After the excitement of boat trips over the last three days, today was a return to dry land. Well, that was the plan anyway. Looking out of the window this morning suggested that there would be nothing really dry today with rain pouring down. The rain rarely stops us though, and we are glad it didn’t as it cleared up. Our aim of today was to reach Tor Ness lighthouse on the west coast of Hoy. I knew this one was never going to be easy. If it had been we would have done it a couple of years ago when we looked out towards it. That day the rain did stop us, along with the cows and the fact that we had our then 2-year-old son with us. We knew it wouldn’t have made for an enjoyable trip so it was postponed. This trip to Orkney seemed like the best time to do it. We were child-free and had John, who has already walked out to Tor Ness, with us to lead the way – or at least that was the plan!

We easily found the farm from which you can access the lighthouse, but we weren’t comfortable parking there so returned to the main road and parked up in a lay-by. As we walked up the road towards and through the farm we were wary of the barking dog on the left and then the bull and two calves with their mother in the field to the right. This wasn’t going to be an easy one, we could already tell. Fortunately the dog was inside and the cows in the small field watched us but didn’t seem too bothered. We then followed the track between the fields which was fine and I was secretly wishing that the track would go with us all of the way to the lighthouse.

The track ended at a gate into a field where a number of cows and a bull were hanging around. The three of us are all a bit concerned about cows and so we lingered at the gate for a while, trying to decide which route to take to avoid being trampled. John showed us the route he had taken by cutting along the fence line down to the beach, but it seemed the cows had preempted that and positioned themselves exactly across the route John would have taken that time. While we faffed about, trying to work out what to do, the cows slowly began moving over to the left and after a while the area alongside the fence on the right became clear. John bravely decided to be the one who went first to check out the cows reaction. Fortunately they seemed fine so we followed on behind. The cows weren’t bothered by us, but we hurried on along the fence line anyway and we soon felt we were out of the danger zone.

We then came across some rather boggy ground and managed to negotiate our way around it, but I don’t think any of us came out with dry feet (Bob’s shoes were still wet from paddling yesterday when he was helping to move the tender). We then reached higher ground and Bob suggested sticking to the coastline so we did. I didn’t realise why at the time, but discovered later that there was a reason for this, and it wasn’t just the great sea views. The walk out from here was fine. A little boggy in places, but nothing too bad. We could see the lighthouse which helped to push us on. It was getting really quite hot by this point as the sun had come out and there was very little wind.

Tor Ness lighthouse is a fairly unique one. While the tower that houses the light is similar to the one we saw on Cava yesterday and a number of others, it is accompanied by another round tower and the Northern Lighthouse Board name plate is on this extra tower. A different tower was here previously, but I’m not sure if this other building was part of that or just required for storage. This little feature makes it more recognisable, which is always nice. There is a brick (or unpainted) section around the door of the second tower. I’m not sure if they left that bit for a reason or for decorative purposes.

 

There’s a fantastic view of the lighthouse from the little bit of cliff that juts out just to the south of the lighthouse – or at least there is when the sun is on that side of the tower. Bob discovered it first of course and it was only after we then wandered around behind the lighthouse that we realised that particular section of cliff is overhanging underneath. Pretty scary, but everything was fine. With the blue skies every angle on this one was great. It was a real achievement to get to this one as I’d seen it from a distance and seen the light flashing from Dunnet Head. The biggest achievement though would be to get back in one piece!

We began the journey and seemed to be taking more of a cross-country route. It was a bit boggy, but not too bad. John pointed out a bird being attacked by what looked like an Arctic Skua and it was then that I was made aware of the bonxies off to the right, which of course left me cowering in fear. Bob had spotted them on the way out, but had suggested taking the coastal route in order to avoid them. He knows better than to tell me when bonxies are about as it immediately gets me stressed. Fortunately they were fine with us though and there was no need to worry – although I still did, of course.

All of the way back we were thinking about the cows and bull and where they would be. John got his camera out and had a look around using his zoom. It turned out that, rather annoyingly, they were in the worst place possible, right by the gate we needed to get through. They may well have been fine and moved away if we had gone near, but we weren’t willing to take the risk.

We followed the same fence line along as we had on the way out, but when we reached a gate into the next field we hopped through it and followed the line of the wall. The cows watched us, but we felt more comfortable with a fence and wall between us and them. There was a bit of damage to the wall part way up the field and Bob suggested we get over the wall into the next field, from which we could then get back onto the normal path. He tested the wire in the fence to see if the electricity going to it was turned on. After checking a couple of times, he was sure it was off so he went to step over and a moment later he retreated backwards and I put my hands out to stop him falling over. It turned out the electric fence was on. So we abandoned that option and walked to the top of the field where there was a gate.

 

We managed to get into the next field, which would take us down to the main track again. This field was filled with growing vegetables and such like so we skirted around the outside. Aside from the nettles and thistles prickling my legs it was all going ok until I fell down a hole – or at least my leg did. Not ideal, but I was fine and continued on – and John who was behind me learnt not to step where I had. As we neared the corner closest to the field with the cows in they all moved away and we realised that maybe it would have been fine anyway. We finally reached the gate and could see people working up at the farm. I had visions of them flying down on a quad bike to confront us about walking through their field, but they didn’t. In fact they drove off just as we were approaching the farm so I thought they couldn’t have been that annoyed.

The bull in the field with his family watched us pass and John paid the bull compliments as we passed in an effort to stop him marching through the wall to get us, which he wouldn’t have done anyway. There was no dog barking at the house and we finally made it back to the car – where we were attacked by midges. I must say I was very relieved to have made it back safely.

We then took a quick spin along to Cantick Head to see the lighthouse quickly. While we’d had lovely sunshine on the walk it was so misty here that we could barely see the lighthouse as we approached. In complete contrast to the weather when we saw it yesterday, and in fact when I first saw it. That’s often the joy of these places, each visit is different.

I realise that the majority of this post has been describing the journey to and from Tor Ness, but when you’ve been doing this for a while you realise that (as stated in the Hokey Cokey) that’s what it’s all about! 🙂