While we were on Orkney on holiday recently we decided to revisit the island of Birsay as the last time we were there we had just stepped foot on it when the heavens opened and we were blasted with horizontal torrential rain – with not one bit of cover, so we just stood there and got soaked to the skin. It took three days for our clothes to dry out! The photo above is of mainland Orkney from Birsay, as you can see the landscape is unusual with no trees to be seen.

When I took the photo below I made sure that I was at least six feet from the edge of the cliff, thinking to myself that if I did trip I wouldn’t be likely to skid more than that, but the day after we left Orkney it was on the news that some poor soul did fall off one of the cliffs, no doubt as he was trying to get a good photo! He died of course as the cliffs in Orkney are among the highest in the UK – if not the highest.

The reason why we went to what is correctly called the Brough of Birsay was to see the Pictish, Norse and medieval remains there. It’s really just the outlines of the buildings that you can see but it’s all very picturesque with the drifts of Thrift flowers in bloom.

It was incredibly busy this time. Birsay is a tidal island so you have to wait until the water has drained away before you can cross over on a causeway – by foot of course. At least the first time we went there we had the entire island to ourselves.

We walked up to the lighthouse which is where I took the photo of the cliffs and from there you can get a good view of the cliffs at Marwick Head – in the photo below.

I’m glad we managed to see the place in sunshine this time.