The Next Stop - The Orkney Islands: Going Back 6,000 Years

Our next stop was Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney Islands.  It was for me a journey going back 6,000 years to the people who erected,  amongst many other structures, the prehistoric village of Skara Brae, The Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar.
The Orkney Islands were also the northern home of the Royal Navy in the First and Second World Wars.

Prehistoric Orkney Wkipedia
Skara Brae
Standing Stones In Orkney
The Vikings in Orkney
The Orkney Guide - Vikings.pdf
Scapa Flow Wikipedia

 Arriving at Kirkwall Pier (A little way out of town)

 Disembarking passengers heading for the tour bus

 The bus heading off

 Maeshowe Chambered Cairn/Tomb dated to 3000BC. Viking graffiti has been found inside.

The Stones of Stenness, a Neolithic henge site dating back to 4000BC

The view from the Stones of Stenness

The Ring of Brodnar nor far from the Stones of Stenness and and Maeshowe Chambered Cairn/Tomb

Also dating back to 4000BC 

Viking graffiti can be seen on some of the stones

 Skaill House, Skara Brae, a 17th century Manor House.  The house owner, William Watt discovered the Skara Brae village site in 1850

 The various dwellings and workshops that have been excavated.

Many of the dwellings have disappeared due to the encroachment of the bay and natural erosion over the centuries

The village was abandoned around 4500years ago.  Evidence of an earlier village dating back to 2900BC has been found