By Bernie Bell
Pics by B&M Bell
It’s not a dance, or a fiddle tune – it’s a walk along the shore from St. Mary’s, Holm (pronounced Ham). You can park in a small parking place just along and across the road from an old Nissan hut called The Strond – worth mentioning, as you can’t miss it!
Then, you’ll see the sea to your left, and a loch to your right – which is a good place for bird-watching. Starting off along the track between the sea and the loch, we could see a new path, to our right, with a little bridge crossing the river…
It looks like this path would take us on a walk round the loch, but we’ll save that for next time. This time, we’re walking along the coast, looking over to Scapa Flow, where we see the first of the oil platforms….
And seals, basking on the rocks
The oil tankers and platforms of Scapa Flow make much of themselves along this stretch of coast…
The tankers, in particular, can look quite striking against the hills and the sky…
It’s quite hard to do justice to the views along this walk – we tried taking photos, but they just don’t catch the sweep of it – the sea, the Southern Isles, the sky.
It’s a walk on which to stop, and stand, and sit, and look about you…………….
There are a couple of little coves, one in-accessible …
And one accessible…
……which has a small, but interesting sea-cave – who can resist a sea-cave?
In this cove, Mike found something to delight my rusty-old-metal-loving heart – I don’t know what it is, but it reminds me of a Shaman’s mask!
Following the well-marked path, we pass through a kissing-gate, on to the tarmac road, and head downhill back towards St. Mary’s village, noticing a colourful ‘THANK YOU NHS’ sign on the wall by the first houses.
Then back to the car, and a cuppa before heading home.
Another Grand Day Out Gromit!
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