I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while. The Guardian have published an LRB essay about the Orkneys Islands, and in particular the amazing Maes Howe.
A couple of years ago I got to visit the Orkneys – for just a short day – taking the foot ferry from John O’Groats to Burwick on Orkney. I was doing one of those “see the Orkney Islands in a day” trips, which certainly isn’t the best way to do things, but is still better than nothing. I had a hire car with me at the time, and I seem to recall that the Caledonian MacBrayne offering was significantly more expensive (I’m not sure that they even do that route now, and another company serves the Orkneys).
We visited the spectacular cathedral in Kirkwall, saw the Churchill Barriers – the large obstacles placed to close off some of the waterways in WWII when Scapa Flow was the home of the British Fleet, the Italian Chapel built by Italian prisoners of war, and most wonderfully of all the Ring of Brodgar.
The Orkneys have a special air about them. There are barely any trees, such are the winds that either come off the Atlantic or down from the Arctic. Where they do grow, they’re huddled together in protected hollows. You’re never far from water, and you really feel remote. I admit that I’ve yet to visit the Shetlands, but it’s still a wonderful feeling.
I also got to go on a short distillary tour to see how they make the exceptional Highland Park whisky.
But there are a couple of places that I didn’t get to see. The Ring of Brodgar’s not the only neolithic remains to be found on these islands. In fact it feels as though the remains are to be found everywhere. Also nearby is Skara Brae, preserved from thousands of years ago. I’ve only ever seen it on TV, but I just have to go.
And then there’s one other place. The place the aforementioned article from the LRB refers to. Maes Howe. This is an ancient monument built in Neolithic times, and then left undiscovered for years until Viking invaders founded it and left their marks (in the form of graffiti). Then it was rediscovered once more by the Victorians. As well as being a spectacular monument buried within a hill, around the winter soltice, the sun shines directly down the fifty foot tunnel which takes you into its interior. This I just have to see one day.
Just writing about all of this makes me want to go off and read one of the Sagas.