Kirkwall

The Royal Burgh of Kirkwall to be precise. It’s the county town of Orkney and has one of the most magnificent cathedrals I have ever seen.


It’s crucifix form and built of red and yellow sandstone, layered into an intriguing pattern. Building commenced in 1137 and has continued for the last 800 years. Work is still being done today, mostly refurbishment of the more weathered parts.

It is dedicated to St Magnus who was a peaceful sort of guy and refused to fight, preferring to stand and say prayers whilst the fighting happened around him. Eventually he became Earl of part of Orkney and his cousin Haken was Earl of the other part. Bad feeling arose, I suppose they both wanted all of it, and it ended with Haken insisting his cook kill Magnus. The cook was nervous but Magnus was nice about it and asked him to use the axe on his head and also forgave the cook before dying. Magnus,s bones are now lying behind an inscribed stone in one of the massive church pillars.

The story is related in the Orkneyinga Saga. Every year we get here I intend to read more of the Saga. There is a short film showing in the Saga centre and after watching it for the fourth time I still can’t get my head round it. It’s all Norse names and Earl this and Earl that and I get so confused I can’t make out who’s killing who to get what, where! So I’ve finally admitted defeat.

Anyway back to the cathedral. It is owned by Orkney Island Council (OIC) not The Church. It was King James lll of Scotland who assigned it to the people of Kirkwall in 1488 and since then only one attempt to annexe it has been made. It was the government who tried to claim it on behalf of the Crown, but the parishioners played up merry hell and the council successfully asserted it’s claim and it’s now back where it belongs.

It’s a big beautiful building but once you get inside it’s a bit like the Tardis. The massive columns tower high into the heavens of the nave and the space is enormous. It really is worth visiting. There are also a lot of historical items spanning 800 years. It would take a week to look at them all.

The belfry has only 3 bells which are rung by one person. Three ropes, 2 hands and one foot. It’s called clocking and has Norse links and is also thought to be unique in the UK.

There are also the remains of The Earl’s Palace and The Bishop’s Palace nearby but I really can’t remember which Earl and which Bishop. There are so many of them and it all gets very confusing. Nevertheless they are worth visiting even if only for the views of Kirkwall and the surrounding countryside, from the top of the towers.

On wet days we have been visiting the museum. It’s really great and has been set out as a time line using rooms. So, room one is the Stone Age, all 3 parts, old, middle and new. Then it’s the Picts, the Vikings and so on ending with the 20th century. Again, you need a week of wet weather to see it all, lucky for us we’ve only been getting a couple of wet days a week, so it’s somewhere we keep going back to.


The harbour is busy with ferries to the other islands and the cruise ships. Last week there were two cruise ships in, they have to anchor offshore and boat the passengers across, and the population suddenly rose by 6000! The town centre was closed to traffic and the shopkeepers got ready to do business.
We left and bolted back to our spot at Skaill Bay.

The town centre is tiny with one main road running through it. It’s narrow and paved and has one way traffic. It also has one tree, a very old and poorly Sycamore. The trunk has a hole in one side that a small child fits into and we can’t help wondering if they’re going to fill it with fibre glass like the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest.

Most of the shops are jewellers and craft shops with goods mostly produced in Orkney. By the way Orkney refers to all the islands, the island we stay on is called Mainland. There are a lot of artists here and all are inspired by the landscape, the seascape, the weather, the light and the peace.
It really is beautiful and atmospheric. The light here is excellent, kind of translucent and indescribable but does make you want to take a photo or paint or something. I can understand why artists want to live here. The sky is also big and wide and interesting. There is always something happening, rain or wind blowing interesting cloud formations across and beautiful sunsets (we’ve not managed to get up for the sun rises).


There is no motorway noise, no industrial noise, no pollution and very few people. The population is 20,000 and I think most of them are either on holiday somewhere else or at work. We see very few people on the beaches, mind you it’s pretty cold this year, but even on good days there are very few at the coast.

I’m finding it very difficult to write about because a lot of our time is spent watching the wildlife, the sea, strolling along the beaches looking for Groatie buckies (cowrie shells) and visiting friends so anyone reading this please let me have your thoughts on the content.