italian Chapel is a beautiful little chapel, and the paintings inside on the walls and ceiling and the woodwork is amazing.
Jesus wood carving above the main doorway
The Italian Chapel interior
The bed and breakfast I stayed at looked out over the Kirkwall harbour, which I photographed below.
Kirkwall harbour
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