14th July.
A beautiful morning but the forecast is pretty dire for tonight and tomorrow.
Didn't have enough water for porridge this morning so set off for the short walk to the Italian Chapel without any.
Found some water on the way so had my porridge while waiting for the Chapel to open.
It is an incredible piece of work by the Italian Prisoners of War. everything is made either of concrete, which they were working with every day, or scrap salvaged from the Blockships or elsewhere.
The standard of painting is amazing, basically the work of one man, Domenico Chiocchetti.
Two coaches arrived just as I was ready to leave, there are advantages to being early.
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| Totem pole at St Mary's, a First Nation/Orcadian project |
A café at St Mary's called for a slight detour for more refreshments again leaving just as a coach party arrived.
There was a photographic exhibition, at an old church further along the coast, of the construction of the barriers.
A lot of very good pictures of the work done by the 1200 Italian Prisoners Of War held in the two camps.
Fantastic views of the barriers and Scapa Flow as I continued my tour of south Mainland.
Called in to Sheila Fleet's café and jewellery showroom. I knew about the jewellery having bought some for Elizabeth a few years ago.
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| Poor picture, too much reflection from the display cabinet |
The quality of the presentation was first class, as was the café. I was even more impressed when, after they found out how far I had walked to get there, I was plied with free scones and fudge.
Even better was the tour of the workshops.
I made the mistake of stopping to say hello to a guy feeding his sheep, it's a bit like Ireland used to be and it was at least half an hour later that I managed to get away. A really interesting conversation, if it was in a pub we would probably still be talking!
The little airport was busier than Prestwick as I walked past and over the hill to Kirkwall.
I didn't look at the city, saving that for the morning, and went straight to the campsite past Lidl, Tesco and Co-op stores that are beside each other on the way.
A quick visit to Tesco's sorted tonight's meal and I settled in to the very nice campsite.
17 miles walked 300 meters ascent.
1 comment:
Although it is well known, even I was impressed by the chapel, the prisoners managing to produce something beautiful out or terrible experiences. Good photos as well. Andy
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