Papay, or Papa Westray to give it its "proper" name is an amazing island and I can't imagine being on Westray and not catching the ferry to spend a day on Papay. There's so much to see even though the island is only 4 miles long by 1 mile wide and the same places draw us back every time no matter how many times we've visited them over the years. In 2023 we finallly made it onto the Holm of Papay to explore the amazing neolithic tomb with its famous "eyebrow" decoration on one of the side chamber lintels.
Although Papay is small enough to walk around the coast in a single day that doesn’t leave enough time to enjoy the other aspects of this wonderful place. North Hill is an RSPB nature reserve and is where we first saw the tiny Scottish Primrose among the wildflowers which carpet the ground just over the double stile at the beginning of the 15m high cliffs at Fowl Crag. The cliffs at Fowl Crag are home to many seabirds, including Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags and Kittiwakes and a small number of puffins. On the clifftop is a monument to the last surviving British Great Auk which was shot here in 1813. The hill is a nesting site for both Arctic Terns and Arctic Skuas, both of which can be very aggressive if you get too close! Further south, Black Guillemots and Shags are a common sight on the cliff edges and Eiders are also present along the coast near the ferry terminal.
The restored St Boniface Kirk has a Viking hog back gravestone in the churchyard and the chambered cairns on the Holm of Papay, a small island off the coast, have carved stones featuring an eyebrow motif.
The jewel in the crown of Papa Westray must be the Knap of Howar, the oldest standing domestic structure in North West Europe which predates the Pyramids of Egypt. There are two stone houses with a passage linking them and they were occupied for about 500 years in the Neolithic period and are thought to have been a farmstead. It’s a really special place to visit and it’s unusual if you don’t have it all to yourself!