Orkney day 3: Skara Brae

We hit Skara Brae in blazing sunshine and not too many crowds. This little room, one of many, is approximately 5000 years old. You can no longer go in but there is a very passable reconstruction. What you can see is a stone dresser. In front is a quern stone for grinding barley, next to that is a stone tank for keeping shellfish and lobsters fresh. In the centre is the square hearth and to the sides are stone bed compartments. Just astonishing. Fascinating that when we visited the Brough of Gurness the next day - an iron Age village and 2000 years younger, apart from a central tower for the chief, not much had changed. And when we visited an 18C farmhouse the furniture, including beds and cupboards, were still made out of stone.

After this we went on to the Brough of Birsay, a little island that can only be reached by a causeway when the tide is out. There was a Viking settlement with superb views; and there were cliffs - with puffins in them! In fact it was teeming with bird life and quite a few twitchers. Sadly this poor gannet (see extra) looked newly dead but what a handsome specimen.

We then followed the coastal road back to Kirkwall where the Weeping Window was looking astonishing as it cascaded down the red sandstone of St Magnus Cathedral. All the shops in Kirkwall had poppy themed window displays and the town was looking its very best.

We fell in Judith Glue, an excellent food and craft shop, for supper and as we came out we heard bagpipes! The Kirkwall Pipe Band were practicing for the Battle of Jutland commemoration later in the week. The icing on the cake!