In June this year were off up to Orkney again. We used the same ferry company, Pentland Ferries, but the boat was a newer one, the MV Alfred. (A couple of weeks after we got home the M S Alfred managed to ground itself on Swona island in the Firth. Lucky we missed that voyage.)

MV Alfred: Ferry from Gills Bay, Caithness, to St Margaret’s Hope in Orkney:-

Lighthouse on the island of Stroma in the Pentland Firth:-

Views at St Margaret’s Hope:-

Dunnet Head is the northernmost point of the Scottish mainland and hence of Britain.

Dunnet Head from distance, from a side road off the A 836:-

Cliffs at Dunnet Head:-

Lighthouse, Dunnet Head:-

Dunnet Head Lighthouse Foghorn, island of Hoy in background:-

Lighthouse and foghorn:-

Lighthouse Information Board:-

Lighthouse and Pentland Firth:-

Cliffs again:-

Hoy from Dunnet Head:-

Pentland Firth and Hoy from Dunnet Head:-

The Old Man of Hoy is just visible in this zoom (and in the previous photo if you squint a bit):-

So farewell, then Orkney. The Castle of Mey, formerly owned by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, was so close to where we made landfall on the Scottish mainland once more that it made sense to visit. It is, after all, far too far for a day trip.

Castle from car park:-

Going through the gate seen in the above photo leads to the side of the castle. The castle’s garden is behind you in this view:-

Front view of castle:-

I had taken the rear view before entering the castle proper. No photos were allowed inside:-

Castle from garden:-

Pentland Firth and Hoy from the castle’s garden:-

I took this to try to capture an image of the Old Man of Hoy. A telescope on the elevated platform the previous photo was taken from showed it, just, but it was too misty without sufficient magnification:-

This is Dunnet Head – the northernmost part of the Scottish mainland, from the car park at the Castle of Mey. (I managed to capture a bird in flight as well):-

The main World War 2 defence artillery battery for the Sound of Hoy was the Ness Battery. A few buildings remain. They have that vaguely Deco style of a lot of World War 2 fortifications. We missed the guided tour so didn’t get the full access. We’d only gone out for an evening stroll.

Shore Battery. Atlantic/Pentland Firth beyond:-

Graemsay and Hoy from Ness Battery:-

Island of Stroma, Pentland Firth. Stroma is not part of Orkney proper but lies to the south:-

A fortification on Flotta, Orkney. Hard to tell at the distance; it may have been from the Great War, World War 2 or both:-

Fortifications on South Ronaldsay, Orkney. World War 2 vintage:-

More Fortifications on South Ronaldsay. Artillery emplacements. These are almost Art Deco in style:-

In the last episode of Waldemar Januszcak‘s excellent television series on the mostly unheralded art of the Dark Ages, where he covered the Vikings, the Carolingians and The Anglo-Saxons, he referred to Lindisfarne (Holy Island) as being off the North coast of Britain.

Tut-tut, Waldemar. That would make it in the Pentland Firth/Atlantic!

Lindisfarne is actually barely two-thirds of the way up Britain.

It is, however, off the North-East coast of England.