Inner Holm is a small tidal island located on the eastern side of Hamnavoe, as the harbour at Stromness on Orkney Mainland is called. There is one house on the island. I walked the 200 metres across the sand/stones/seaweed at low tide from the landward end of the new jetty at Copland's Dock. I arrived on the ferry from Scrabster about half an hour before low tide and Inner Holm was the first place I stopped. The sand still had some pools of very shallow water covering it but I could see a car on Inner Holm and figured that if the sands took the weight of the car, they were unlikely to swallow me up. In order to avoid disturbing anyone who might have been at the house, I kept to the outside of the island just outside the fence that runs around the whole island. No one came out and said hello or shouted at me to go away, so I ventured across to Outer Holm as well.
Inner Holm is about 250 metres long from north to south and 150 metres wide from east to west. The highest point on the island is 7 metres above sea level. Its location helps to protect the already sheltered harbour of Stromness, which is where the vehicle ferry from Scrabster in Caithness arrives. Inner Holm is covered in lush grass but there were no animals grazing it when I visited in mid June 2015. Bird's foot trefoil, thrift and cow parsley were in flower.
Although there is a large car park at Copland's Dock, it is not a public car park. I parked my car about 500 metres to the north at the end of the public road.
Inner and Outer Holms are hiding behind Copland's Dock
Inner Holm looking north towards the house
I'm not sure what this used to be in an earlier life. Outer Holm from Inner Holm
Small jetty on Inner Holm and the house
House on Inner Holm
Inner Holm from Mainland
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