Cribyn & N escarpment
from Pen y Fan88 The Great OutdoorsAugust 2019
remote pebble-dashed cottage,
beyond which stretched
the sea-cracked cliffs of the
island’s west coast. Almost
immediately, my view reached
as far as the cream-coloured
Noup Head Lighthouse 10km
along the trail. This oversized
milk bottle on the northern
horizon gave me my bearing.
Between here and there, the
coastline curved, rose and
zigzagged in a come-hither riot
of Orcadian geology. I pressed
on, mildly miffed to spot a
solitary walker on a headland
an hour or so ahead of me.
There was probably space for
the two of us.
Westray doesn’t do ‘busy’
- unless you count the queue
of three people for the black-
pudding-and-pear sausage
rolls at the village shop in
Pierowall – but this stretch
of its coastline is especially
isolated, with no roads to
speak of. What it does throw
up is a succession of secret
bays and narrow geos, their
high, pancake-stacked walls
hooped with natural arches
and pocked with dark sea
caves. I paused regularly, lulled
by the blustery sea views and
on one occasion entranced by
the echoing boom of the waves
smashing into one of these
caves: a deafening primal burp
repeating itself in a hidden
corner of Scotland.
This part of the island may
be secluded, but it’s far from
dormant. On my late April
visit, it was positively teeming
with seabirds. Fulmars to
begin with, dozens of them
flying solo missions along the
clifftops on Spitfire-straight
wings, then shags scudding
in black pairs offshore and,
above them, flurries of rushed
oystercatchers. By the time I
reached the cliffs that signalledthe emergence of Noup Head- a free-to-enter RSPB reserve
- feathery hell was breaking
loose. Great skuas were
conducting fly-pasts of nests
guarded by yellow-blushed
gannets, while thousands of
guillemots stood sentry on
guano-covered rock ledges.
The odd thing about nesting
guillemots is that, almost
to a bird, they face the cliff
rather than the sea. There
are doubtless logical reasons
for this, I thought as I made
my way down the quiet lane
from the lighthouse back into
Pierowall, but I think I’d be
more tempted to face out at the
steely breeze-whipped blue of
the Atlantic. It’s what I’d spent
most of the day doing, after all.
That solo walker was the only
other human I saw astir from
beginning to end – and I’ll
bet he had as good a time
as I did.
Further information
Maps: OS 1:25,000
Explorer sheet 464
(Westray, Papa Westray,
Rousay, Egilsay & Wyre)Transport: No public
transport to start.
The main shop in Pierowall,
W.I.Rendall, can arrange
transport for walkers to the
trailhead at East Kirbest
for £10. Phone 01857
677389 in advance.i
Information: Destination
Orkney TIC, 01856- orkney.com and rspb.
org/reserves-and-events/
reserves-a-z/noup-cliffs/
[Captions clockwise from top]
The long west coast of Westray
serves up a succession of empty,
spectacular headlands; Built in
1898, Noup Head lighthouse sits
on Westray’s northwestern tip;
Gannets and guillemots nesting
on the cliffs at Noup Head