Where Freshwater Meets The Salt.

Our expedition today examined the old Radar Station RAF Skaw, on Lamba Ness.

We had driven to an overview on Friday but had been assured that, with care, we could drive the remaining mile and a half right up to the main buildings, which saved much struggling against the wind. The site consists of scattered buildings with particular purpose, such as receiver station, power station, standby power station, transmitter blocks easily identified, and many other items less obvious being only the remains, such as supports for all the masts.
It is interesting to note that many of these are built from brick, specifically Edinburgh and Etna bricks, which were brought by ship for the purpose. The site was chosen for its solid foundation on Skaw granite.

Having assimilated all that we could while still remaining upright, we drove further to Skaw itself, famous for the Furthest North House, to check out the rocks, walk on the beach, chat to the seals and observe the dozens of cormorants assembled on the headland. We also saw three Siskins feeding just above the rock face.

The Burn of Skaw is a fast-flowing stream, it cuts through the sand causing collapse at the edge, resulting in rippling from the interrupted flow as it meets the incoming waves. High tide will eventually rearrange the sand and all will begin again.

On our way from the house we saw a large flock of birds in a field, first assumed they were the ubiquitous starlings but were different, we have yet to identify them: we are aware that we are on the route of passage migrants so this may not be straightforward. We asked a couple of locals but were recommended to ask certain others. Sadly, by the time we returned, they had moved on. Hopefully I can update when home.

It is still blowing a hoolie outside and whistling at the door, time to put another log on the fire and turn up the TV...ooh, it's the new Bakeoff. Byee!