Banchory Veterans' Hill-walkers

Today we headed south east on the mainland to the Deerness peninsula for a walk round Mull Head Nature Reserve: The first feature we came across was The Gloup, a deep collapsed sea cave: It was a lovely cliffs walk with several inlets: Ken checks the options Ruby tries hard to keep up with Nigel One building we came across was revealed as a former chapel: An appropriate place for a (Vicky-less) team photo At one of the inlets there was an option to descend using some wooden and stone steps. When we got down to sea level, there was a further option to climb up the other side on a chain walk. There was only one way back after that - we had to retrace our steps: Jeb leads the way with Steve and Vicky following on, using the chain to ensure no slippages on the rocky path. After all this interesting and exciting way out to Mull Head, the return was a little disappointing - across grassy fields then up a narrow boggy heather path. Here's the stats: Lunch was at the nearby  Deerness Disti...

Our first full day and Ken had some treats planned but, first - to work - a clifftop walk at Marwick Head to take in the Kitchener Memorial. Most of the walls in Orkney, unlike the dry stane dykes in Aberdeenshire and beyond, are constructed of Orkney flagstones - finely laminated sedimentary rocks that are found on virtually every coastline. They split easily in to flat thin slabs, ideal for wall construction: We walked up a slight hill towards the large memorial and the information board about the sinking of HMS Hampshire: More information about the memorial: We completed the circular walk and looked back at where we'd been - Marwick Head: and, of course, there was another information board: The stats for our short morning walk were: Next - our treat - lunch at Orkney Brewery, a superbly appointed tourist hot spot, very professionally done - gift shop, restaurant and bar plus the brewery itself. Ken had booked us in for lunch and a brewery tour but we were a little early and no t...

Jeb and Vicki had taken the overnight ferry from Aberdeen so were having a leisurely breakfast at the Orkney Hotel in Kirkwall as the other 5 of us set off in two cars - Dave and Ken (plus Ruby) in one and Nigel, Steve and me in the other - all of us on the long drive to Scrabster. Both cars made it in good time and the ferry to Stromness was very punctual and surprisingly smooth as we crossed the notoriously bumpy Pentland Firth. The sailing took us past the famous Old Man of Hoy: Jeb and Vicky were waiting to meet us at Stromness and all 7 of us set off on a stroll round the village and surrounds. Our walk took us past the Ness Battery and also 3 small containers, not much larger than a telephone booth, one of them labelled the "Sauna Wanna": Would you use this? I wouldn't. The walk was circular - I took a quick selfie/team photo on the return half: There was the usual information board: Here's the stats for our short stroll: We all then headed over to Kirkwall to c...