Sooth Hoy

Leaving Stromness in the morning for the short drive to Houton for the ferry to Hoy was initially an issue! we took a wrong turning? However, we were still at the ferry in plenty of time, the rain was lashing down for the duration of the short ferry journey, which was fine as the sun came out for our arrival on the lovely isle of Hoy,

We were winging it! Although we both had researched and knew where we were going and what we wanted to see, we had not made a distinctive timetable to where to be and when? There was a lot of this way that way stuff said? but in the end we opted to do the south of the island first with an initial option of camping south one night, then north the next, the ferry arrives at a place called lyness, which is also where the sadly shut war museum is, sort offa in the middle of the isle! Once we were off the ferry and heading south our first stop was at the longhope lifeboat museum which was also shut but worth a visit anyway regardless of being shut. I took a peek in the window and left some cash in the museum honesty box, driving on from there We wanted to stop next at Hackness Martello tower yet again it was closed but it was worth the visit to have a walk around, these towers were built to provide protection from French and American privateers, those republican American’s and Napoleonic French republicans loved attacking her majesty’s fleet who regularly assembled in the sound of longhope,

after that the next visit was the carrick lighthouse the road to which was in such a bad state of repair that we walked the last section, only to find it was shut as it’s a private property anyway! on the way back we stopped at the graveyard where the graves of the longhope lifeboat crews are, these graves are beside the graves of a monumental statue built to remember their bravery, also in that graveyard is a lot of war graves and a grave for an unknown sailor sitting alone outside an ancient family’s crypt ! a very poignant place

our tourist Daundering`s cost us in the end though? the shop in the town of longhope, which we were hoping to buy some stuff from (beer for me) along with perhaps? some petrol which was low, the plan was shop and petrol then have lunch in the royal hotel? The shop had shut for the afternoon only fifteen minutes before we got there! We should have gone before the lighthouse; or graveyard! the hotel was shut for the pandemic! DOH we drove to the cute Emily’s café for soup and coffee deciding then we would camp both nights in the north of the island

after our café soup we drove up to betty Corrigall’s grave! What an amazing ghoulish horrible story it is, unbelievable! how horrid that our society was actually so evil back in the day! (or is it still the same now?) This grave site is also near the scad head battery, where the last outpost with a gun battery that has a ladder inside you can use is situated

the ladders are long gone in most! But this one has still got ladders in place to go up, there is plenty others dotted around the isles, but you just can’t climb up inside, there is also the huge chains lying on the beach which were once submarine protection for the fleet at anchor a great visit if you like that sort of stuff, there is a huge amount of these sort of war buildings around that area, yet another one makes it almost like I can’t see the tree for the forest

after our visit to skad head we went to the hill wee fea, this was once the telecoms communications area during the war down below at what is now the hoy hotel was where the wrens (female naval personell)lived, known then as the wrenerey, the scale of how things were then as opposed to how things are now is just mind blowing, during the war this area was covered in barrage balloons searchlights and anti-aircraft gun positions, a real citadel, the Luftwaffe knew how well protected the ships were here that they never attempted an air strike,

along with the anti-aircraft guns, the searchlight’s, the barrage balloons, the submarine nets, the fake houses, the sea barriers, there was also the first ever solid non grass runway for the airbase HMS sparrowhawk, the airplanes from this airbase sank the first ever major warship in history to be sank by an air strike, it was also where the first landing of an airplane onto a ship happened

if you picture the scene from then - this area had a huge fleet at anchor an RAF base on the mainland, barrage balloons everywhere great big search lights anti-aircraft guns by the multitude, it was a proper military bastille! The admiralty had learned from mistakes and made this sea and air fortress solid, after the shock of the royal oak this area became a real safe haven, for the allies fleet