Baden-Powell Council BSA
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2022 Blair Atholl Patrol Jamborette

Day 3 - July 14th - Orkney Mainland

We spent one full day on Orkney Mainland - the largest of the islands in the archipelago - with a short side trip across the Churchill Barriers to two of the smaller islands, Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm. Our second day on Orkney was on another island, Hoy, before we returned to Mainland for dinner and a walk around Kirkwall before we took the ferry back. 

We boarded the MV Hamnavoe in Scrabster early in the morning, and by 8:30AM we were on our way to Orkney.
The ferry route leads through the Pentland Firth, potentially one of the roughest stretches along the entire Scottish Coast - it wasn't too bad for our crossing, although the ferry did roll a bit and it took some of the Scouts a little while to get their sea legs.	The clouds were thick and low as we rounded the tall island of Hoy, nearly touching the headland.
A Fulmar flew alongside the ferry for a while.	We had hoped to see some Puffins when we went to Orkney, but we were disappointed... or, at least, that's what we thought. It was only after we were back home and I was editing photos that I discovered we'd seen a Puffin after all!
The Old Man of Hoy is a 450-foot-tall sea stack off the west coast of the island of Hoy. The group will hike out to the Old Man tomorrow, but for now we get to see it from the ferry.	The Hoy High Lighhouse guards the entrance to Scapa Flow, home of the Royal Navy during the World Wars. The German fleet was interned here after WWI, and scuttled by their commanders to keep the ships from falling into British hands when negotiations dragged on too long. Most of the sunken ships were salvaged over the years, but a few remain as dive locations. As we pass Hoy High, we turn left (or port, if you prefer) to enter Stromness Harbour.
Stromness Harbour.  Our ferry docked uneventfully, and we disembarked to meet Lizzie Linklater, our guide for the day, waiting for us in the parking lot.	Our first stop for the day was the Standing Stones of Stenness. Only a handful of stones remain - most of them were torn down or blown up in the 19th century when the farmer who owned the field became tired of the influx of tourists attracted by the mention of the stones in one of Sir Walter Scott's novels. Fortunately, he was stopped before he toppled them all.
The Ness of Brodgar dig is one of the most important Neolithic archeological sites in the world. It predates Stonehenge by centuries, and was a focal point of the Neolithic world about 6,500 years ago.
Archaeologists have been working at Ness of Brodgar since 2004, and so far they've found 27 monumental structures, scattered around the site and stacked on top of each other - the site was developed and redeveloped over many centuries.
The Ring of Brodgar is a much more complete stone circle than the Stones of Stenness. It is a henge (ditch) enclosing a circle of standing stones.
Skara Brae is a Neolithic town which was buried in sand thousands of years ago. Much of it has washed away as the shoreline erodes away, but archaeologists estimate that about half the site remains. It was partially uncovered in a storm in the 19th century, and archaeological investigations have been ongoing since then.
One of the houses is reproduced at the visitor center, so that we could see what the inside might have looked like during the Stone Age. The houses are surprisingly sophisticated, with built-in furniture, under-floor drains, pools to keep seafood fresh (or possible to cook it, or both) and so on.	The site is introduced by a film at the visitor center.
From the visitor center you walk down a path to the actual town - alongside the path are signs indicating how far back into the past you've progressed...	... and you finally arrive at Skara Brae itself.
The fields around the village have new inhabitants...	...including this bull. What do you call him? "Sir", according to our guide.
From Skara Brae we crossed over one of the Churchill Barriers built during WWII from Orkney Mainland to the small island of Lamb Holm.  The Churchill Barriers were built by Italian Prisoners of War. They asked for someplace to build a chapel, and were given a couple of corrugated-steel Nissen Huts (we'd call them Quonset Huts). Using those as a basis, and adding whatever they could find around the area or salvage from sunken blockships, they built what is known today as the "Italian Chapel".	The inside of the Italian Chapel is covered in plaster and cleverly painted to resemble the stone that the Italians would have known from chapels in their home country.
The altar area - the hanging lanterns are made from scrap metal from the blockships.
After visiting the Italian Chapel we drove further along the Churchill Barriers to the next island, Glimps Holm, to see one of the blockships which were sunken during WWI to block the eastern entrances to Scapa Flow. Over the decades they had broken up and moved in the currents, allowing a German U-Boat to sneak in through here and sink the British Battleship HMS Royal Oak early in WWII. Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the Churchill Barriers to be built to prevent a recurrence. Prisoners of War aren't supposed to work on war-related construction projects according to the Geneva Convention - the Barriers were built with roads on top, so that they could officially be considered civilian road projects.	The Scouts explore the beach alongside the Churchill Barrier.
We then returned to Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkey Islands, for a tour of St. Magnus Cathedral.	St. Magnus Cathedral was begun in around 1100 in the Norman style, commemorating Magnus, one of the Earls of Orkney, murdered at the order of his cousin.
	Memorial to John Rae, one of the founders of the Hudson's Bay Company
Memorial to the HMS Royal Oak	Some of the "Memento Mori" hanging around the cathedral are pretty grisly to modern eyes.
When this pillar was being rebuilt during the 20th Century, bones were found encased in the pillar. Legend had said that St. Magnus was entombed in the pillar, and the wounds on the bones were consistent with his method of execution. This is a facial reconstruction based on the skull found in the pillar.	St. Magnus graveyard.
We stayed the night in the 2nd Orkney Scout Group's hall a few blocks from the center of Kirkwall. They were kind enough to leave group neckies for everyone. We thank them for the hospitality, and hope to return again someday.	After dinner at an Indian restaurant near the Scout Hall, we went for a walk at Hobbister, a wildlife refuge managed by the Royal Society for the Preservation of Birds (RSPB). The walk was pleasant, and we saw a large number of seabirds before the walk was cut short by rain.