If you frequent the same parts of the internet that I do you may have stumbled across the island of Westray on your virtual travels. Loganair's "milk round" flight from Westray to the neighbouring island of Papa Westray is the world's shortest regular commercial flight - barely two minutes including take-off, landing and taxi-ing. Tom Scott (a fellow York graduate, although to my knowledge our paths have never crossed) is the latest celebrity YouTuber to hop aboard, and as I write this, his video has amassed over 2.7 million views in a shade under two weeks. That's more than 4,590 times the actual population of Westray (588 at the 2011 census), so let's hope they don't all plan to visit at once. By coincidence, I arrived on Westray on the same day that Tom posted his video.
I had hoped that there was much more to Westray though than some YouTubers boarding a Britten-Norman Islander with a GoPro camera. As you may already have deduced by the very existence of this article, I am very pleased to report back positively.
I arrived on Westray not by plane but by Orkney Ferry to Rapness, in the south of the island. There's not much to Rapness other than the pier, but the community bus arrived to whisk me northwards to the main settlement, Pierowall. Not far from Rapness is Castle o' Burrian, a squat sea stack and one of the very best places in the entire UK to watch puffins. Sadly I missed puffin season by a few weeks. Not this time.
Crescent-shaped bays and beaches are endemic to Orkney, and Pierowall stretches around one such bay, facing east looking across the Papa Sound to Papa Westray. The Noup Cliffs and higher ground around North Hill and Couters Hill shelter the village from the very worst of the Atlantic weather - if you head due west from Westray the next land you'll reach is Labrador on the Canadian east coast.
Pierowall hosts the Westray Heritage Centre, housed in a former village hall. Their small but fascinating collection includes two pieces of national importance. The Westray Stone is a large neolithic carving, thought to be over 4,000 years old, discovered by accident in the local quarry in 1981. The Westray Wife (sometimes referred to as the Orkney Venus) is a tiny neolithic figurine around 5,000 years old and found in 2009 - the earliest carving of a human form ever to be found in Scotland.
Next door to the Heritage Centre is the Pierowall Hotel, and after being informed that on this particular Monday night the Hotel is the only place on the island serving evening meals, I booked a table before heading out to explore.
Noup Head marks Westray's north-westernmost point. On the headland is the Noup Head lighthouse, built in 1898 and one of many designed and constructed by the Stevenson family. To the south of the lighthouse is the Noup Cliffs nature reserve, which is under the care of the RSPB. With the weather benign, it was time to enjoy a cliff-top hike high above the Atlantic waves.
There are a number of routes to Noup Head depending on your transport options and your energy levels. With a suitably rugged vehicle, you can drive all the way up to the lighthouse gate. An informal parking area near the farm at Backarass provides access to a loop of just over four miles. For those with a willing volunteer driver, a path runs the entire length of the west coast of the island from a small parking area at Kirbest. Et moi? I turned the loop into a lasso by walking along the minor roads from Pierowall to Backarass.
The road out of Pierowall climbs slowly west, past the golf course (I am no golfer, but even I thought it looked like a fabulous place to play) and up to the remains of Noltland Castle. The castle was built for Gilbert Balfour, the sort of person who could easily have been the inspiration for a Game of Thrones villain. The castle looks moderately impressive from a distance but I found it rather underwhelming up close. It just isn't a very pretty castle - from a distance it looks like it has a shapely rounded tower, but this is just the deceptive pose of a flat wall. The site is looked after by Historic Environment Scotland and is free to enter, so you might as well have a nosy.
Noltland Castle
From the castle, the road climbs up to Backarass. Here, I left the road behind for the steady footpath down to the cliffs, and my first proper sight of Westray's jagged western coast. From here, the path follows the cliff-top all the way to the lighthouse.
It's worth a pause here (in the article) to talk about the terrain. It's up-and-down but never steep. The cliffs reach 76m at their high point near the lighthouse. The path never runs along an exposed cliff-edge but there is ample opportunity to test your bravery (or foolishness) if you do wish to venture a little closer for a photograph. There are a couple of points where rising ground in front of the path makes it hard to judge your distance from a potential plummet - and these tend to coincide with the places where the path is least distinct. Please take care. I should definitely also point out that on this path at least, "ladder stile" is a literal description. Not high ladders, but definitely ladders.
Noup Cliffs footpath
(Note: please ignore the elevation chart on the OSMaps route - clearly the GPS was not accurate enough to cope with a cliff-top walk. I want to reassure you that I did not jump off or climb up any sea cliffs!)
It is also worth a pause upon reaching the cliff path, because there's a great view from here of the coastline running south, including the most dramatic of several natural rock arches visible on the west coast of Westray.
Natural rock arch south of Noup Cliffs nature reserve
I'm going to leave the seabird commentary to those with more knowledge than I do, much as this is not a high bar to set. The main nesting season was over by the time of my late August visit, but there was still plenty of activity including gannets nesting on the cliffs below. The local sheep and hares also seemed much more blasé about the cliff edge than I did with my tentative steps (still well back from the drop!) to try to get a better photo angle.
Noup Cliffs
That’s a 60m cliff behind the sheep!
The Noup Head lighthouse marks the north-western tip of Westray and arguably the north-western tip of the whole Orkney Islands. It looks spectacular, and I found myself imagining the cacophony at the height of seabird season, or the terrifying howl of a brutal winter's night with the Atlantic crashing onto the rocks below. It was probably for the best that I visited on a calm and dry day, with dinner booked for later back in Pierowall.
Noup Head lighthouse
Noup Head selfie
Noup Head trigpoint
I walked back to the village along the road. Westray's northern coast is a little more rolling and less dramatic, but it still provides a gorgeous backdrop. Near the derelict North House, the gravel road becomes paved, just in time for an unwelcome pull back up the hill to Backarass. From there, I retraced my steps along the minor roads through the farmland, enjoying the view that the slight elevation provides over the Bay of Pierowall.
My evening meal at the Pierowall Hotel was excellent. I would recommend the local crab starter.
North House ruins
Bay of Pierowall
About the walk, and getting to Westray
Click here to download my Noup Head route map. As I mentioned earlier, please disregard the faulty elevation chart!
You can reach Westray by Orkney Ferries or Loganair from Kirkwall.
In summer, the Westray bus service meets every ferry arrival. In winter, the bus runs on request.
Getting to Orkney is a whole article in itself, but in the meantime you can visit the “Getting Here” page on the Orkney tourist information site (possibly the best tourist information site I’ve ever stumbled across, incidentally).