5 reasons to visit Wyre

A few days ago, I took a ferry to Wyre, one of Orkney’s smallest inhabited islands (with a population of 8 according to a 2022 census). That may not seem to be an astounding thing to do, except that I was the only person to disembark from the ferry as it landed, and later that day, I was the only one to leave.

I thought it was a shame that more people don’t visit, as I spent a delightful day discovering Wyre’s treasures – all whilst being blown along by the wind!

Here are 5 reasons to visit Wyre…

1. The walk around the coast is wonderful

On the map, Wyre sits close to the islands of Rousay and Egilsay, and it resembles the tip of a spear (which is the meaning of its Old Norse name ‘Vigr’.) The island is mostly quiet farmland and low-lying – the tallest point is just 32m above sea level.

A single road runs though the middle of the island, and I took that as far as it would go. Then I decided to follow the coast.

Wyre’s shores are rocky, and, as it is sheltered by being so close to Rousay, a haven for ducks and diving birds. At the far end of Wyre, known as the Taing, there are two tiny inland lochs, and just off the coast, some seal skerries. Because fewer people tramp along Wyre’s coastal path, it is rougher underfoot than country paths you may find elsewhere.

As I made my way around the island, I got soaked by a passing rain shower, but within a half an hour, my clothes had dried in the sun and the wind.

Eventually, on the eastern shore, I reached Skermie Clett, which is a circular Bronze Age livestock enclosure – one of the finest examples from that period in Scotland. There are some impressive boulders nearby – I enjoyed my sandwich and a biscuit while sitting on one. You can find Skermie Clett for yourself at what3words ///magic.respected.leathers

I took some photos of Skermie Clett using my drone, but it was so windy I struggled to control it – the drone was nearly blown out to sea. After some nerve-wracking attempts to get a nice shot, I packed the drone away and made my way back to the road.

2. To learn about island life in the community centre

When I visited Wyre previously, I stopped by the old community centre, which started life as the wooden canteen for the Stronsay fish factory, then became an Armed Forces canteen in Holm during World War 2. Finally, it was transported to Wyre to be used as the island’s community centre.

Unfortunately, in 2020 it was in such poor condition that it had to be completely replaced. Great care has been made to make the new building welcoming and informative. As well as having info panels on the walls, books to look at, and community records to browse, there is also a toilet and a kitchen with tea and coffee-making facilities. I appreciated being there while another rain shower made music on the windows.

On the community centre wall there are charming tales of island life from Margaret Flaws, who lived on Wyre from 1938 to 2020, and was the last teacher at the Wyre school.

My favourite story was related to Wyre only receiving mains electricity in 1970. Up until that point, each house has its own generator – and these gave a thin supply of electricity – enough to light a house and boil the kettle. These generators were temperamental and required a steady load, so Wyre residents always left their house lights on. Margaret noted that long after the introduction of mains electricity, her family were still in this habit – and would leave all the lights on everywhere they went!

Margaret also described the unique aspects of living on a small island – including the small school, the famous Wyre band, shopping, and how the community hall became a church one Sunday a month and was often used as a cinema. The islanders had to wait patiently while reels were changed during a screening, but more intervals meant more gossip! There was also extra suspense added to movies shown in Wyre, as reels sometimes broke during the exciting bits.

3. To visit Cubbie Roo’s Castle

The best-known place in Wyre is Cubbie Roo’s Castle, and 900 years ago this was the stronghold of a Viking chieftain called Kolbein Hruga. Say the name out loud and you’ll see how it transformed to Cubbie Roo!

Kolbein Hruga was farming on Wyre at a time when Norse rule in the islands was still quite bloody (St Magnus was murdered on nearby Egilsay less than 50 years before). So, his reasons for building a castle three storey’s tall which offered a commanding view over the island and the surrounding seas maybe aren’t too mysterious!

Cubbie Roo’s Castle was built in 1145 and finally abandoned in the 1500s. All that remains now are the foundations, but it was a fine solid square stone building with walls 1.7m thick! It’s one of the earliest stone-built castles in Scotland, but when I visited, I realised the rooms inside can’t have been big – each wall is less than 8m long.

For that reason, though the castle offered a superb vantage point and a secure place to retreat if attacked (it withstood a siege in 1231), the nearby farmstead, the Bu, is thought to have been Kolbein Hruga’s more comfortable living quarters. ‘Bu’ is an Old Norse word for the principal farm of an estate. Centuries on, a new farmhouse was built at the Bu, and this was the childhood home of the writer Edwin Muir (1887 – 1959).

As I walked towards the castle I passed St Mary’s Chapel. This place of worship was built after Cubbie Roo’s castle – either for Kolbein or for his son Bjarni who became bishop of Orkney in 1188. The chapel was rebuilt in the late 1800s, but it is now roofless. The kirkyard is still a place where islanders bury their dead.

On my visit I flew the drone to take shots of Cubbie Roo’s Castle and St Mary’s Chapel from the air. However strong gusts of wind blew it off course and I had to crash-land the drone to stop it from being lost! I think I managed to get some nice photos though – I hope you’ll agree.

4. There’s so much nature to see

Wyre is so very quiet that I really felt like I had the island to myself. And because the island is so sparsely populated, wildlife thrives here.

The road though the island is a single track, and its verges were overgrown, making it even narrower! I saw no traffic during my time on Wyre, and as I wandered down the road, I enjoyed seeing wagtails fearlessly bouncing around on the tarmac in a way they would not do on many other islands.

On the coast, geese flew from the fields, and I saw eider ducks and long-tailed ducks in the sea, each mum followed by a small flotilla of ducklings. Around the coast I heard the raspy cries of Arctic Terns. In the fields you can spot oystercatchers, lapwings, curlew, and skylarks. As I neared Skermie Clett, a Meadow Pipit flew past my ankle!

The fields are busy with sheep and cattle, and wildflowers are everywhere. Out on the low rocks of the seal skerry, the seals looked like they were lying on the water’s surface. I could’ve sworn I saw a corncrake as I went down a lonely grassy track.

Though I wasn’t lucky enough to see any myself, otters are frequently spotted plunging in and out of the glistening water at the ferry pier, hunting for their supper!

5. It’s so easy to get there!

As Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre are located so close to each other, the ferry from the Orkney Mainland takes in all three islands on most runs!

So, to reach Wyre, all you need to do is take an Orkney Ferries ship from Tingwall on the Orkney Mainland. The journey took 50 minutes (sailing to Rousay and Egilsay first) and cost me the princely sum of £10.60 return in 2026.

The other nice thing about Wyre is that it is so small, you can see much of what it has to offer in less than a day. I visited in the morning and was back on the Orkney mainland by 2pm, ready to explore elsewhere.

I’m always the supporter of an underdog, and Wyre feels like that in island form. I could have spent much longer there, but I left the island with a smile on my face, having had the most lovely time, lost between raincloud and sun, exploring castles and coasts.

By Magnus Dixon
Orkney and Shetland enthusiast, family man, loves walks, likes animals, terrible at sports, dire taste in music, adores audiobooks and films, eats a little too much for his own good.

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