Return to Gallery

Purchase Image

Hoy is an island that has fascinated me since I moved to Caithness in 1999. I can see the island from my home, from my office window at work, and from many of the places in between. For me its by far the most interesting island of the Orkney's as its the only one with hills worthy of the name and these are flanked by the spectacular sea cliffs of St John's Head (the UK's highest), and the enigmatic Old Man of Hoy. As such its surprising that it took me until 2007 to manage a visit, and indeed this one required no work on my part as the opportunity was actually handed to me by an away day with work. We chartered the NorthCoast Explorer (http://www.northcoast.fsnet.co.uk/index.html) for a day in June 2007 and were carried north from John O'Groats into Scapa Flow and up the east coast of Hoy, eventually landing at Moaness. From there we were picked up by a minibus which carried us to Rackwick on the west coast and we then headed round the flank of Moor Fea on the well trodden path to the Old Man. The views of the stack were great and enthused a number of us to continue walking past St Johns Head and over the second highest hill on Hoy, Cuilags, before descending back towards Moaness. Although Cuilags only reaches a modest height of 435m its a hill of character with views back south to the mainland and north over the Orkney Mainland and beyond. This photograph was taken at Moaness with bystanders waiting on the pier looking east into Scapa Flow.

All pictures copyright Scotland-Landscapes.com