On the Tourist Trail . . .

A rather wet and windy, and very chilly, day in Hoy, but we had a great time.  Spent ages exploring the Martello Tower and battery at Hackness, built to defend Orkney from French and American privateers in the early 1800s.  Fascinating to see how much is still there, and a very knowledgeable and interesting guide too.  Molly, Richard and I all climbed up the steep metal ladders to get inside the Martello tower - not for the faint hearted in that weather!  From the outside you get no idea of all the construction inside, the rooms with their vaulted ceiling, the spiral staircases and the water storage system.  Well worth a visit!

After a picnic lunch in the car we headed back to Lyness and the Scapa Flow visitors centre.  Terrific exhibitions of the Royal Navy's presence in Orkney during both the first and second world wars.  Very poignant to see all the photos of the men and then read the numbers killed on each ship that went down. 

Tricky knowing which of the dozens of photos to use, by I was impressed by this folding bike - the first ever - used by paratroopers in WWII.