A visit to the UK in 2009

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A Shetland on Orkney

I didn't expect such a gentle and fertile landscape

Ruined cottages were to be expected ...

... but not nestled in fields of buttercups ...

… nor with benign skies, hills and oceans in view.

The amazingly flat rocks have both mundane uses ...

... and mysterious ones.

The Standing Stones of Stenness - a very suitable place to be alone, at the Summer Solstice

About 5-6 meters tall ...

incredibly thin ...

and standing here since about 4500BC.

Nearby Barnhouse was found only a few years ago.

Far less famous than Skara Brae, but much more intriguing.

There are very likely many more of these yet to be found.

The welcoming harbours, fertile land and plentiful, easy building materials have attracted settlers for over 6000 years

The famous covered passage at Skara Brae.

Skara Brae is now neat, protected and inaccessible. All very necessary, but somehow sanitising

The clever stonework is still impressive though.

And the design and purpose of some of the features is still tantalisingly inexplicable

The original "feature wall".

They built in several fancy features like the huge wafers lining doorways ...

... handy alcoves and bed niches ...

... curious dividers along the passage, ...

... and all sorts of clever slopes and curves in the walls themselves.

Again, not quite the harsh shoreline I expected.

Fortunately many farmers allow the wildflowers to remain.

As a result, many of the wild birds can thrive.

Stromness is one of two towns on this island. And very pretty it is too

The colours and contours are a treat.

Almost every "fact" on this plaque is wrong, and a fine example of clever self-promotion by the wily Eliza, who made a very good living from retelling her story

Stromness harbour.

My B & B in the Orkneys.

When everything is grey or green, I guess a little colour can startle

I met the elderly owner of this house, out walking his dog. "We're both too old for this farming life."

Clouds boiling over the channel between this island and that of Hoy.

This mute swan paraded her chain of cygnets up and down, apparently waiting for photographers.

The Ring of Brodgar.

Smaller stones than Stenness, but the location and the 2m deep ditch are very impressive

Marsh orchid.

This preserved farmhouse room has many of the features seen in Skara Brae

I'm a lichen lover

Great geology at Brough of Birsay.

Rock pools too

And more rocks

More geology (and nice flowers).

The remains of a Pictish (and then Viking) settlement.

They knew how to select a view.

I just love these walls.

And the flowers of course.

A pair of fulmars, whose numbers have returned to safe levels. They are related to the albatross, not seagulls, by the way

A fulmar colony, each nest with its own garden.

Vertical geology.

Puffins at last!

Gotta love them

Great at putting on a show

And a bow for the audience.

Geology in (very slow) action

Puffins are surprisingly small

The North Atlantic

The Western edge of the Orkneys

A tatter flag, to measure possible wind damage by the amount that it, well, tatters. Simple, but effective!

Entrance to historic Happy Valley

Happy Valley House.

Happy Valley meadow and wood

And nobody steals it!

Entrance tunnel into Cuween cairn.

Inside Cuween cairn (3000 BC), showing stunning stonework, entry tunnel, my shadow, and the communal torch

Hot soup on an Orkney hilltop at 8.30 pm

A lovely walk home after an evening spent learning navigation. Hard to believe it was 10 pm!

Not quite a sunset, but a spectacular sight to end my Orkney holiday

Stromness harbour again.

Island of Hoy

7am, and the sun came out just as we passed the last of the islands.