Orkney - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 332

remarkable permanent collection of twentieth-century British art, most notably by
members of the Cornish school such as Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, Terry
Frost, Patrick Heron, Eduardo Paolozzi and the self-taught Alfred Wallis, recently
augmented by contemporary works, many by northern and Scandinavian artists, which
continue the marine themes of the original collection.

Stromness Museum
52 Alfred St • April-Sept daily 10am-5pm; Oct-March Mon-Sat 11am-3.30pm • £4.50 • T 01856 850025, W orkneycommunities.co.uk
/stromnessmuseum
At the junction of Alfred Street and South End stands the Stromness Museum ,
built in 1858, partly to house the collections of the local natural-history society.
The natural-history collection is still here - don't miss the pull-out drawers of
birds' eggs, butterflies and moths. Look out for the Halkett cloth boat, an early
inflatable like the one used by John Rae, the Stromness-born Arctic explorer, whose
fiddle, octant and shotgun are also on display. Amid the beaver furs and model
boats are numerous salty artefacts gathered from shipwrecks, including some
barnacle-encrusted crockery from the German High Seas Fleet that was sunk in
Scapa Flow in 1919.

7

Ness Battery
Guided hour-long tours all year, see website for details • £4.50 • T 07759 857298, W nessbattery.co.uk
Just a short walk south of Stromness is Ness Battery , erected in World War I to guard
the western entrance to Scapa Flow, and one of the most interesting of Orkney's coastal
gun emplacements. On the tour you hear stories of the lives of the soldiers who
manned the six-inch guns, and see several of the original wooden huts, one of which
served as the Mess Hall and retains the idiosyncratic wartime murals painted there
during World War II.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE STROMNESS

By ferry T 0845 600 0449, W northlinkferries.co.uk. Car
ferries arrive in the centre of Stromness from Scrabster
(2-3 daily; 1hr 30min), which is connected to nearby
Thurso by shuttle bus. The tiny passenger ferry to Moaness
Pier on Hoy (via Graemsay) departs from the old harbour in
Stromness (Mon-Fri 4-5 daily, Sat & Sun 2 daily; 25min).

By bus T 01856 870555, W stagecoachbus.com. Buses
depart from Stromness ferry terminal.
Destinations Houton (Mon-Fri 2 daily; 20min); Kirkwall
(Mon-Sat hourly, Sun every 2hr; 30min); Skara Brae (Mon,
Thurs & Sat 1 daily; 20min); St Margaret's Hope (10 daily;
1hr 5min).

INFORMATION AND ACTIVITIES
Tourist o ce Stromness ferry terminal houses the tourist
o ce (March-Oct daily; T 01856 850716, W visitorkney
.com).

Orkney Cycle Hire 54 Dundas St T 01856 850255, W orkney
cyclehire.co.uk. Hybrids and mountain bikes from just £7.50
a day - panniers available and delivery/collection.

ACCOMMODATION
Brinkies Guest House Innertown T 01856 850661. A
substantial double-bay-fronted Victorian guesthouse
located a 10min walk up from the town. Rooms enjoy
fantastic views, the resident s' lou nge has loads of reading
matter and there's free wi-fi. £70
Brown's 47 Victoria St T 01856 850661, W brownshostel
.co.uk. A family-run place, right in the centre of town, with
bunk beds in very small, shared rooms - it's pret ty cl ean, Mrs
Brown is friendly and there's free internet access. £18 /person
Burnside Farm T 01856 850723, W burnside-farm

.com. A cracking B&B run by a local couple on a working
farm about a mile out of town on the road to Kirkwall. The
views are great, and the furnishings and facilities are truly
top-notch: en-suite we t ro oms and free wi-fi, plus bere
bannocks for breakfast. £70
Hamnavoe Hostel 10a North End Rd T 01856 851202,
W hamnavoehostel.co.uk. A good 10min walk from the
ferry terminal and no beauty from the outside, but inside
it's all spotlessly clean, welcoming and well equipped.
£17 /person