THE ORKNEY ISLANDS

                         Islands Way North of Scotland

It is said that in the 15^th century a Dutchman by the name of John O’ Groot, with two brothers, would ferry people to the islands for a small fee of 4d. Eventually this 4d became known as a Groat and I guess you could say the first ferry system to the Orkneys was born. 

It seems Mr. Groot had seven sons and to stop arguments of who would sit at the head of the table he designed an octagon table. Then he built a house with eight sides with eight doors so everyone could enter the house at the same time.

The octagon-shaped gift shop was at the end of the pier. We had but a five-minute wait for the ferry and it started to rain just as we boarded. It was windy and cold so we sat in the cabin for the 45-min ferry crossing. Fortunately the seas were calm.     

Six or seven Orkney buses were waiting for us as we disembarked the ferry as there were a lot of other people on the ferry besides our small group. It stopped raining and was a beautiful day. Island tourism was so well organized that we never saw another group until the very end when we got back to Kirkwall to board the ferry back to the mainland!

We were told, “There are 20,000 people living in the Orkneys, 100,000 head of cattle and sheep and very few trees. Fishing, silver jewelry, and North Sea oil are our major industries.”

            We rode over hilly grass-covered barren landscapes. Long  rows of plastic covered baled hay were seen frequently. Farm plots were large. Winters are not as severe as one would think because of the Gulf Stream. However, the winds are harsh and strong.

Our guide said, “The Orkneys have not always been part of Britain, but were part of Norway until 1460. In that year Norway’s King Christian’s daughter married James II of Scotland and the Orkney Islands was her dowry. Orkney’s 70 islands cover 376 square miles and have a coastline of 600 miles. Only 20 islands are inhabited.”

Crossing over what looked like a long causeway it was explained, “These are called Churchill Barriers. During W W II Churchill ordered Scapa Flow, a key anchorage in both world wars for the Royal Navy, blocked off to keep out German submarines. Hundreds of Italian POWs helped build the four barriers connecting five islands. The concrete blocks look like they are placed helter skelter, but they are not. Some are five-ton concrete blocks and others are 10-ton. They are placed on an angle so that rough high seas do not wash out the road on top of the barrier. The 66,000 concrete blocks were made in Orkney

One night during the war a German U boat managed to slip though the barriers at midnight and  sink 53 of  the 74 British ships at anchor before escaping. The Royal Oak had been left behind to protect the radar station. She was torpedoed and sunk in 1939 with 830 of her 1200 crew aboard. Her hull is still visible.

At the end of W W I the German High Seas fleet was interned at Scapa Flow pending armistice negotiations. On June 21, 1919 Admiral von Reuter gave the command for seventy German battleships, cruisers, and destroyers to be scuttled rather than fall into British hands. They are still at the bottom and now are a source of interest to scuba divers from all over the world.

We stopped mid morning for tea and shortbread at a little café. It was a delightful stop. The local beer is called Dark Island and at lunch it was reported that it was a good brew. It seems the original distiller was a minister and bootlegger.