Jim Henry OnLine

Scotland activities on 3 December Orkney Islands Stromness, Kirkwall, Standing Stones of Stenness Ring of Brogar Maes Howe Chambered Cairn

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The ferry at morning sunlight in Stromness. This is the ferry, St. Ola, that goes from Scrabster, on the Scotland mainland, to Stromness, on the "Mainland" island of Orkney. This is the scene we saw as we set out this day on our sightseeing.

Stromness port at early morning.

Click here to see Standing Stones at Stenness	Click here to see MORE Stones at Stenness

Click here to see Maes Howe Chambered Cairn

Click here to see Ring of Brogar Standing Stones

Here is Moggie on her seal watch. The seal is barely visible on the dark rock just beyond the point of land to the right of Moggie's head.

The seal playing on the rock. We saw it go in the water, swim around a bit and then climb back up on the rock, possibly to enjoy the sun.

Entering into Kirkwall, the largest town on Mainland Orkney, there is an otter crossing on the highway. More people, such as us, see the sign than see the otters.

The pier and part of the town of Kirkwall, Mainland Orkney.

Jim at Tenabie's Cafe in Kirkwall. The main purpose in this picture is to convey the layer theory of dressing for warmth. Jim has on 5 observable layers here. 1. blue polypro thermal underwear 2. paisley shirt 3. dark blue sweater 4. blue polarite L.L.Bean jacket 5. general purpose over everything jacket The conditions of the day were cold (40 deg-F) and windy and sometimes rainy a bit and once sleet and hail.

A sea view near Birsay.

"Dry stane dyke" or stone fence and the sea at the north end of Mainland Orkney.

Sun low in the sky at Birsay. The sun is always low in the sky in December in Orkney. But, of course, in the afternoon it gets even lower.

Surf and coast at Birsay, Orkney. At Birsay, there is a tidal island that can be reached only at low tide. On the island are some Pictish and Norse buildings. We got there at low tide and decided to explore the rocks rather than the buildings.

Closeup detail of one of the rocks at Birsay beach. Can you see why we were so interested in exploring them instead of the ruined buildings?

More of the rocks at Birsay.

The coast, sea, sky and cloud at Birsay.

Road sign drawing attention to itself.

Mog back at her seal watching station in the afternoon. She saw a seal swimming.

Round chruch at Orphir, on Orkney. It is one of the few round churches in Scotland. It is designed to be similar to the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Orphir is toward the southern end of the Mainland Island of Orkney. Received 28 April 2006; Good evening -   In the Daily Mail today, a correspondent replied to a letter posing the question how many round churches are there in Britain?  The correspondent advised that the Round Church Society cites 185 round tower churches but he did not mention the Scottish examples.  I have family connections with the island of Islay, one of the Inner Hebrides and in the main town of Bowmore there is a completely round church, built in 1767 and in use today.  I visited the island  for holidays as a child due to family connections (on both my mother and father's side) and was fascinated to see a round church; I was told that it was built in this way so that the devil had no corners in which to hide.    I decided to write to the Daily Mail to describe Bowmore Round Church and noted on the Church's website that it is one of two such churches in Scotland.  I then searched the internet to try and find the other one and came across your website and the photographs of the Round Church on Orkney.  I note that you say that it is the only round church in Scotland and thought I would just get in touch to tell you about the Round Church in Bowmore - website address is www.theroundchurch.org.uk Should you ever get the opportunity to visit Islay, it is a beautiful island, most famous for its 7 whisky distilleries, bird watching and a championship links golf course.   Best wishes from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, UK.   Irene L Oxborough

Another view of the Round Church of Orphir.

Jim and Moggie at the Round Church of Orphir.

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