Woodswell Blog
Our plan today was to drive around Loch Ness. We stopped by RSPB Loch Ruthven but didn’t do any bird watching. I was a nasty grey day and it was a good hike to the hide, so we took so pictures of the area and moved on. We continued driving as close to the south Read More …
We stayed in Inverness another night and drove out to Culloden Battlefield in the rain. The museum is fascinating but for the most part they do not allow photographs. I watched a demonstration on how to make and wear a kilt with no sewing needed (tip – a lot of pleating and a good belt). Read More …
Across the street from the Granite House, some sparrows were making a feast on some decorative grasses first thing in the morning: On the way to Portmahomack, we stopped by the Tarbat Discovery Centre. Next to the car park there is a World War II Dummy Concrete Practice Torpedo: And a baptismal well, said to Read More …
First thing today we headed to Cairn O’Get. The parking area was next to Loch Watenan. Across the loch I spotted a harrier or falcon type bird and took some pictures of it – but with the very grey day and the distance, none allows identification: Cairn O’Get is a fair hike on rough, wet, Read More …
This morning we took the ferry back to Scrabster and headed to the mainland. Our last view of Stromness: After getting off the ferry we drove out to Dunnet Head: Although the headland is famed for puffins, they had already left for this year. We did get a good look at the lighthouse there, with Read More …
The Ness of Brodgar is contains a number of houses and is closely associated with many of the sites of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney which was inscribed as a World Heritage site in December 1999. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ness_of_Brodgar#World_Heritage_status [The Wikipedia article has a good discussion of the various structures that have been excavated.]) The day we Read More …
The next day was mostly on our own. First, we visited RSPB Cottacscarth: The Eddie Balfour hen harrier hide was a very nice place to watch for birds, with some great decoration by school children: Then we visited RSPB Birsay Moors which is located just over a hill with a wind turbine on it: As Read More …
“The Ring of Brodgar is the finest known truly circular late Neolithic or early Bronze Age stone ring and a later expression of the spirit which gave rise to Maeshowe, Stenness and Skara Brae.” Nomination of The Heart of Neolithic Orkney for inclusion in the World Heritage List http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/brodgar/ The bus also stopped at the Read More …
After arriving at Stromness, we stopped in at our hotel, the Merkister, where they recommended going to the Kirkwell Visitors Center to see about tours and tickets for some of the places we wanted to see. We arrived just in time to catch a coach (bus) tour of many of the top points across the Read More …
The ferry from Scrabster, just north of Thurso, was really fun. Even though the day was slightly rainy, cool, and foggy, the views were still great. Our first views of Hoy Island in the Orkney archipelago: Old Man of Hoy, sea stack: Views along the coast of Hoy: