Walk: Cowed by coos at Quoyness Cairn

Orkney | Sanday | Short walk | ★★★

[Quoyness Chambered Cairn]

Quoyness Cairn showcases Orkney's Neolithic history at its finest. This 5,000 year-old tomb is one of Europe's best: a hefty construction with a 9 metre-long entrance passageway you need to negotiate to get inside. The reward for muddy knees is a hugely impressive and 4 metre-high interior ceiling above the central chamber, with 6 separate cells leading off it. The short walk from the nearest road takes in the beautiful bay at Quoy Ayre, and would be straightforward if it weren't for the nervous herd of cows densely occupying the confined field through which the access path passes when we visited. Probably best to stick to the partly-obscured, seaward side and exercise caution.

[Quoy Ayre]

📌 Walk: Cowed by coos at Quoyness Cairn ★★★
Start / finish at car park on track at Quoy Ayre, 2 mi southwest of Lady Village, Sanday, G.R.: HY 677390 ///mural.shadows.spades. Access track to the car park involves a kilometre of rough track, initially on gravel and then on sand.

▶ 2 km / 1 mi | ▲ Negligible | ⌚ Short | ⬤ Easy
Features: Quoy Ayre; Quoyness Chambered Cairn
Terrain: Rough, grassy track through field. Take a torch for the cairn interior.

Route & map

Car park & Quoy Ayre - Quoyness Cairn - return by outward route


Route credit: Scotland Off the Beaten Track

On our visit

Wildlife: Troublesome cows in the field.
Weather: Plenty of sunshine, some cloud; temperature in low teens with light breeze.

Also on this walk

📌 Quoyness Chambered Cairn ★★★★
Access from track to Quoy Ayre, 2 mi south of Lady Village, Sanday, G.R.: HY 677378 ///beginning.whispers.hazel
Always open | Free

Anything else? Quickest access by walk route above. Take a torch to explore the cairn, although one may be available on site.

[North side of the cairn]

Comments

Post a comment

Popular posts from this blog

Walk: Livingston's jaw-dropping waterfall

Image
West Lothian | Livingston | Short walk | ★★★
❕ Route currently impassable - see red text below

What springs to mind when someone mentions Livingston, West Lothian? Sprawling road junctions, retail parks, 1960s architecture... how about a splendid waterfall? Under a mile from the town's southernmost suburbs, the Camilty Water drops into a short but beautiful gorge sharply at odds with the gentleness of the surrounding farmland. Two substantial waterfalls and several smaller ones tumble into the depths; the largest is actually fed by a crumbling mill lade (the mill no longer exists) but this isn't obvious from below. Parking is limited, but the walk from the nearest road begins promisingly. The last few hundred metres of the route are however a bit sketchy: stepping stones across a side burn, and a very slippery slope to reach the best viewpoint - more details below.

Important

The house and gardens alongside the path are someone’s home, and although we have a so-called "right…
Read more

Walk: Where's Whangie?

Image
Stirling | Kilpatrick Hills | Half day walk | ★★★★

The Whangie is one of those downright bizarre features (with a bizarre name to match) that Scotland provides in abundance. It's an unexpected rocky cleft with 50-foot walls in the middle of the grassy, relatively featureless Kilpatrick Hills. The gap is probably the result of a gradual landslip and you can walk right along the bottom of it; it's also perfect for both simple and serious rock scrambling. The views north are superb for the entirety of the approach, but a short detour to Auchineden Hill's summit is also recommended with Glasgow laid out to the south, just 10 miles distant. This is a short and popular walk, but there's a profusion of paths in the immediate area which don't all end up at the destination. The Whangie itself is hidden until you're practically upon it, and if you don't take a map you can easily end up wandering the plateau in circles, wondering where it is (ahem)...


📌 Walk: Where&#…
Read more

Loup of Fintry

Image
Stirling | Fintry | Waterfall | ★★★★

Winding through gently scenic nowhere land between the Campsie Fells and Fintry Hills, the Endrick Water unexpectedly takes an almighty 94-foot plunge into a side-on gorge. This is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the Scottish Lowlands (although Corra Linn and Grey Mare's Tail both come close), so why it's not better known is something of a mystery. Perhaps it's because the Carron Valley Reservoir upstream blocks much of the burn's catchment area, so waiting until after a period of local heavy rain is even more important than with other waterfalls. Nevertheless, this awesome cataract should be right at the top of your list.


Location & info

📌 Loup of Fintry ★★★★
By the B818 1 mi east of Carron Valley Reservoir dam, G.R.: NS 662862 ///breezy.operation.survived
Always open | Free

Anything else? There are informal laybys with space for about 5 cars in total on both sides of the road near Gallows Knowe, G.R.: NS 661864 ///than…
Read more