Cuilags and the Old Man of Hoy

Monday 3rd September 2018

This walk was always high in my plans for Orkney, but for various reasons I kept putting it off until eventually I decided I could delay no longer. What set this walk apart from all the previous ones I did in Orkney was that it was on a different island so it involved me catching a bus to Stromness where I caught a ferry across the channel, around Graemsay and to the island of Hoy, whose name means high. The hills on Hoy are significantly higher than anywhere else on Orkney and just off the coast of Hoy is a sea stack that is well-known across the whole of Britain. Coming off the ferry I had gorgeous sunshine yet again on this holiday as I headed straight up the road towards the gap between the two highest peaks in the whole of the Orkney Isles, Ward Hill and Cuilags. After crossing the dry Braebuster Burn just below the dam of Sandy Loch and under the shadow of these two hills, I reluctantly came off the good track that I was on and started climbing the steep, pathless slopes of Cuilags. This walk was taken from Cameron McNeish’s “Scotland’s 100 Best Walks” where this climb is described as easy, but it’s not. It’s phenomenally steep and there’s no path to help you on your way. Fortunately it’s short as the hills on Hoy are not particularly high so it didn’t take me too long to eventually reach the summit of the second highest hill on Hoy, Cuilags.

Dark clouds passed over during the climb and deposited a few drops of rain that thankfully cooled me down during my tiring climb to a summit that had blessedly been in sight for most of the way. Once I reached the top all my exertions were forgotten as I found a magnificently built conical shaped cairn standing guard over the western entrance to the Scapa Flow. From the gloriously stony summit of Cuilags I passed over the col above Back Saddles where mountain hares played amongst the stones and along a broad ridge until eventually I reached the trig point on Sui Fea. It was now fabulously sunny, I had stunning views all around me and I was enjoying every moment of the walk across on top of these hills despite Cuilags itself being only 433 metres above sea level. The scarcity of any higher hills in the whole of Orkney provided me with views across the whole length of the Orkney mainland far below and made these hills feel much higher and energised my walk across the tops aided by dry ground following the hot summer this year. After having my lunch at the trig point I made my way across to the actual summit of Sui Fea and as I headed south down the ridge the view opened out towards the sea and I made my first sighting of the Old Man of Hoy.

This tall, narrow sea stack was famously climbed on live television in 1967 just one year after it was first climbed and is still quite well-known. Slowly I made my way down the moorland while great skua birds skimmed low over my head until finally I reached the coast where a faint path follows the cliff edge around the spectacular scenery to reach the promontory of Tuaks of the Boy where the Old Man of Hoy sits a short distance beyond. As stunning a sight as this tall sea stack is I was more struck by the cliffs along the coast northwards that are twice as high as the Old Man and even more impressive. I didn’t linger on the promontory as a better photograph could be gained from the south towards Rora Head and when I reached Geo of the Light the view north was now superbly lit by the sun behind me that gave me not only a perfect shot of the Old Man, but also with the tall cliffs of the Carl and the Sow beyond. I took loads of pictures of this fabulous view, sometimes timing them so that a fulmar seabird was caught in the shot as it flew past, but these were simply a distraction to the stunning views along the coast.

Eventually I tore myself away and rather than continuing along the coast around Rora Head I tried to cut the corner making my way through thick heather to reach the tourist path that crosses the western slopes of Moor Fea until it drops down into the delightful bay of Rackwick. Coming off the road into the village I followed the Rackwick Burn through a fabulous valley that is overflowing with plants particularly purple flowering heather interspersed with small trees that may have come from the ancient woodland nearby at Berriedale Wood. The path unfortunately doesn’t go through the wood, but that didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this gloriously wild valley as I joyfully made my way along a well-made path up the valley all the way back to Sandy Loch and the road to the ferry. The good weather continued into the afternoon so that this walk under clear blue skies was a pleasure with every step as I skipped along the path overjoyed at the day's events and the views that I had seen on this walk. Considering I had almost been avoiding this walk it is astonishing that it eventually became the best of my whole holiday on Orkney

I had a great mountain walk over Cuilags even though this is only the second highest hill on Orkney and the highest hill, Ward Hill, is not much more than one and a half thousand feet high. My route at the end of this walk took me around the foot of that hill, but I did not feel the need to waste my effort in climbing to the top in order to bag it. Climbing to the top of Cuilags had served a purpose in providing me with a direct route to the Old Man of Hoy, but I didn’t need to waste time climbing Ward Hill. I really enjoyed the walk beside Rackwick Burn towards the end, while my walk across the pathless tops from Cuilags was immensely enjoyable in the sunshine on the firm ground, and I was spellbound by the tall cliffs along the coastline. Curiously the Old Man of Hoy did not seem particularly special to me despite being so famous and taller than any of the other sea stacks that I saw during this holiday. I have no idea why I was more impressed with the cliffs behind the Old Man than the sea stack itself.

