Orkney Part 7

Brough of Birsay and St. Magnus Way: Birsay to Dounby

In which Lis visits a tidal island and Tzip2 checks out a viking sauna

The previous day was very very very wet, so I decided to delay my next walk and go sightseeing instead. I visited the Stones of Stenness and Maeshowe, and got exceedingly wet and chilled.

The Stones of Stenness are a very old set of standing stones (predating Stonehenge by hundreds of years), and nearby is a neolithic village that was likely associated with this monument.

Maeshowe is a particularly interesting chambered cairn (about 5000 years old) that also has fascinating Norse runes carved inside – graffiti from people sheltering inside during a storm. If you’re wondering what the graffiti says, just consult your local pub bathroom, and the messages are fairly similar.

I made an early start the next to catch low tide do I could cross the causeway to the Brough of Birsay. It’s a tidal island that was settled by the Picts and then the Norse, and also has ruins of a church and monastery from the 12th century.

Ruins from a viking manor include a drainage system.

They also had a steam room (Tzip2 checks out the facilities.)

Don’t wait too long to leave and get caught by the tide!

Now on to the Birsay to Dounby section of the St. Magnus Way! This section followed the coast at first, but then was mainly through farmland.

These cows were very interested in me, for some reason.

I met another friend who accompanied me for a brief spell.

This section of the trail was a disaster, but I made it, and it soon got better.

After I completed my walk that day, Margaret offered to bring me to Skara Brae (and Skaill House, the home of the laird on whose land Skara Brae was discovered, where her grandfather had been gardener when she was little.) Then she brought me to see the Rings of Brodgar, which I hadn’t gone to see the previous day. These were a couple of the sites I really wanted to see before leaving Orkney. Thanks, Margaret!