The Tour That Should Have Been - ORKNEY

Following the planned Edinburgh tour that was scheduled for this year - before we were all placed into a worldwide time out, I had planned a tour to Orkney. I love Orkney. The landscape, the sea, the history, the people and the much more relaxed pace of life. I was really looking forward to introducing others to this beautiful corner of the world. 

A small group of us had planned to travel together from Edinburgh, stopping at Arbroath to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath. One of the tour participants has ancestral ties to Arbroath so it was going to be an opportunity to connect with and learn more about one of her ancestral towns. 

A visit to the Abbey, 

a wander around the shoreline

 and lunch at the Brewhouse 

where we could enjoy a plate of Smokies. 

Then it was going to be onto Aberdeen for the 7 hour ferry to Kirkwall. In addition to the research time at the Library, Archives and Family History Society, we had plans to tour the mainland. Time at the Neolithic sites of Skara Brae, Stones of Stenness and Ring of Brodgar, and a visit to Maeshowe. 

Time at Orkney Brewery, the Broch of Gurness and a trip across the Churchill Barriers to see the magnificent Italian Chapel. 

We were looking forward to spending time in the ancient city of Kirkwall and the less well known but every bit historic town of Stromness. 

I had planned to take the  overland route back to Glasgow, staying in Kingussie so I could visit the Highland Folk Museum and Stanley Mills. 

The Orkney tour has been rescheduled to May 2021.