wildfowl in winter. Ottersmay also be seen in this area,especially in the early morn-ing or late evening. Thesheltered banks here and atnearby Waulkmill Bay havemany interesting plants.

Waulkmill Bay is an attrac-tive shallow inlet with verydramatically weatheredsandstone rocks and a flatsandy beach. It can be avery pleasant place for a pic-nic, or a dip in the sea on afine day. This is one of thewarmer places to bathe inOrkney, due to the wide, flatexpanse of sand which heatsup on a sunny day and thusimparts a few degrees to thesea as the tide comes in.

Kirbister Loch is a goodtrout fishing loch and anexcellent place for wind-surfers. The landscape hereis much more agriculturaland there are many housesand farms dotted about.Orphir was important inNorse times and apart fromthe St Nicholas RoundKirk (HY334043) at the Bu,there are the remains of aNorse farm, with hall andwatermill, complete withlade.

The Orkney Islands Councilmaintains the OrkneyingaSaga Centre near the RoundKirk. This tells the story ofthe Norse Earls of Orkneyusing the Orkneyinga Sagaand an audiovisual display.The colourful tales are thusplaced in their historicalcontext. The many placeswith Viking connections inOrkney are highlighted.

The Earl’s Bu mentioned inthe Sagas was probablysomewhere in this vicinity.Excavations confirm theexistence of substantialruins, some of which areexposed near the graveyard.Earl Thorfinn the Mightymay have lived here and cer-tainly Earl Paul and his sonHaakon both did, at least forpart of the year. The build-

ings were probably con-structed from wood and turfon stone foundations.

The Round Kirk is thoughtto be the church built by EarlHaakon Paulson, to the planof the Church of the HolySepulchre, on his returnfrom Jerusalem about 1123,in atonement for the murderof Earl Magnus. Previouslyknown as the Girth House(ON Grid, sanctuary, orpeace), the church was

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St Nicholas Round Kirk was built around 1122 by Earl Haakon Paulson

Round Kirk - window in apse

The 1757 Kirk, now gone, beside the mostly-demolished Round Kirk

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ORPHIR (ON Orfjara, landjoined to an island at lowwater) forms the north shoreof Scapa Flow. While theparish may lack the spectac-ular archaeological sites andscenery of other parts ofOrkney, it still has much tooffer the visitor, includingbeaches, wildlife and histor-ical sites.

The A964 runs west fromKirkwall through Orphir,affording many fine viewsover Scapa Flow along theway. The first viewpoint isfrom Greenigoe (HY405075)from where oil tankers, andsometimes warships, as wellas the oil slick from HMSRoyal Oak, may be seen.During the two World Wars

there were often many shipsmoored in this great naturalharbour.

Hobbister RSPB Reserve(HY390065) lies on bothsides of the road. There isparking here and a pleasantwalk along the track whichleads to the Highland ParkDistillery’s peat cuttings.The Reserve offers finemoorland scenery withexpansive views of ScapaFlow. Hen Harriers, Merlin,Peregrine, Short-eared Owlsand Red-throated Divers allfrequent the area.

The low cliffs facing ScapaFlow are a good vantagepoint from which to view

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Panoramic view of Scapa Flow from Hobbister

Loch of Kirbister

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Orfjara refers to, is tidal andmakes the Bay of Houton anexcellent harbour.

The Hall of Clestrain (ONKlett-strond, rocky beach)was built about 1769 byPatrick Honeyman ofGraemsay. The estate factorwas the Stromness mer-chant, John Rae, whobecame the local agent forthe Hudson’s Bay Company.His fourth son, John, thefamous Arctic explorer, wasborn here in 1813.

Rae discovered the last linkin the Northwest Passageand established what hadhappened to the FranklinExpedition (the BritishNaval Expedition led by SirJohn Franklin in 1845), butwas condemned by theestablishment for reportingthat the survivors of thisExpedition had resorted tocannibalism.

The house is in classicalstyle with pavilions, frontsteps and has three floors,but is unusual in beingsquare. It is approached by afine driveway which leads to

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Waulkmill has a fine sandy beach

Winter dawn over Scapa Flow and Houton

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Kirbister Loch on an icy winter morning

largely demolished in 1757,to build a new church, itselfnow long gone.

Recently a 10th century verti-cal-axis watermill was dis-covered next to the churchyard here. The lade, wheelchamber and tail-race are allstill lined with stones. Thistype of mill was common inOrkney and Shetland untilrecent times. The Click Mill(HY326228), near Dounbyis a restored 19th centuryexample. An extensive mid-den deposit here containedmuch domestic refuse,including fish bones fromCod very much larger thanthose caught locally todayand a runic inscription on acattle rib. Much remains tobe discovered at this inter-esting site.

While Paul Haakonson wasstill Earl, Sweyn Asleifsonmade a dramatic escapethrough a window here, aftermurdering Sweyn Briosteip.This happened at Yule whenthe Earls usually invitedmany people to the hall tojoin in the celebrations. He

made his escape to AurridaFirth and then via Damsay toBishop William in Egilsay.

