Stone Stacks - Brough of Birsay
Causeway - Brough of Birsay
Causeway – Brough of Birsay
The first time I visited the Brough of Birsay my children were small. We were waiting for the tide to go out far enough to walk across the causeway to the island. Whilst waiting we took out little kites, one each, different stripes of colour and flew them. They rose in the air off the edge of the cliff at the carpark, stripes of brightness dancing in the wind. This memory has stuck and since then I have visited here many times. Each visit brings something different to remember and often it’s the little things that become highlights, like the kite flying.
During my last visit on my way round the Brough of Birsay returning from the lighthouse we came across a little inlet in the cliffs where the sea obviously rarely came. Here there were many stacks of stones presumably left by the many visitors. This organic art installation was such a wonderfully inspiring sight. I hope it still stands and has even more little stack of stones.
Of course my picture depicts neither of these things as you can see. Inspiration for the picture actually came from the walk to the wonderful café nearby with what has to be some of the best cakes. I chose to walk by the coastline to the café not by the road, taking my dogs with me and admiring the gardens as I went. I turned to see this view and sketched my stylised version of it. So this picture holds many memories for me, kites, stone stacks, cake and many more.