Buttercups and battles ….

Frenetic pace resumes today as we embark on a tour of Orkney’s East Mainland. The focus is on Orkney’s recent history and the relics left by two world wars. 

Although the name ‘Scapa Flow’ remains deeply etched within my memory from O level history, it’s never really lived beyond the dustiness of fact. Today it becomes real, an actual place, and I understand at last the vast strategic role played by these islands where the British fleet was based. 

We drive along the Churchill Barriers, linking island to island, and see the skeletons of sunken ships rising rusted red from the sea on either side. It’s an eerie sight. 

http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com/history/

And linked to this is the Italian Chapel, built by Italian POWs shipped here to work on the defensive structures. We visit the tiny building, moved both by the circumstances in which it was constructed, and by the dedication, artistry and ingenuity of the men who built this work of art from scraps. 

https://www.historynet.com/behind-the-lines-act-of-faith.htm

The military theme continues with a walk along the cliffs at Hoxa Head, its natural beauty scarred by the concrete remnants of the Balfour Battery, huge defence stations guarding Scapa Flow. It’s hard to imagine this beautiful and peaceful island at the heart of military operations, and the horseshoe gun housings now open out onto the glorious vistas of the thrift-strewn cliffs, silent but for the cries of seabirds. 

And all the time the riches of Orcadian nature are everywhere. Fields overflow with wild flowers - principally buttercups, but there are many more nestling within the gold, and we hear the haunting sounds of curlews with the counterpoint of frantically shrieking oyster catchers. I spend my time trying to find elusive curlews hiding in the meadows, but there are also swallows, ducks, ringed plovers, lapwings, arctic terns and great skuas. Sadly, one skua is floating on the waves enjoying a meal. The tell-tale orange feet and black and white body suggest it is a puffin …… 

Today we also manage something more cultural with a visit to the Hoxa Tapestry Gallery - recommended by fellow blipper JeanSnaps. The work is beautiful and inspiring; unable to afford an original, we come away with a print to treasure. 

So for today’s main, there’s a curlew; possibly not the obvious choice on a day of so much history, but then the curlew’s cry seems to represent so much about this island. It’s also the shot that’s probably taken most effort today as I’ve struggled to find just where those cries are coming from, scanning fields for movement!   Then in extras there are collages of sunken ships, the Italian Chapel, birds and animals amongst the buttercups, and the evil skua. 

Thanks again for all your lovely comments, hearts and stars.