Ward Hill and the Ring of Brodgar

Friday 31st August 2018

On planning my holiday in the Orkney Isles I had decided upon the walks that I wanted to do and rather arbitrarily, as I thought of them, assigned a day to them. In the event I have not kept to that original schedule with a lot of changing of walks to suit my whim at the time. I was going to do a completely different walk on this day until late the previous evening I decided to this walk in order to take advantage of a guided tour around the Ring of Brodgar. First, however, I caught a bus to Orphir where I  headed along a quiet road south until I reached the shore overlooking the vast Scapa Flow, the body of water that is sheltered by the encircling islands of Orkney to create one of the great natural harbours of the world, and during the two world wars was the home base for the Royal Navy. There is a fantastic little walk that follows the coast and gave me stunning views with the hills of Hoy on the horizon under spectacular, clear blue skies with a splendid display of wild flowers lining the shore at my feet, but the strong Orkney wind was particularly vicious as I made my way along the shoreline path. Heartbreakingly, this wonderful coastal walk is woefully too short and soon came to an end in Orphir Bay where I turned inland passing through a churchyard.

At this point are the remains of the medieval round church of St Nicholas, the low foundations of the 12th Century manor house, Earl’s Bu, thought to be the one mentioned in Viking sagas, and finally an exhibition in the Orkneyinga Saga Centre that shows the rich Viking heritage of the area. I didn’t spend much time there being more interested in the coastal walk so I headed back along the road to Orphir, and on the outskirts of the village turned onto a farmer’s lane climbing up towards the hill that dominates the view. After a while I realised this lane was a dead end and when I check my map I realised I had turned up the wrong lane, so I had to turn around returning to the main road, find the correct one and climb that. This lane brought me onto the open moorland passing a military firing range (that wasn’t in use) on a track that took me up the hill to the col between Gruf Hill and Ward Hill. At that point the view west towards Stromness opened out in spectacular array, but I was not heading that direction. Turning right I followed narrow trails in the heather to climb all the way up to the trig point at the summit of Ward Hill.

There are extensive views across the mainland of Orkney from the top, but there was also clearly a higher point further north so crossing the saddle I eventually reached the highest point on the mainland. The Ordnance Survey gives this top the rather dull name of Mid Hill, but surely that just means it is the middle top of Ward Hill, and that name covers the whole sprawling upland mass? My eyes were drawn to the views down into the bowl below centred on the Lochs of Stenness and Harray, and especially to the Ness of Brodgar, the narrow strip of land between the two lochs where so much Neolithic excavation has recently been carried out. That was my destination, but first I had to get down off the hills as quickly as possible with no path and through thick heather until eventually I reached an old quarry track in Russa Dale. This was a gorgeous path richly lined by heavily overgrown plants that were a joy to walk along, and I only wish I hadn’t been in such a hurry so I could have enjoyed this gloriously wild landscape. Instead I hurried down the path and along the road to reach the tour that started at one o’clock quick marching for three miles passing the Stones of Stenness and the vast archaeological dig at the Ness of Brodgar on the way, until eventually I reached the Ring of Brodgar ten minutes late for the tour.

Fortunately I had not missed much of the tour so I was able to join the crowd as the guide described the local flora before heading up to the Ring of Brodgar, a wide circle of standing stones that could be as much as five thousand years old, predating both Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Egypt. After the excellent tour I quickly headed back along the road to keep another date two miles away in the village of Stenness where a guided tour departs for the mysterious chambered cairn of Maes Howe. Access is by pre-booked guided tour only, and I was on the three o’clock tour of the astonishingly well-preserved chamber that is an amazing place to visit with a spooky, otherworldly feel and possibly explains why there are so many extensive Neolithic remains in the area. After returning to Stenness I was now free to wander back to the Stones of Stenness that I had rushed past earlier, but I was able to explore these enormous standing stones that are far taller than any in the Ring of Brodgar. As the shadows lengthened I returned to the Ring of Brodgar for another visit until finally making my way once more past the Stones of Stenness and back to the village of Stenness where I could catch a bus back to Kirkwall.

While rushing around these Neolithic sites all afternoon the weather was amazing, despite strong winds, with bright sunshine and blue skies that created a perfect backdrop for these awesome standing stones. No one really knows what these Neolithic monuments were built for, or even what purpose the chambered cairn of Maes Howe served though historians will always speculate, but they must have had very special significance for the people who built them to have gone to the enormous effort required to construct them. I felt fortunate to see these amazing artefacts, and to be able to enjoy them in such good weather.  Orkney is a fabulous place with coastal paths alongside a natural harbour steeped in history, to moorland hills with extensive views and ending at ancient monuments that intrigue with the mysteries of their purpose and setting.