Brough of Birsay, Orkney

A beautiful, cloudless, blue sky day, out came the suncream. We headed to the North West corner of the Mainland. Checked the tide times in advance, it is safe to cross the tidal causeway two hours either side of low tide.

Once across we visited the Norse houses and early Christian church before walking all around the cliff path. Wonderful views, and a lot of seabirds. We did see puffins, and for the first time, I saw one with its beak full of sand eels.

After taking in the beauty and peace of this place, we crossed back and headed over to the Cliffs at Marwick Head and the memorial to Earl Kitchener, of "Your Country Needs YOU" fame. He died just off these cliffs when the HMS Hampshire sank in 1916. Another memorial which looks like a giant chess piece.