Round Britain Cruise - Orkney Page One - Prehistory

Tuesday August 20th 2013 morning

Another early rising: at 0615. We drove through Kirkwall, the 'Capital City' of Orkney, with 7,000 inhabitants from the cruise harbour, 2 miles out but the locals also provide a free shuttle bus. It was quite a long way to Skara Brae & we saw a lot of bleak open country with cattle & sheep but very few trees, some of those much bent over by the wind, although it rarely goes below freezing here. Skara Brae, a prehistoric village, was all it is cracked up to be but you need to go their official web site on this link for full details.

The site is to the left

Smaller early houses

A succession of stone-built houses with stone furniture, 5,100 years old.

By the Visitors' Centre is a reconstruction of two houses.

The Reconstruction

Main chamber

The "High Street" Tunnel

On the same estate is Skeill House, which is a bit like Calke Abbey, being full of 400 years of knick-knacks, quite small & liveable if it was not on Orkney!

Skaill House	Early Owners	Dining Room
Main Staircase	Drawing Room	Drawing Room other way
Skaill House Courtyard	"State" bedroom	Military junk

Then, to the Brodgar Stone Circle, newer & quite impressive, built about 4,000-4,500 year ago, after which was another older & smaller stone circle, the Stones of Stenness.

Brodgar Stone Circle		Should be 60 stones
Avis shows the size		It is surrounded by a ditch
Stenness Stones	They were once a complete circle.	We did not stop at the next archaeological site, as it is new, World famous & the whole World was parked there, watching the proceedings from grandstands but were driven back to Kirkwall. Incidentally, one of Ken's heros, the composer Peter Maxwell-Davies (now Master of the Queen's Music) lives on Hoy (top panorama).

Port 1 - Dublin

Port 2 - Belfast

Port 3 - Ullapool

Port 5 - Invergordon

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