St Magnus Cathedral

Monday
Back to Kirkwall for a few days, the MH has an issue which we hope to be fixed on Wednesday, it’s easier to stay near the centre. Earlier John had spotted a wireless museum and we called in this afternoon. The elderly gentleman running was a lovely chap and very knowledgeable about the wireless and the part the Orkneys played in WW2. There are photos taken during the construction of the Churchhill barriers and he told a very moving story of an Italian who called in last year. His grandfather was a prisoner of war who was taken to the Orkneys to build these barriers, he also helped in the construction of the Italian chapel, (we have yet to visit this). When looking through the photos the visitor found several photos of his grandfather taken during that time, our lovely curator said everyone in the museum was touched by this, an emotional few minutes.

(When we were in a Oban with S and P last week P wanted to check out the war museum, his father served in the Oban area during the war, he was a wireless operator on a Sunderland aircraft. We walked into the museum and within minutes P spotted a photo of his dad taken near Oban. Everyone in the museum was delighted, a special moment and the likeness of father and son raised no doubts).

In the bay here are two big cruise ships, apparently this is normal, the surrounding coastline is a deep sea area, I heard someone say it’s the cruise capital of the world, I doubt that but there is a great deal for the happy cruisers to see around these islands. The curator said the four Churchill Barriers linking the islands had greatly improved the economy of the islands although the original construction was to prevent U boats entering the bay.