Aug 7 Kirkwall Orkney Islands

First time ever in the Orkney Islands, part of UK.  The attraction for us was Scapa Flow, the large natural harbor that was home to the British Fleet in WW1 and WW2.  We selected an excursion south of Kirkwall, to include the Scapa Flow area.

Apparently this sign was edited to provide a precise length for the humps.

 Our first stop was at the Italian Chapel.  The abbreviated story is: Italian POWs were brought here to build barricades across the openings from Scapa Flow to the North Sea after a daring German submarine entered and sank the HMS Royal Oak early in WW2.  The POWs wanted a church and were allowed to do so, but only with concrete and quonset huts and anything they could scrounge.  The statue here, of St. George and the dragon, was made from concrete and barbed wire.

 The tile floor came from tiles liberated from sunken ships currently in the channels over which the Italians were building the barriers.

 The walls are actually paper, painted to look like tile.  The stations of the cross are a later, wooden, addition to the church.

 Here's a closeup so you can see the wallpaper like construction of the walls.

 Baptismal font done in concrete.

 The iron work was liberated from the sunken ships and reworked into the delicate patterns seen.

 Here you can see that it's really a Quonset hut with a facade.

 This is one of the blocking ships sunken in the channel.  The Brits originally thought this was sufficient, but it wasn't, as is true of so many things in war.

 Diving on the wrecks is a small business here.

 One of the "Churchill barriers" today.  Big rocks followed by little rocks followed by dirt and grass.

 We continued south to St. Margaret's Hope, a small farming town.  The agricultural exhibition was underway.

 The locals were enriched by our visit.

 Fishing is the big industry in the Orkneys.

 They do raise dairy cows, and are very proud of their milk and cheese.  The ice cream is delicious.

 A total of 4 Churchill barriers were built across 4 openings.  Here's one seen from a distance.

 Another block ship

 Artillery emplacement protecting Scapa Flow in WW2

 After the tour we walked into town.  The biggest attraction was the church