Wideford Hill

Sunday 2nd September 2018

My original reason for coming to the Orkney Isles was to visit the Highland Park Distillery where I had previously paid a fleeting visit when I went to Orkney in 2000. The sample of their whisky that I tasted that day was the first whisky that I ever tasted and since then I have loved their delicious, peaty cup of golden joy that also introduced me to many other gorgeous scotch whiskies and prompted me to visit so many other distilleries. Now I would finally be returning to where my love affair with the water of life began, to the standard that all other whiskies have been compared, and very few have been able to stand against. On my previous visit, as part of a highlights tour of Orkney, I did not have time to take the full tour of the distillery so I decided that Sunday would be the day of my holiday in Orkney when I would fulfil my long held desire. Therefore under gorgeous blue skies I set off around the edge of Kirkwall to reach the Highland Park Distillery in time for the opening and the first tour.

I wasn’t disappointed, and it was great to see where the whisky drams that I have enjoyed for many years were born. It was interesting seeing the emphasis on traditional techniques even down to malting all the barley themselves, which is something that hardly any other distillery does now with Laphroaig being the only other place where I’ve see it done. After depositing my purchases back at the youth hostel I headed into the centre of Kirkwall where I had a look around the ruins of the medieval Bishop’s Palace and the adjacent Earl’s Palace before heading over to St Magnus Cathedral. These were fascinating places and I enjoyed looking around them in the warm sunshine, and then when I had finished doing that I returned to the youth hostel and watched the Italian Grand Prix. By the time I emerged from the youth hostel again it was quarter to four and since walking is supposed to be the point of this blog I had better start describing a walk. I headed down to the harbour where I took a walk around the inland Peerie Sea and the adjacent boating lake but this walk was far too short for me so I turned my eyes west to the hill that gazes over Kirkwall: Wideford Hill.

Passing the Pickaquoy Centre I walked through the lovely Muddisdale Woodland, whose small trees were a welcome sight, though looking back towards Kirkwall I was astonished to see so many trees scattered around the town, on an island that is famous for hardly having any trees. After passing Orkney Golf Course I emerged onto Sunnybank Road where a few steps to my left took me to a right turn up a track that led me to the busy top of Wideford Hill that is littered with telecommunications masts. Crossing the southern slopes of the hill I came off the road and onto a path that slowly descends the heather covered western slopes of the hill while before me were views towards the Bay of Firth. I was rather concerned that I had gone to all this effort to climb the hill only to start descending the other side before I’d reached the top. Halfway down the hill my destination was eventually revealed in Wideford Hill Chambered Cairn that seemed to me to be a simpler version of the majestic Maes Howe that I had visited two days before. On closer examination I found there was even less similarity between the two with a much smaller entrance that is now blocked off and a ladder from the top that now gives access.

I was struck by the rudimentary design compared with Maes Howe whereby I had to crawl along the floor to get to some of the cells, but all I achieved was getting covered in mud. A large torch is provided, but this wasn’t working, however most people these days carry a mobile multifunctional device that works very well as a torch and I was able to use mine (usually abbreviated in this country to mobile) to illuminate the dark and dingy cells of the chambered cairn. These chaotically arranged cells are nothing like the elegant and symmetrical arrangement of Maes Howe and made me think that if this chambered cairn is an example of a burial mound then Maes Howe is completely different. I’d have to agree with my guide around Maes Howe that it must be something else, and the chambered cairn on Wideford Hill is at best an amateur’s attempt at copying a professional masterpiece. After wiping myself down, I climbed back out of the chamber and putting the hatch back down I set off through the heather all the way up to the top of the hill.

During my climb up Wideford Hill the lovely blue skies that I had enjoyed all day had finally been replaced with overcast skies so the views from the top were not as good as I had hoped. However, there were still quite good views north across the Wide Firth, towards the northern isles of Orkney and south over the Scapa Flow. Since it was now after six o’clock in the evening and I wanted my dinner I ran down the hill to the lowest wireless station and onto the road retracing my steps all the way back to Kirkwall. This was a lovely little walk, and after spending most of the day sightseeing in Kirkwall it was great to be able to get in an enjoyable walk. Orkney was still delivering fabulous sights with walks that more than justified coming to the islands even without the lure of whisky.