At the beginning of June we had a week’s holiday on Orkney, the first time either of us had visited those islands. Even the trip over on the ferry was quite exciting, although as usual whenever I’m on ‘wild’ water it was a flat calm! It was also a wee bit misty.

Stroma in the photo below is one of the islands between Caithness and Orkney.

Below is a photo of Stroma cliffs and some abandoned houses.

Stroma lighthouse is now automated as are all of our lighthouses nowadays.

You can still clearly see the fortifications that were built on the Orkney island of South Ronaldsay below. Orkney was a very busy place during World Wars 1 and 2 due to its strategic position and relatively safe anchorage in Scapa Flow. It wasn’t a popular posting for the sailors and soldiers but the women of the islands were glad to see them, it was their passport off to somewhere ‘more exciting’ for many of them as they married servicemen!

The ferry gets in at Saint Margaret’s Hope, the third largest settlement in Orkney and before you know it you’re off and driving across various islands via causeways. We were on the road to Stromness and our holiday rental cottage.