Ah!!! Hoy * Sixtyexpress

A typical summers day in Scotland, 13 degrees, blowing a gale,rain, and feels like 3 degrees.

Have you dressed warmly, waterproof shoes, hat and possibly gloves ? Lets go then. The bus is waiting and off we go to the ferry to Hoy. Hoy means high in old Norse. It is the second biggest island in the Orkney group and was important for the British navy in both wars.

Here is your first stop, the Dwarfie Stane .Now I believe it is 5000BC and is a huge sandstone block which has been hollowed out as a tomb. There are breeding sea eagles nesting here after 145 years..

The scenery is spectacular.

Scapa Flow exhibition.

I bet you have never heard of Scapa Flow. It’s not actually a flow of anything but a deep harbour. It was used by the navy in both wars. In the first war ( the Great War), the main warships were stationed here.It saw merchant ships leave to carry supples to and from Russia through the Artic, the first plane to land on a ship and warships leave on missions. At the end of the war, it saw the German fleet brought in to surrender and then scuppered by their captains at the order of the Commander rather than the ships, possibly ,be divided between the allies.

Since that time, salvage operations have been gradually lifting these and only 7 of the 52 remain.

Moving on a few years to World War 2. Again the Navy used the Scapa as a base. A very daring German submarine captain negotiated the old merchant block ships used to reduce the accessibility of the harbour.

He sank the Royal Oak. There were over 1000 men and boys on board. Of the 169 boys between 14-18 years 129 were killed. 834 of the 1000 died. This resulted in the construction of the Churchill Barriers.

Still on a maritime theme, next stop the Longhorn Lifeboat Museum. The lifeboat here could be used but has been replaced a more modern model. The work of these volunteers has saved many lives ( over 700 with the display boat) at great expense to the community , in fact one lifeboat was lost with all hands.

Check out the wind on the water.

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Don’t panic, only two more stops.

Here you are at Harkness Barracks and Tower. Man the cannons. The Americans are coming. It’s the War of Independence. If you capture a ship, you will get a share of the loot. Climb up the Martello Tower which is the same as Pinchgut in Sydney. It is completely enclosed with water collected from the roof and smoke was also channeled up through the walls. Keep watch out for the ships secure in the knowledge you just look like those other towers and unable to do much damage. A sad mistake you Americans.