Westray wearing high heels
Westray wears its working clothes most of the time. It has an endless supply of beautiful green garments which it accessorises with …
Rock ledges
The sedimentary rock on Westray breaks into hundreds of ledges where the layers of time wear them away.
Lines and circles
Rock lines and circles surround us in a sea cave on Westray.
Boulders on my border
The mini-boulders on Westray’s beaches are a never-ending source of stripes and spots of beautiful muted colours.
Cracks in the paving
I could stand and stare at the stone Orkney beaches for hours; and I sometimes do.
Drips
Drips of water run down the cliffs on Westray.
Green pool
Walking along Westray’s rocky shores through a rock arch and into and out of caves we come across this dripping waterfall with …
Westray sea cave
Wandering along the coast of Westray it’s sometimes hard to tell what’s in the cliffs below. Only when there’s a promontory can …
Wrinkled and cracked
The exposed rocks of Westray are endlessly fascinating even if you’re not a geologist.
Fish scales at Snaky Noust
‘Scattered fish scales of Osteolepis are common at Snaky Noust.’ From the wonderful Westray Heritage Centre.
Wet pebbles
The pebbles are beautiful and wet inside the mouth of this sea cave on Westray.
Diamonds under your feet
I love the way Westray’s flagstones break naturally into diamond shapes over their surface.
Rock rings like tree rings
Orkney used to be a lake. Most of its rocks are from the mud at the bottom of that lake or from …
Boulder clay
These small red cliffs on Westray look just like Boulder Clay to me. I loved studying physical geography as a child, after …
The stranger on the shore
Westray has no sandstone rocks, yet it has occasional sandstone pebbles on its beaches. Here’s one. It was brought from the island …
Stones in deeply etched caves
We’re exploring caves around the coast of Westray when we discover this wonderful depression filled with stones and pebbles inside a deeply …
The Grip of Cleaton
The history of Westray is told in two small volumes. One is its telephone directory, with its handful of names, many of …
Mud cracks, mud cracks everywhere!
Orkney is full of stone which shows fossilised wave patterns and mud cracks. Orkney’s geological history has been a complex one involving …
Tree-ring cobbles
On Westray the traces of Lake Orcadie are everywhere. 380 million years ago this land we now call Westray was in the …
These boots were made for walking
A rock arch on Westray, at Backarass.
Pebbles, Cobbles and Boulders
I’ve always loved the Westray beach with “The really big pebbles.” I recently discovered that a pebble can’t be any bigger than 64 mm. I think this one must count as a cobble.
Drip drip drip
If you ever feel as if what you do makes no difference, as if you’re up against overwhelming odds or pushing against …
Three ways down
I’m walking on the cliffs at Stanger Head past the Castle o’ Burrian and climbing up a rock crack when two tourists …
Giant Pebble
A giant pebble at Rack Wick.
Rocks from Lake Orcadie
I love the rocks on Orkney. The whole area of Greenland, Shetland, Orkney and down to the Moray Firth was once a …
The red hand of seaweed
The red hand of seaweed grasps a pebble at Rack Wick.