OUT AND ABOUT WITH RALPH: Battling the wind on cycle and ferry trip to Papa Westray
Papa Westray may appear one of the smallest and remotest of the Orkney Isles, but has always been pretty close to the centre of things.
On the western shore is one of the oldest houses in Europe, having been inhabited nearly 6000 years ago. The residents even extended it to include a workshop.
Nowadays the isle thrives. There are daily flights from Kirkwall and from neighbouring Westray, the latter being the shortest passenger flight in the world, lasting only a minute across the Papay Sound.
Several ferries a day run to Westray or to Kirkwall. It’s a well-connected place, – Orkney Isles Council recognise the need to support their fragile remoter communities, a lesson that Highland Council has not yet learnt.
Papay (the short name) is not much bigger than Stroma and shows what that isle might have been like had the effort been made to keep people on the island.
Not that the Papay didn’t have its moments. During the Second World War the navy used the north end of the isle for target practice and wanted to evacuate the whole island after an accident when a cow was killed. But a compromise was reached and the people moved to the southern end whenever shelling took place.
Yet it does take most of a day to travel to Papay from Caithness.
Before eight I was cycling the six miles to Scrabster, as usual in half a gale of headwind and very glad of electric assist! Bike trips to Orkney inevitably involve long stretches of straight road directly into a howling wind with a ferry to catch, and this one was to be no different.
Rough seas meant the Hamnavoe taking the longer route round Scapa Flow and a delayed arrival in Stromness, but fortunately I’d chosen a day when the Westray ferry from Kirkwall left later, so for once I had plenty of time for the ride across.
A huge squall came on just as I reached Kirkwall and I dived into the cathedral for shelter and a few moments of quiet, it is by far the best thing in the town and always worth a visit.
All the inter-island ferries had been cancelled a couple of days before in stormy weather, it was still a good force six with a big swell from the north-west but now everything was sailing again. I relaxed on the Westray boat watching the isles of Shapinsay, Eday, Egilsay and Rousay slip past.
After a bit of pitching and rolling in the open sea we soon reached more sheltered water and the Westray harbour. Now eight miles dead into the wind to catch the little Papay ferry about an hour later… and was I glad of that “turbo” mode on the bike. Head down along those long Orkney straights into a squall of rain with more than a hint of sleet. Yes, September.
The old Papay ferry retired recently and OIC is seeking a new boat. Meanwhile a small but fast support boat has been hired which made light work of the short but choppy crossing. By five I’d reached my destination at Papay hostel, having already explored most of the eight or so miles of island roads.
I’d visited Papay before, but never had time to explore the northern parts of the island and for once had a good day of sun and a just few showers. This most north-westerly isle is fully exposed to the Atlantic swell and some of the breakers coming into the coasts were as big as any I’ve seen.
On top of cliffs 20 feet above the sea, some waves were above the skyline, probably breaking at a height of 30 feet or nearly 10 metres. There must be magnificent surfing here!
The northern moors and cliffs are a nature reserve and give a very fine coastal walk. Earlier in the year there are many seabirds but there has been a huge decline from former numbers. Views stretched across the sunlit breakers to other romantic isles including the low line of distant North Ronaldsay.
Here too on the western shore is St Boniface Church, a Christian site for at least 1300 years and renovated from ruin in the 1990s. It is always open and visitors can enjoy the peace of the building looking out onto the wild seas, even though services are only occasional. Would that more churches in Caithness did likewise!
On the sheltered east coast are quiet sandy beaches, liberally fringed with tall yellow flowers of corn sowthistle. I sat in the sun before making my way back to the hostel, incongruously as another of the twice-daily flights took off from the airstrip.
Imagine that on Stroma. Or to Edinburgh from Wick…
