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Monday 5 November 2012

An island wander....



I took these photos a couple of weeks ago during some lovely Autumn sunshine.  So above - some ruined crofts up above Western Horn. Across the water is the town of Stromness.

As you can see - Stromness nestles in the shelter of the hill (known as Brinkies Brae) and is largely sheltered from the worst of the West wind.  The town grew up around the shelter of the harbour. You can see the blue and white of the "Hamnavoe" ferry which runs between Stromness and Scrabster in the North of Scotland.


Here is the old school - the small white building on the right. It closed about quite a few years ago and the children now go across on the ferry to the school in Stromness. To the left of the school is the old School House where the teacher used to live.


This is looking back to Sandside and Hoy High.....


And here is the 4.15 pm ferry on it's way to the Graemsay pier....


This is the ruined croft of Dean, looking towards the Hoy Hills.....


And this is looking out West before the sun sinks behind the Hoy Hills....


The other lighthouse on Graemsay, Hoy Low, with a view towards the cairn (pile of stones) at the top  Black Craig


There's a renewable energy test centre just off Black Craig and the wave power "sea snake" (proper name Pelamis) can be seen working out just off the shore.  It's still very experimental but apparently does make some electricity!


And on the way back, out East are two naval ships. They were doing various exercises off the West coast of Scotland then came into Scapa Flow to dive the various wrecks as recreation after the exercise.


And then back down the road to Sandside Bay, looking towards Garson


Then home in time for Cake!


9 comments:

  1. lanscapes are so nice under the sun , cakes seems yummy :)

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    1. Yes a wee bit of sun makes all the difference! And though I says so myself - the cake WAS yummy! (Half in the freezer so I'm not so glutinous as it appears....)

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  2. Greetings from Papay - I always enjoy reading your posts, Amanda x

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    1. OOh greetings over there on Papay! I'm always interested in life on Papay too. The island is a wee bit bigger than Graemsay, but you seem to have quite a lot more folk living there. And lots of lovely arty things going on too :-)

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  3. Darn, now you've gone and made me feel like baking. When I should be working. And going for a walk. And having a nap because I stayed up too late waiting for Obama's victory speech and now am cranky. Think I'll take some butter out of the fridge to soften up, anyway, and make some cookies. You are a very bad influence! Or good ... at least, that's what my household will think when the cookies come out of the oven.

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    1. Well hello there. Sorry to distract you from work and walking. But I'm sure you are happy to have stayed up for the victory speech. I know most of Europe is glad too :-) OOOh what did you bake??? I'm just experimenting with cookies - some recipes are good, some not working so well. Ah well - practice makes perfect :-)

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  4. I guess that Graemsay children now sometimes have perfect excuses for missing school - the ferry didn't arrive, there was a gale force storm or there were German U boats in the area!

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    1. Tee hee! Surprisingly the boat goes most days even in bad weather, but if the direction of the wind is bad for the pier then the wee primary school children stay home. Though J, who is 16 and taller than most adults on the island is happy to brave the high seas.

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  5. Oo,I missed this one, Sian. A lovely tour and it took me right back to my amazing visit in April, complete with cake. :-)

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