Skara Brae

One of the main reasons to visit Orkney is to see some of the ancient Neolothic sites and our choice of hotel was for it's proximity to this amazing one. (Not for the co-op which we can see across the road from our room.)
10 minutes after leaving we were here at Skail Bay where this 5000 year old settlement is found right by the sea. 5000 years is an awful long time ago and the clever thing they have done on the path you walk to the site is create a relative time line.
It is older than the pyramids in Egypt and had already been abandoned for over 400 years when Stonehenge was built.

You have to look down into the remains of the roofless houses though there is a mock up you can walk into. It is truly remarkable and well worth the visit. We discovered as English heritage members we didn't have to pay to enter an Historic Scotland property. It also included entry into Skail House where the man who discovered it after a mighty storm washed some of the sand dune that had buried it in 1850.

A short journey took us into Stromness and most attractive harbour town with a flagged main street with alleys leading down to the harbour -extra, between the houses and up into the higher part of the room through stepped ginnels (one called Khyber Pass!) The Pier Art gallery was particularly worth a visit.

The afternoon was spent visiting more ancient sites; The Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brogdar both dating from a similar time to Skara Brae. We concluded with a walk along the cliff at Yesnaby to see Yesnaby Castle, a sea stack not a building.
A good blowy early evening walk has made us both 'glow' from being whipped by sun and wind and ready for dinner. We may not have the view here but the seafood is excellent!