Wednesday 3rd November 2010 - St Magnus' Cathedral And Highland Park Distillery

After breakfast, it was down to the St Magnus Centre and an opportunity to view an introduction to the story of Saint Magnus by way of an interesting video. The Centre is a great wee place to have a cup of tea or snack and browse the wee gift shop for souvenirs to take home.

A short walk across the road brought me to the Earl's Palace which, like the adjacent Bishop's Palace, was unfortunatley closed at this time of year. A walk around the grounds was, however, rewarded by several information displays explaining the story behind both of these medieval remains.

Earl's Palace, Kirkwall

Tower Of Bishop's Palace With Statue Of Bishop Reid





The Cathedral of Saint Magnus was my next port of call and I spent the next hour exploring this impressive building which is the resting place for the remains of the man himself. I booked a tour of the Cathedral tower for the next day at 11 o'clock and set off to explore Kirkwall further.

West Nave

Inside The Cathedral - A Reminder That Time Is Running Out!

The Resting Place Of The Man Himself









It was at this point that the rains returned once more and I sought shelter in Trenable's Bistro for a light lunch and drink whilst waiting for it to blow by.

When at last it did, I spent a short while in the Kirkwall Museum which contains a wealth of information of the town and Orkney itself but I had to hurry as the Highland Park Distillery was next on my list. I had to take a taxi as time was short and the last tour of the day was about to start. I arrived just in time and found that only one place was left for the tour, so my luck was in!

Entrance To Highland Park Distillery

Malting Floor

Maturation In Sherry Casks







I have been on that many whisky distillery tours that one is just the same as the other. Many on this particular tour were German divers - presumably on holiday exploring Sapa Flow and the remains of the scuttled German fleet from the First World War. They seemed to enjoy themselves especially when we returned to the Visitor Centre and our wee tasting of the product. The rest was the usual ripoff of souvenirs and such like.

I walked back to Lavrockha' B&B and a wee snooze.

A walk into town that night saw me eating a pleasant meal in Helgi's by the harbour before a couple of drink's in the Ayre Hotel and the Orkney Hotel and then a walk back up the road and my bed.