The Swan School Trip to Orkney
(Link to The Swan Trust homepage)
3^rd - 7^th June 2002
Gina Tyler
 

The Swan is a hundred year old Smack rigged Fifie and was built in 1900 in Lerwick.   Early on she worked as a herring boat and eventually took part in the seine net fishery.   She remained under sail until 1937 when she had an engine fitted. In the 1950's she was retired and towed to England to become a houseboat.   In 1990 the Swan was put up for sale and a group of enthusiasts came together as the Swan Trust, brought her back to Shetland and restored her to her original glory.   The aims of the Trust are threefold:

1. To restore and re-rig the Swan as a working and sea going sail-fishing boat
2. To ensure she is open to the public as part of Shetland's maritime and fishing heritage for future generations
3. To encourage people to sail on her, keeping alive the techniques of sailing and working a traditionally rigged Fifie.

The Swan had already visited the Isle earlier this year and all the school children were able to have a trip around the isle and experience helping putting up the sails.   This time the older pupils only were being given the opportunity to sail to Orkney and experience life on the boat for a week.

So it was on Monday 3^rd June that we all arrived at the pier with our bags and were shown down below.   We each had a small but adequate bunk.   The men; Ian, Robert and Stewart and the crew; Andrew, Don and Robbie occupied the aft cabin and the women; Jessie and me and all the rascals, Vivian, Calum, Tom, Cara, Duncan, Hannah and Lachlan occupied the main cabin.   There was also a galley, toilets and a shower.   After a safety talk we set off at about 9.30am and headed out to Orkney.   The weather wasn't great, it was windy, cold and gloomy and so were most of the children!   They did really well considering.

We arrived at our first destination, the island of Sanday about 2.30pm and were met by the familiar face of Sylvia Thorne, whose husband was the teacher on Fair Isle many years ago.   She took us all in the minibus to her house and fed us Belgian buns and drinks.   Rod arrived later and they both asked after lots of people and sent their regards.   Sylvia took us to see her school, the children had perked up by this time and enjoyed playing on the rope slide, a few of us grown ups had a go too.   The landscape of this island looked so different to Shetland, very flat and green with big sandy bays and lots and lots of cattle.   When we arrived back at the Swan a huge and delicious meal awaited us.   The first busy day was finished off by the boys trying out the fishing off the pier and the girls walking along the beach in a vain effort to see otters.

On Tuesday we got up early and had a quick breakfast so that we could arrive in good time into Kirkwall.   The weather still wasn't good but the children were great and bounced back as soon as we got there.   Transport was arranged for the afternoon and then we had a leisurely walk around Kirkwall.   Most of the shopping consisted of visiting fishing tackle shops and anywhere that sold lots of sweeties

Kirkwall is a lovely town and we had time to visit both Saint Magnus' Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace.   The Cathedral looked splendid despite the erosion of the soft red sandstone that it was constructed of. It was founded by Rognvald, the nephew of St Magnus in 1137.   The Palace dates from the early thirteenth century, but several substantial alterations have taken place since that time.   As we looked around the Palace it reminded me very much of Scalloway castle which was built in 1600 by Earl Patrick.   In fact Earl Patrick had around that time added buttresses and extensions to the existing Palace in Orkney, hence the similarities.

We returned to the boat for lunch and then set off in the vehicles for Skara Brae.   It was fascinating to visit this ancient site and try to imagine what life must have been like 5000 years ago for the inhabitants.   We also visited the nearby 17^th century Skaill House and then walked around the Ring of Brodgar and saw inside Maes Howe, a 2700 BC burial chamber with later runic inscriptions and carvings.

Before tea we set off for the swimming pool and all had great fun with the large sit-on, fall-off floats.   Back at the boat the crew had been busy with birthday decorations for Duncan and there were streamers, balloons and banners everywhere.   Hope you had a great birthday Duncan we all enjoyed the cakes!   To finish off the evening there was the statutory fishing off the pier and Ian and I tried to blag our way onto the Sea Cloud II to no avail, even though Ian said that if they were coming onto our island shouldn't we be allowed onto their boat.   Nice try but this didn't cut any ice.

