GP Nomad: the Undiscovered Isle

The Old Beacon Tower... at a safe distance. Credit: GP Nomad

By The GP Nomad

The Stoor Worm, the world’s greatest sea monster, reared up in mortal agony. Clawing for the moon, it fell, crashing to the earth, its smashed teeth splintering into the sea. The jagged outlines of the dental debris peaked above the waves. Thus, ‘the isles’, of Orkney, came to be.

A fortuitous week’s leave from the isle of Arran allowed me to answer another Orcadian call. This time to North Ronaldsay, Orkney’s remotest island. Lying 36 miles north of Kirkwall, it is reached by a 3-hour boat ride or 30-minute flight from the Orkney mainland. Uniquely the island is completely ringed by a 6-foot high drystone wall, designed to keep its most famous residents, the North Ronaldsay sheep, not in, but out. Pushed to a life on the edge, the sheep have evolved to exist on a seaweed-only diet, creating a rich intense flavour to their much sought-after mutton.