Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands: Keeping it All Together

Paul Murton sets out to experience island life on the myriad of islands that lie off the Scottish coast. In this edition, he examines the mechanics required to keep the 70 islands in the Orkney archipelago connected. He begins his journey at North Ronaldsay, with its well-connected transport system, before island hopping to the isolated Papa Stronsay, now populated by an order of monks. Paul's final destination is the most southerly of the Orkneys, the island of Stroma in the Pentland Firth. This island is no longer inhabited despite being only two miles from the mainland, as life there became too difficult. Paul visits Stroma with one of the last islanders to live there, who recalls what it was like when it was still a thriving community.