The Swan

Wednesday started overcast as we set off for the ferry to Hoy.   By the time we arrived the weather had improved and we had spectacular views of the island.   The name `Hoy' is derived from the Old Norse `Haey' meaning high island.   The U-shaped glacial valleys were very impressive and we saw buzards circling the summits and short-eared owls on the moorland.   The flora was very rich too.   We had a good walk to see the Old Man of Hoy and the weather held out until we got back to the cars.   On the way back to the ferry we walked up to the Dwarfie Stane.   It is a massive piece of red sandstone that was deposited by glacial activity and hollowed out by Neolithic people 5000 years ago.

Before returning to the Mainland we stopped at the Lyness museum to see a short film about the wartime naval activities in the region.   It was very interesting as was the museum, which had many artifacts from the dives frequently undertaken in Scapa Flow.   We returned to the Mainland and went to the Churchill Barriers that were mentioned in the film (sorry Cara more old things!) and also visited the Italian Chapel.   What an astonishing achievement that is, an incredible tribute to the men's talent, imagination and dedication.

The evening was wet and windy so after tea we had a quiz and the bairns went to bed with no fishing!

On Thursday we left Kirkwall to visit the adjacent island of Shapinsay.  This was not on the itinerary but several people had told us that the gardens and castle were well worth a visit.   The tour guide met us at loam and led us down a beautiful avenue of trees and into the walled gardens.   The variety and abundance of the plants was amazing.  These Victorian gardens were meticulously planned and grew an enormous range of fruit, vegetables and flowers that you wouldn't normally associate with growing this far north.   There were espalier apple trees around the edges of the gardens and figs and nectarines in the greenhouses.   We saw, lots of butterflies in the garden and a hen harrier flew over.

Balfour Castle was also very interesting and the bairns all got to hold a Claymore from the Battle of Culloden. The castle was completed in 1848; the Balfours having extended the existing Cliffdale House built in 1796.   The house was fascinating, we saw lights set into deer antlers, marbles from Italy and were able to escape through the secret passage into the conservatory.   I would highly recommend a visit to see this island.

We returned to the boat by late morning and started to make our way up to the last island we were planning to visit, Papa Westray.   The sea was very calm and sheltered, we had lunch as we motored and even stopped for a while to catch fish. It was a lovely bright sunny afternoon and everyone was feeling fine.    At Papa Westray we were driven up to the school and had a chance to chat to the teacher before playing game of rounders with their school baims on the playing field.   It was interesting to hear about life on a similarly sized island to ours.   We had a fish supper at the school before having a short walk to see more archaeology.   We saw the Knap of Howar, a Neolithic site similar in age to Skara brae and then walked along the beach to see St Boniface's 12^th century church.

The crew suggested we moor at the neighbouring island of Westray, so we motored there on our return to the boat and went for a walk around the Bay of Pierowall to the small village.   We came back to the boat, had a snack, played a game of famous people and then settled the baims off to bed knowing that we had an 8 hour journey back to Fair Isle the next day and the weather didn't look very good for a pleasant trip.

We (the adults) stayed up and at about midnight Robbie came in to say that the sea was really calm, the wind had died away and it would be a good idea to get back to Fair Isle while everyone else was asleep.   We got all our warm waterproof clothes on, raised the sails and off we went. For me it was a memorable night sailing out to sea with the Simmer Dim lighting the way.   We kept checking the children to make sure no one got up and it wasn't until we were very close into the North Haven that the bairns started to rouse.   A good end to the week.

We all had a great trip, lots to see and do and excellent company. Thanks to Emma for the organization and the skipper and crew for making everything run so smoothly.   I definitely want another trip to Orkney soon.