East Mainland
Contents |
East Mainland
Introduction | Kirkwall | West Mainland | Stromness | East Mainland | South Ronaldsay | Hoy | Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre | Shapinsay | Eday | Sanday | Stronsay | Westray | Papa Westray | North Ronaldsay
Introduction to East Mainland
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The East Mainland is mainly agricultural land though, and it contains little of the amazing archaeological wealth of its western counterpart, there are some attractive fishing villages, fine coastal walks and many poignant reminders of Orkney's important wartime role.
Deerness
There is not much to see inland on the road running southeast from Kirkwall past the airport, but head on towards the Deerness Peninsula and you will be richly rewarded by a truly serene, gentle beauty. There are sandy bays, which make for very pleasant short walks and picnics (if you can find a sheltered spot), jutting cliffs and a great variety of birdlife. The peninsula makes the West Mainland seem like a mad, hectic whirl by comparison, and is one of the best places on the Mainland to 'get away from it all'.
When the weather's good, the view southwest from Sandside Bay to the Isle of Copinsay (an RSPB reserve) is glorious, and, as it emerges slowly and gracefully from the wild North Sea, is a perfect example of the whale-like properties that have been attributed to the Orkneys by the islands' most famous poet George Mackay Brown. There is a footpath following the coast from Sandside Bay to Mull Head (a Nature Reserve) and round the tip of the peninsula to the Covenanters Memorial (1679), a five-mile circular walk.
If you continue along the B9050, the road ends at The Gloup car park at Skaill Bay, from where it's a 200-yard walk to The Gloup, a dramatic collapsed sea cave, separated from the sea by a land bridge about 80 yards wide. The word comes from the Old Norse 'gluppa', meaning chasm, the local name for a blow-hole. A network of signposted footpaths covers the northeastern part of the peninsula and there are circular walks of between two and five miles which start from The Gloup car park. At the northeastern tip is Mull Head, a clifftop nature reserve which is home to guillemots, shags, fulmars, razorbills, terns and skuas.
On the south coast of East Mainland, near the northern end of the Churchill Barriers, is the old fishing village of St Mary's, once a busy little place but largely forgotten since the building of the causeways. To the east of the village is the Norwood Museum, which features the large and eclectic antique collection of local stonemason Norris Wood. Info - May-Sep Tue-Thu and Sun 1400-1700 and 1800-2000. Adult £3, children £1. Tel. 781217.
Sleeping and eating
The only place to stay or eat around here is the E Commodore Motel, Tel. 781319.
The Churchill Barriers
East Mainland is linked to a string of islands to the south by four causeways, known as the Churchill Barriers, built on the orders of Prime Minister Winston Churchill during the Second World War as anti-submarine barriers to protect the British Navy which was based in Scapa Flow at the time. His decision was prompted by the sinking of the battleship HMS Royal Oak in October 1939 by a German U-boat which had slipped between the old blockships, deliberately sunk during the First World War to protect Scapa Flow, and the shore. After the war, a road was built on top of the causeways, linking the islands of Lamb Holm, Glimps Holm, Burray and South Ronaldsay to Mainland.
On the island of Lamb Holm camps were built to accommodate the men working on the construction of the barriers, many of whom were Italian Prisoners of War. The camps have long since gone, but the Italians left behind the remarkable Italian Chapel, fittingly known as 'The Miracle of Camp 60'. It is difficult to believe that such a beautiful building could have been made using two Nissen huts, concrete and bits of scrap metal, and the chapel's enduring popularity with visitors is a tribute to the considerable artistic skill of the men involved. One of them, Domenico Chiochetti, returned in 1960 to restore the interior paintwork. Info - Open all year during daylight hours. Free.
Burray
On the island of Burray the road passes the Orkney Fossil and Vintage Centre, which houses a bizarre collection of old furniture, various relics and 350 million-year-old fish fossils found locally. There's also an archive room where you can browse through old books and photographs, and a coffee shop. Not really something to go out of your way for, but worth a look if it's raining. Info - Apr-Sep daily 1000-1800; Oct Wed-Sun 1030-1800. Adult £2.
Sleeping and eating
In Burray village, on the south coast of the island, there's B&B accommodation at E Vestlaybanks, Tel. 731305, vestlaybanks@btinternet.com, which also provides evening meals. Alternatively, you can eat at the Sands Motel, Tel. 731298.