Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
metal and their considerable artistic and decorative skills. It's an extraordinary monument
to human ingenuity.
Alongside is the enthusiastic little shop of the
Orkney Wine Company
(
01856
-878700;
www.orkneywine.co.uk
;
Mon-Sat Mar-Dec, plus Sun Apr-Sep)
, which pro-
duces handmade wines made from berries, flowers and vegetables. Try some strawberry-
rhubarb wine or carrot-and-malt-whisky liqueur - unusual flavours but surprisingly ad-
dictive.
DIVING SCAPA FLOW
One of the world's largest natural harbours, Scapa Flow has been in near-constant use by various fleets from the
Vikings onwards. After WWI, 74 German ships were interned here; when the terms of the armistice included a
severely reduced German navy, Admiral von Reuter, who was in charge of the fleet, decided to take matters into
his own hands. A secret signal was passed from ship to ship and the British watched incredulously as every Ger-
man ship began to sink. Fifty-two of them went to the bottom, with the rest left aground in shallow water.
Most were salvaged, but seven vessels remain to attract divers. There are three battleships - the
König,
the
Kronprinz Wilhelm
and the
Markgraf
- all of which weigh over 25,000 tonnes. The first two were subjected to
blasting for scrap metal, but the
Markgraf
is undamaged and considered one of Scotland's best dives.
Numerous other ships rest on the sea bed in Scapa Flow. HMS
Royal Oak,
sunk by a German U-boat in October
1939 with the loss of 833 crew, is an official war grave - diving here is prohibited.
It's worth prebooking your diving excursion far in advance.
Scapa Scuba
(
01856-851218;
www.scapascuba.co.uk
;
Dundas St, Stromness; 2 guided dives £140)
is an excellent operator.
BURRAY
POP 360
The small island of Burray has a fine beach at Northtown on the east coast, where you
may see seals.
Sights
Orkney Fossil & Vintage Centre
(
01865-731255;
www.orkneyfossilcentre.co.uk
;
adult/child £4/2.50; 10am-5pm mid-
Ap-Sep)
The Orkney Fossil & Vintage Centre has a quirky collection of household and
farming relics, 360-million-year-old Devonian fish fossils found locally and galleries de-
voted to the world wars, including a display on the Churchill Barriers. There's an excel-
MUSEUM
