Hi again! I’ve just gotten back from holiday in the Orkney Islands above the top of Scotland; so over the next few weeks, I’m going to post about some of my favourite places and walks in these gorgeous islands.
Orkney is home to an incredibly diverse array of flora and fauna, including puffins, the rare primula scotica flower which only exists in specific areas of Scotland, as well as, currently, a pair of white-tailed sea eagles on the island of Hoy (one of the largest breeds of eagle in the world, often likened to a “flying barn door”!). It’s also home to what I reckon is some of the most beautiful coastline scenery in the UK, as well as some of the most important evidence of neolithic life; there are plenty of chambered cairns to explore plus larger archaeological sites like the well-known Skara Brae, a neolithic village; and the Ring of Brodgar, a stone circle, the area beside which is currently being excavated due to more discoveries (which I’ll talk about more in a sec!). I have a lot to say about it as a community, too- but I figure I’ll focus on specific parts, and let these and the photos do the talking!
While I was there I kept an observational diary of my surroundings, so I’ll include a couple of my favourite descriptions from that in my posts too.
#1: The Ring Of Brodgar
“There are a million (and have been a million more) different sunsets. They paint the sky and the landscape a multitude of searingly bright colours that you would previously only have assigned to very specific and man-made things; although, you realise, man must’ve gotten the idea from somewhere. There has been, on the third or fourth night here, a display of day-glo raspberry and peach and tangerine, cobalt blue still lingering high above to begin with until the warm, bright colours begin to soak that up and seep into the blue. Tonight, the last, it’s apricot, and turkish delight- framed by parma violet clouds floating closer and closer to the sun on a fast wind, as moths drawn to a lightbulb. The sun sinks below a low, distant hill, and egg-yolk yellow and white-gold add their own particular hues to the slowly developing mixture. The colours change continuously; imperceptible if you keep looking, but easy to document if, say, you keep darting your eyes away to scribble words on paper. The turkish delight deepens to coral; begins to follow the sun down the plughole.”
One of the most popular sites to visit on the island due to its historical and archaeological value, the Ring of Brodgar is a circle of imposing standing stones, dating from the 3rd millenium BC. The stones cut jagged, dramatic shapes against the low, rolling skyline, set amongst heather and surrounded on three sides by the Loch of Stenness. There’s something very peaceful about the stones- they’ve been there for thousands of years, being slowly worn by the harsh winter weather; changing almost imperceptibly. Here, as well as many other places on the islands, has inspired the designs of a lot of beautiful local art and jewellery.
We visited towards the end of the evening, after the coach loads had departed. It’s a beautiful spot to watch one of Orkney’s famous sunsets from- and just for the record, the second photograph above demonstrates pretty much the darkest it gets in Orkney during the summer months. I walked around the circle and sketched the shape of each of the stones; studying them, it’s as if they each have their own personality, worn in over the centuries.