Another story shows howIceland and Orkney were inclose communication in the11th century. Earl Sigurdwas hearing the story of theburning of Njal and his fam-ily in Iceland from GunnarLambison, who when askedhow they bore the burning,said that one of them hadgiven way to tears. Kari, afriend of Njal’s who had justarrived from Iceland, onhearing this drew his swordand beheaded Gunnar.Blood flew all over the Earl,who ordered Kari killed, butno one would do the deed. Itwas decided that he had onlydone what he had the right todo.

Houton takes its name fromthe nearby headland (ONHofud), and is the departurepoint of the ferry to Hoy andFlotta, as well as for the oilterminal workers at Flotta.The ferry Hoy Head doesseveral return trips per dayand passengers with cars

should make reservations inadvance to ensure there is aspace for their car. Tel(01856) 811397.

The Vikings called HoutonBay “Medallandshofn”, andthe bay is indeed well shel-tered, with a shore very suit-able for pulling up ships. Inlate 1263, King HaakonHaakonson beached his shipKristsudin at Houton, alongwith the rest of his batteredfleet after the disastrousforay to the Clyde. Thelargest vessel yet built by theNorse, she was said to havebeen a 37-sesser (bench)ship, which implies a crewof at least 100 men. TheHolm of Houton (ONOrfirisey, the island which

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German High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow on 28 May 1919, with the WWI Houton flying boat base in the foreground - from Midland Hill

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Hoy Hills and the Bring Deeps from Scorra Dale

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photographer Tom Kent cap-tured in late 1918 of theGerman Fleet at anchorcomes easily to mind.

There is another goodpanoramic view over ScapaFlow from Houton Head.The Barrel of Butter is sonamed because its ownerhad to pay the Earl a barrelof butter in skat. It looksremarkably like a submarinefrom here and was onceshelled by the British Navy!

On a good clear day theclimb to the top of the WardHill (ON Varda, beacon orcairn, HY335080, 268m) iswell worth the effort. Theview is complimentary tothat from Wideford Hill andtakes in the whole of ScapaFlow and Hoy, as well asStromness and much of theWest Mainland. At midsum-mer the sun sets over theBay of Skaill from here.From below the Ward Hillpeat tracks lead to Bigswelland Ireland in Stenness. Inthis area many of the moor-land species birds and plantsmay be seen.

Wild flowers The roadsidesof Hobbister Brae are amongthe best places in Orkney tosee Primroses, or MayFlowers. The many sideroads and tracks with uncutverges are excellent sites toseek out interesting plantsand insects in summer.Waulkmill Bay with its shel-tered banks and surroundingmoorland is an especiallygood place to look for wildflowers as well as curiouslyworn rocks and Otters.

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Park Cottage - an old croft above Houton

ORPHIRATTRACTIONS

Greenigoe viewpointHobbister RSPB ReserveWaulkmill BayLoch of KirbisterSt Nicholas Round KirkOrkneyinga Saga CentreCoastal walk Bu to BreckWard Hill of OrphirBay of HoutonMidland Hill viewpointMilitary sites, HoutonScorrabrae viewpointHall of Clestrain

HOUTON BAY LODGE

Lynda and Alfred Baird welcome you to the Houton BayLodge on the site of a World War I seaplane base at

Houton Bay on the edge of Scapa Flow. The Lodge offersan extensive range of high quality facilities and services to

suit the discerning visitor - all under one roof.

Houton Bay Lodge, Orphir, Orkney KW172RD

Tel/Fax: 01856-811320 www.houtonbaylodge.com OPEN ALL YEAR

The ideal choice for your visit to Orkney

the building. Inside the Halltoday little remains, exceptthe large windows (thoughmany are bricked up), a two-metre length of metal banis-ter and the stone staircase. Afierce gale ripped off theroof in 1952 and after this itwas used for keeping live-stock.

Renovation of the Hall ofClestrain is an integral partof the planned Orkney Boat

Museum, which “will be avenue for the storage, col-lection, conservation,research and display ofboats and associated boatbuilding artefacts relating toOrkney.” Small craft playeda very important part inOrkney's economic andsocial life and it is hopedthat a wide variety of boatswill be acquired. A boatbuilding workshop is alsopart of the plan.

WALKS AND VIEWPOINTSFrom the Round Kirk thereis a footpath to the shorewhich leads along the coastto Breck (HY346038). TheKirk and Viking ruins con-trast strongly with the OilTerminal in the background.There are lovely viewsacross Scapa Flow from thelow shore.

Either return via the road orcontinue along the coast toSwanbister Bay, where thereis a pier used in World War Iand the Hillock of Breakna(HY353051), which may bea broch. Further east, sealsmay be hauled up onSmoogro Skerry, while thelow cliffs of Waulkmill Bayshelter many wild flowers.There is a bridge over theMill Burn, which is anexcellent place to gatherMussels just so long as thereis an “r” in the month.

From Scorra Dale(HY322054) there is a finevista of the Hoy Hills,Graemsay, Hoy Sound andStromness. A hill track leadssouth from here to the top ofMidland Hill (HY321049,158m) and the scene which

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Midsummer sunset from the Ward Hill over Skaill Loch

Searchlight mounting below Houton Head

The Hall of Clestrain was the birthplace of John Rae

World War II gun mounting on Houton Head

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