Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ORKNEY
EDAY
Knap of Howar
From Holland House, it's around half a mile to the western shore, where Papay's prime
prehistoric site, the
Knap of Howar
, stands overlooking Westray. Dating from around 3500
BC, this Neolithic farm building makes a fair claim to being the oldest standing house in
Europe. It's made up of two roofless buildings, linked by a little passageway; one has a
hearth and copious stone shelves, and is thought to have been some kind of storehouse.
St Boniface Kirk
St Boniface Kirk
is a pre-Reformation church three-quarters of a mile north of the Knap
of Howar. Inside, it's beautifully simple, with a bare flagstone floor, dry-stone walls, a
little wooden gallery and just a couple of surviving box pews.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
PAPA WESTRAY
By plane
You can fly direct from Kirkwall to Papa Westray
(Mon-Sat 2-3 daily, 1 on Sun; 25min) for £21 if you stay
overnight. Papay is also connected to Westray by the
world's shortest scheduled flight (Mon-Sat 1 daily) - 2min
or less with a following wind.
By ferry
The passenger ferry from Gill Pier in Pierowall
(3-6 daily; 25min) also takes bicycles.
Car ferries
On Tuesdays, the car ferry
goes from Kirkwall to
Papa Westray via North Ronaldsay, taking over four hours; on
Fridays, the car ferry from Kirkwall to Westray continues to
Papa Westray; at other times, you must catch a bus to connect
with the Papa Westray ferry from Pierowall. The bus should
be booked ahead, while on the Westray ferry (
T
01857
677758); it accepts a limited number of bicycles.
15
GETTING AROUND AND INFORMATION
By minibus
Papay's Community Co-operative (
T
01857
644321) has a minibus, which will take you from the pier
to wherever you want on the island on request, and can
arrange a “Peedie Package” tour including lunch (Wed &
Sat; £30) - you can even do it from Kirkwall as a 12hr
day-trip.
Festivals
Papay holds a week-long international
experimental film, video art, sound art and architecture
festival called Papay Gyro Nights (
W
papaygyronights
.papawestray.org) around the first full moon in February,
plus a more prosaic Fun Weekend in late July.
Tourist information
W
papawestray.co.uk.
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Beltane House
T
01857 644224,
W
papawestray
.co.uk
. The island Co-op offers B&B, a two-room, sixteen-
bed hostel, a place to camp, and a shop, within the old
estate-workers' cottages at Beltane, east of Holland House.
Beltane House
opens its “bar cupboard” every Sat
urday
night
from 9p
m, with
bar
meals available. Double
s
£70
;
dorm
s
£13.50
; camping
£5
/person
Eday
A long, thin island,
Eday
shares more characteristics with Rousay and Hoy than with its
immediate neighbours, dominated as it is by heather-covered upland, with farmland
confined to a narrow strip of coastal ground. However, Eday's hills have proved useful
in their own way, providing huge quantities of peat that has been exported to the other
peatless northern isles for fuel, and was even, for a time, exported to various whisky
distillers. Sparsely inhabited, Eday has no main village as such. he ferry terminal is at
the south end of the island, whereas the sights (and most of the amenities) are all in the
northern half, about four miles away. he island post o
ce, petrol pump and
community shop all cluster in Hammerhill.
Eday Heritage Centre and HMS Otter
April-Oct daily 9am-6pm; Nov-March Sun 10am-5pm • Free •
T
01857 622263
Eday Heritage Centre
, in an old Baptist chapel a mile north of the island's airport, has
historical displays on Eday, with information on the island's tidal energy testing centre
