Island 38 - Hoy, Orkney

Hoy is the second largest Orkney Island but much of it is uninhabited. The north and west of the island are generally hilly with wide glaciated valleys, while the south and east are low lying and fertile. Berriedale Wood in the Rackwick Valley is the most northerly natural woodland in the UK.   The main road runs down the east coast with a minor road running across the island from Quoyness on the east coast to Rackwick on the west coast.  In 2011 the population was 419.  

The name Hoy means high island in Old Norse and the highest point is Ward Hill, which at 479 metres above sea level is the highest point on Orkney.

Hoy is served by a vehicle ferry from Houton on Orkney Mainland to Lyness.  There is also a passenger ferry from Stromness to Moaness on the north east coast.  This ferry also serves the island of Graemsay.

Lyness has a Naval Base Interpretation Centre, which is free and very interesting.  The café is also excellent.  Scapa Flow was a key anchorage for the Royal Navy in both World Wars.  The pump house is now a museum.  It was an informative place to spend an hour or two on a cold windy day!  You can also go inside a huge oil storage tank, which houses various exhibits but is interesting in its own right.  There is also a large naval cemetery at Lyness.

Betty Corrigall's grave - Betty killed herself when her sailor boyfriend abandoned her when she found out she was pregnant in the 19th century.  She tried first to drown herself but was saved, so she then hanged herself.  She is buried on the parish boundary and her grave is now marked by a white headstone, which is made of fibreglass to prevent it from sinking into the boggy ground.

Iron Age remains on the island include the Broch of Braebister and Skeo Broch.

The RSPB have a reserve in the north of Hoy, which includes moorland and clifftops. Great skuas, hen harriers, red throated divers, puffins,  stonechats, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars can be seen.

Rackwick

This is my favourite beach on Orkney because of its setting.  The cliffs rise steeply on either side of the bay.

St John's Head on the west coast

These are the highest vertical sea cliffs in Britain

 

Old Man of Hoy

450 foot sea stack first climbed in 1967

 

Dwarfie Stane or Stone

This is the only rock cut tomb in Britain.  It is located to the south of the road from Quoyness to Rackwick.

Rackwick Hostel

This hostel is affiliated to the Scottish Youth Hostels Association.  It is small but the beds are comfortable.  There is only one communal room, so it would feel very crowded if all the beds were occupied.  You need to book in advance and remember to tell the warden in advance what time you will be arriving.  We didn't read the instructions properly and assumed that it would either be unlocked, like hostels often are in remote places, or that the warden would live nearby and instructions on how to find/contact him or her would be displayed on the hostel door.   We got there to find it locked and no contact details were displayed.  Thankfully we had a car otherwise we would have had to spend the night in the bothy on the beach, which was unlocked.  We drove 5 miles back to the other youth hostel at Quoyness.  It was unlocked, as there were people staying there, and there was a noticeboard with the warden's phone number.  We rang her and she wasn't best pleased to hear from us and told us we should have informed her earlier what time we would be arriving.  We apologised and offered to collect the key from her and she grudgingly agreed to us doing this.  Not the warmest of welcomes!  When we got back to Rackwick Hostel we found there was no loo roll.  So the moral of the story is always read instructions carefully and bring your own loo roll!

Bothy at Rackwick