SMALL BUT PERFECTLY FORMED
Situated between the strong tidal streams between Stromness and Hoy, Graemsay is easily in reach by passenger ferry from Stromness.
This green and fertile island is well worth a visit, and is ideal for walkers keen to experience its circular route around the small island offering stunning views from every aspect.
Features of the island include its two lighthouses — Hoy High and Hoy Low.
Wartime buildings, which once housed guns and searchlights, are also a feature, and were once vital to protect the western entrance of Scapa Flow during wartime.
Sandside Beach is a lovely area to stop off, and you may even find you have it all to yourself.
Being situated in Hoy Sound, where the Atlantic funnels into Scapa Flow, there have been several shipwrecks in the area.
In 1866, one such sailing ship, the Albion, was on a voyage between Liverpool and New York.
However, during a storm, it was at the Point of Oxan in Graemsay that she wrecked on New Year’s Day, with the loss of ten lives.
These included passengers from the ship, and Graemsay man Joseph Mowat, who had been involved in the rescue operation.
The ship was carrying emigrants and a cargo of pottery, fragments of which, it is said, can still sometimes be discovered on the shore.