Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Longhope
A causeway was built during World War II connecting Hoy with
South Walls
(pronounced “Waas”), a fertile tidal island more densely populated with farms and
homes than Hoy. Along the north coast is the main settlement of
Longhope
, an
important safe anchorage even today.
Hackness Martello Tower
April-Oct daily 9.30am-5.30pm • HS • £4.50 •
T
01856 701727
Longhope's strategic importance during the Napoleonic Wars is evident at the Point of
Hackness, where the
Hackness
Martello Tower
stands guard over the entrance to the
bay, with a matching tower on the opposite promontory of Crockness. Built in 1815,
these two circular sandstone Martello towers are the northernmost in Britain, and
protected merchant ships from American and French privateers. You enter Hackness
Tower via a steep ladder connected to the upper floor, where nine men and one o
cer
shared the circular room.
15
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE LONGHOPE
By ferry
The roll-on/roll-off car ferry from Houton on the Mainland to Lyness begins and ends each day at Longhope.
ACCOMMODATION
Stromabank Hotel
T
01856 701494,
W
stromabank
.co.uk.
This small, unpretentious hotel is housed in an old
schoolhouse on the hill above Longhope, with views over
the Pentland Fi
rth.
Bar food available in the evening
(closed Thurs).
£64
Shapinsay
Just a few miles northeast of Kirkwall,
Shapinsay
is the most accessible of Orkney's
northern isles. A gently undulating grid-plan patchwork of rich farmland, it's a bit like
an island suburb of Kirkwall, which is clearly visible across the bay.
Balfour
Shapinsay's only village is
BALFOUR
, named after the family who owned the island,
reformed the island's agricultural system and rebuilt the village - previously known
as Shoreside - to house their estate workers. he family's grandiose efforts in estate
management have left some appealingly eccentric relics around the village.
Melodramatic fortifications around the harbour include the huge and ornate
gatehouse
, which now serves as the local pub. here's also a stone-built coal-fired
gasometer
, which once supplied castle and harbour with electricity and, southwest
of the pier, the castellated
Douche
or Dishan Tower, a seventeenth-century doocot
converted into a Victorian saltwater toilet and shower.
Balfour Castle
Guided tour and tea on Sunday afternoons in August • £22 •
T
01856 711282
Shapinsay's chief landmark is
Balfour Castle
, an imposing baronial pile visible as you
approach on the ferry and a short walk from the village. Designed by David Bryce, it
was completed in 1848 by the Balfour family of Westray, who had made a small
fortune in India the previous century. he Balfours died out in 1960 and nowadays the
castle is an exclusive-use holiday retreat, but open for guided tours and afternoon teas
on Sundays in August.
