For most of us the island of Hoy is the Old Man of Hoy
This, the second page of the series on Orkney has, sadly, not seen the photographer set foot on the island which lies just to the south of
'Mainland'.
However, Hoy is such a constant feature of life on the Orkneys that it seems justified in having these pictures which record some of its impact on the landscape. And the greatest impact...
...is surely the natural pillar called the Old Man of Hoy - seen above. Every few hours the ferry from the Scottish mainland to Stromness offers photographers these opportunities. The Old Man stands as a symbol for the spectacular cliffs which edge Hoy's western coast, and it is these, and the island's outline that are shown below.
Above, the hills of Hoy, and left in the foreground the Hoy High lighthouse - which is actually on the islet of Graemsay. This and the next photo...
...do adjoin - although the very different lenses stop it appearing so. Hoy's hills on the left look across to the town of Stromness, on Orkney's Mainland, dimly visible to the right above
Hoy Sound is the water which separates Hoy from the Mainland, again the 'Hoy High' lighthouse can be seen, and, as a blip, on the next headland above, is the 'Hoy Low' lighthouse
The other stretch of water separating Hoy is Scapa Flow; a haven compared to the ravages of Hoy's west seaboard
From the Mainland, because of their height, the Hoy hills are a constant presence
The sweep of the island of Hoy as seen from the coast of 'Mainland' from near Clestrain
To Hoy itself (above) one of the first views of it on leaving...
...Stromness is this beautiful bowl on its north-west corner
The 'Kame of Hoy' points north west into the Atlantic; here catching the early morning sun
Moving on from the last photo, the cliffs...
...rise to form this great buttress...
...known as 'St. John's Head' and here...
(A northern angle)
...seen in more traditional weather
(A southern angle)
The imposing edifice of the Hoy cliffs. They tower over the passing ferry to the height of 1,128 feet (335 m) - the highest vertical
sea cliffs
in the U.K.
And here at a more respectful distance, now...
...leading the eye towards the Old Man, just to their south
And so to the Old Man. A 450 feet high (137 m.) stack of...
...Old Red Sandstone that was formed, by erosion...
...some 200 years ago, and is unlikely to see...
...another 200 years, due to that same erosion
A farewell to Hoy from the south in the evening light - the Old Man, just visible at the left of the island
Trailers...
The next page
of this section has photographs from the island of Westray.
The next page
of the Mosaic Section is headed 'Self Stories'.
Or go to the contents Go to the contents of the Mosaic Section. of the Mosaic Section.
The last page had pictures from Orkney's 'Mainland'
An Arctic Fox comes to investigate the photographer at the Latrabjarg Cliffs
...guide to this site