Nine BA students and two tutors set off for a days `creative rambling` round the island of Rousay.
Meeting at Tingwall, we catch the 10.40 am ferry, it`s a short 20 min crossing to the isle and on disembarking the ship we board the OC minibus for our first scheduled stop!
Midhowe Cairn
A communal tomb built about 3500 B.C.
It contained the remains of 25 bodies along
with various animal bones.
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The cairn is situated inside another building specially constructed to conserve it
with a suspended platform so a visitor can get a `birds eye` view of tomb.
A very interesting contrast between the old and new!
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Known as a `stalled` cairn, the bodies were laid out
on benches between the uprights.
Notice how the moss looks like a plush green carpet.
A panoramic view from outside the cairn,
I wonder if the view has changed much in over the last 2000 yrs?
It``s a short walk along the coast line to our next stop.............
Midhowe Broch
This pre-historic stone round house was constructed and used sometime between
200 B.C and 200 A.D. and would have been an impressive building perhaps
demonstrating the owners power and influence in the area!
These Iron age structures are unique to the north and west of Scotland.
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| View of entrance |
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| Interior walls |
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| Steel bolts and bars holding together the fragile stone pieces. |
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| Cooking up some art! |
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| View looking out towards sea. |
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| Perfectly framed! |
Our next stop was something I`d wanted to see for some time...
Ian Hamilton Finlay Sculpture
Perched on the edge of Kearfea hill over looking the sea is this 15 tonne Portland stone
with the simple inscription `Gods of the Earth/Gods of the Sea` on it.
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| The sculpture measures 330 cm x 210 cm x 74 cm Below is a link showing the installation of the works http://www.kelsen.co.uk/project/ian-hamilton-finlay |
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| Group photo. |
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| Loving their sign!! http://www.crafthuborkney.co.uk/ |
Rousay might be a small island but it has a long and interesting history,
definitely well worth a visit!!
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