Island 39 - South Walls, Hoy, Orkney

South Walls is joined to Hoy by a causeway called The Ayre. 

Hackness Martello Tower

There are 2 Martello Towers on either side of the bay - one at Hackness and one at Crockness.  Along with the Longhope Battery, they were constructed between 1813 and 1815 to protect the Baltic convoys during the Napoleonic Wars.  They were also used in the First World War.  The tower at Hackness is open to the public and is well worth a visit.

 

RNLI Lifeboat at Longhope

In the Kirkhope Burial Ground at Osmondwall there is a bronze figure of a lifeboatman, which was erected in memory of the 8 crewmen of the Longhope Lifeboat, the T.G.B., who were killed on March 17th 1969 on their way to a rescue in rough seas.  The freighter Irene ran aground off Grimness on South Ronaldsay.  The lifeboat was capsized by a huge wave (estimated to be over 100 feet hight) while on its way to help.  The Watson-class lifeboat wasn't designed to self-right if turned over in heavy seas.  The T.G.B. was transferred to Ireland, where she continued to serve as an RNLI lifeboat.  She was retired in 1979 and is now on display in the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine, North Ayrshire.

T.G.B. Lifeboat at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine

At the wonderfully named Green Hill of Hesti Geo the remains of a large broch and 2 gloups (blowholes) can be seen.  There is a Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve at the equally poetically named Hill of White Hamars on the south coast.  The Primula scotica (Scottish primrose) and various seabirds and seals can be seen there.

Cantick Head Lighthouse was built in 1858 by David Stevenson to mark the southern entrance to Scapa Flow.