Virda Field

One of the many fine stretches of coast on Papa Stours, Aesha Head is the furthest west point of the main island, though there are various smaller islands and skerries beyond.

This is a closer view of the fine arch in Aesha Head, with a glimpse of Lyra Skerry beyond.

Actually, it isn't the Kirstan's Hole (or Christie's Hole) shown on the maps, but a second hole which opened suddenly a few years ago, where previously there had been a depression in the ground, into the same sea-cave system as the original Kirstan's Hole.

These boulders, thrown up by the waves to form a storm beach 30 metres above the sea, demonstrate the power of the seas which pound the exposed north side of Papa Stour

Several traditional mills straddle this little burn. Inside the building was a fixed lower millstone, and a rotating upper millstone driven by the water falling on to the paddles below, which were mounted at 45º to the vertical drive shaft.

The interior of Papa Stour is mainly moorland, though there are several lochans in the central part. This one's curious name reflects its closeness to the sea, from which it is cut off only by an ayre or shingle spit.

One of the many inlets typical of the north coast of Papa Stour.

The concrete and iron are the only remains of a World War Two observation post that used to stand here. As can be seen from the image, in good visibility this location provides an excellent view of the surrounding area.

At less than 20 metres high this little stack is not as impressive as it's compatriots such as a little down the coast HU1461, but facing out onto the North Atlantic the situation is wild and imposing. As with most sea stacks, this has probably formed and survived through being constituted from rock that is more solid and stable than that washed out from around them. In many cases this results in providing ideal rock climbing routes in spectacular locations. In this case, the rock visible in this image is of a good solid nature but as can be seen more clearly in HU1560 : The problem with sea stacks... it is overhanging and in addition lacks much in the way of cracks in which to place rock climbing protection. Taken together these would make this an extremely difficult climb even if top roped. The side of the stack facing away to the right of the image is also overhanging, albeit to a lesser extent, but the rock is somewhat green and slimy making it an unattractive ascent route. Gaining access to the stack also presents some problems. The water foaming around the stack prevents easy access by boat and even on a comparatively calm day such as that pictured here would make swimming to the stack a highly dangerous exercise. The first visit to the top of the stack recorded by climbers is shown in the image HU1560 : The problem with sea stacks.... For this, the only viable route to the stack was by Tyrolean traverse.

The problem with sea stacks is how to get to them. The sea conditions at the base of this one pretty much eliminate the possibilities of swimming. One workable technique used here was to string a 100m abseil rope across the geo laying the rope on the top of the stack. The rope can then be used for a tyrolean traverse to get over to the stack and back from it.

The map marks this as a Natural Arch - one of many arches, subterranean passages or caves to be found on the island.

The beach had a depressingly large amount of plastic waste which had been washed up onto it. This largely comprised plastic bottles , footwear, floats/buoys etc. Most identifyable items originated in the UK, but a large subset were from Spain, Norway and Iceland. This latter set probably represents the boats fishing in these waters and the manufacturers supplying those boats.

A further selection of the plastic contamination in this area.

Lyra Stack lies just to the south of Lyra Skerry which is the land in the right half of this image.

The image shows the rear of one of the two mills at this location. The image was taken from channel, now waterless, which fed water into the mill.

The image shows a view of the front of the mill shown in HU1660 : Ruined meal mill.