“The Ring of Brodgar is the finest known truly circular late Neolithic or early Bronze Age stone ring and a later expression of the spirit which gave rise to Maeshowe, Stenness and Skara Brae.”

Earlier this year a BBC TV series called Britain’s Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney fronted by Neil Oliver argued convincingly that Orkney was an extremely important cultural centre in neolithic times and that the construction of stone circles originated in Orkney, spreading south from there – eventually to produce Stonehenge.

Unfortunately the path directly round the outside of the Ring was undergoing maintenance when we visited so it was not showing its best appearance. And as you can see we were not the only visitors:-

I did try to get a photo without other people in it:-

Ring of Brodgar from perimeter:-

You’re absolutely tripping over ancient man-made structures in the Stenness area. This mound, by the shores of the Loch of Stenness and not far from the Ring (from where this photo was taken) is called Salt Knowe. The hills in the background are on Hoy:-

Ring from perimeter path, Loch of Harray in the background:-

Single stone, with man to show scale, part of Loch of Harray behind. You can easily see wear to the grass around the stone, emphasising the need for maintenance:-

Looking Towards Ness of Brodgar and Maeshowe from Ring of Brodgar. Loch of Harray to left of Ness of Brodgar, Loch of Stenness to right, Maeshowe just to left of middle of photo:-

One hundred years ago today, on 9^th July, 1917, just before midnight, HMS Vanguard, a St Vincent class dreadnought, suddenly blew up while at anchor in Scapa Flow, Orkney. 843 of the 845 men on board died.

This memorial to the ship and those who died in the explosion lies in the Royal Naval Cemetery at Lyness on the island of Hoy, Orkney, which we visited on our recent visit there.

This is what the information board named as structure 8. Looking back towards Stones of Stenness with Hoy in distance to right:-

A neolithic house overlooking Loch of Harray:-

House 6 has very little left bar a few stones:-

Whether this is a standing stone or a remnant of a house I can’t say. Its surroundings don’t seem to have been excavated. Bottom of Loch of Harray behind with Maeshowe in distance above top of stone:-

View of Barnhouse Village looking south-west, Stones of Stenness in background with Hoy in right distance:-

Stitch of village from south-west. Loch of Harray and Ness of Brodgar behind:-

The piece of land on which the Stones of Stenness lie contains other neolithic remnants.

One is the Watchstone (which used to have a companion Odin Stone which was destroyed in 1814 by the leaseholder of the land.)

The Watchstone from path round Stones of Stenness, Ness of Brodgar behind:-

The Watchstone and Ness of Brodgar, Loch of Stenness to left, Loch of Harray to right:-

The Watchstone, looking over the Loch of Stenness, Hoy in distance:-

Two hundred yards or so north east of the Stones of Stenness are the remains of a neolithic settlement called Barnhouse Village – of which more later. This photo taken from the edge of the village over the bottom of the Loch of Harray shows how close Maeshowe is (green mound just to right of centre of picture.)

Looking northwest over the Loch of Harray from Barnhouse Village you can also easily see the Ring of Brodgar:-

Closer view of Ring of Brodgar from Barnhouse Village:-