For this year's 'rail' holiday, after doing Ffestiniog Travel's superb 'Narrow Gauge in Eastern Germany' for the last two years, I decided to try a different holiday company. I chose Railtrail, based in Leek, Staffordshire, whose founder and MD is Dave Felstead who used to be a Churnet Valley Railway volunteer (as I currently am - signalman at Consall). The holiday I booked explored many of the railways of Scotland, the national system as well as some heritage lines. Unfortunately it didn't attract enough customers so was cancelled by Railtrail, leaving me to find an alternative at pretty short notice.

I considered other Scottish rail-based holidays but Railtrail's 'Orkney & Shetland Explorer' took my fancy. It didn't feature much in the way of rail interest, but I'd never been to Orkney or Shetland and (unlike my wife) I enjoy journeys by sea. She gets easily sea sick so for a 'solo' holiday this one fitted well as it's one we'd never do as a couple.

Booking well ahead I got a very good deal on a first class rail ticket from my home station of Wilmslow, Cheshire, to Stirling. Virgin's first class is cheaper at weekends (I was travelling on a Saturday) as you don't get the complimentary meals and bar trolley, just soft drinks and a snack. But you still get the far more comfortable seat in first on the Pendolino, and a more relaxed and less crowded environment.

A London bound Pendolino whisked me to Crewe in 17 minutes, a brief stop in the Virgin lounge at Crewe, then another Pendolino took me on to Edinburgh, flashing up through Cheshire and Lancashire at 125mph, and snaking and tilting over Shap and Beattock at a very lively pace.

The last leg was care of Scotrail on a Class 170 Turbostar to Stirling, then a tough uphill walk from the station (tough for an unfit old git like me, anyway) to the Highland Hotel

Highland Hotel, Stirling

The itinerary published by Railtrail in their brochure promised a journey by train the next day from Stirling to Thurso in northern Scotland. When the detailed itinerary arrived it explained that engineering works at Stirling station meant we'd be travelling by road to Perth, then by train, but only as far as Inverness. From there the promised train on the Far North line up to Thurso would be 'bustituted' as well! There was no explanation as to why this was, and my email to Railtrail asking why remains unanswered to this day.

Our excellent tour manager, Natalie, explained that it was because, it being a Sunday, there was only one train and it had a late departure from Inverness and had we taken it we would not have arrived at Thurso until about 22:00, with most of the journey having been in the dark. A valid point, but something Railtrail should have checked before promising us the joys of a Far North line trip in their holiday description.

Please click on any of the following pictures for a larger image.

Sunday morning, we set off from Sterling to Perth on a coach

From Perth we did travel by train as far as Inverness, here passing through the Cairngorms

The busy A9 road often parallels the railway

Another view from the train

At Inverness we met Willy, our coach driver for the rest of the holiday, and his 50-seater coach. With only 25 of us on the tour there was plenty of room to spread out. After the occasional rain showers of earlier in the day the weather was now excellent - sunny and clear - as we set off on the A9 on the two and a half hour drive to Thurso.

The A9 crosses the Cromarty Firth on this bridge

Invergordon is a maintenance base for the offshore oil industry. Here. a platform has been brought inshore either for maintenance, scrapping, or simply leaving as a haven for sea life.

The bridge across the Dornoch Firth

We stopped at Golspie for a comfort break. Willy. our driver, and Natalie, our tour manager, by the coach door.

The Moray Firth at Golspie. What a lovely day!

The east coast near Dunbeath. The A9 turns inland at this point to head north to the north coast of mainland Scotland.

Wind turbines, mountains, and lenticular (wave) clouds near Spittal, photographed from the coach approaching Thurso

We checked into the Pentland Hotel in Thurso. However, I had to reject the single room I was allocated as it suffered a loud and persistent droning sound of a very unpleasant low frequency. "It's the kitchen fan" said the woman on reception. "They'll turn it off about 9 o'clock". "But I want the room now, not just from 9 o'clock onward" I persisted. Eventually she found me an alternative, a twin room up on the third floor. It was still pretty basic, but a big improvement on the first offering.

That initial poor impression of the hotel was somewhat offset by a rather good buffet meal they provided in the hotel restaurant. The lamb, in particular, was quite superb.

After breakfast next morning we set off in our coach for a tour of the north east corner of mainland Scotland.

First point of call was Duncansby Head, the most north-easterly point of the British mainland. This is the lighthouse.

Duncansby Head trig point, with the sea stacks beyond

A closer look at the stacks of Duncansby

....Closer still!

We moved on to John O'Groat's, which is neither the furthest north or east point of mainland UK, but it is one end of the longest distance between two inhabited British points on the mainland, with Land's End in Cornwall lying 876 miles to the southwest being the other.

John O'Groats harbour, with the ferry to Burwick on South Ronaldsay, Orkney

John O'Groats house

From John O'Groats we moved on to the Castle of Mey, which the late Queen Mother purchased in the 1950s, and where she spent several weeks each year. It is still an occasional royal residence. No internal photography was allowed, which no doubt helps boost the sale of guide books!

The weather was surprisingly kind to us all week, with a great deal of bright sunshine with occasional short showers, and a strong but warm wind (I was in shorts for almost the entire week). Here Dunnet Head (our next destination) is seen from our coach with the remnants of a recent shower on the coach window.

The view from Dunnet Head, the most northerly point on the British mainland

Looking across the Pentland Firth to Rora Head on the isle of Hoy. Look carefully and you can see the stack of 'the Old Man of Hoy' rising above the general level of the Rora Head. The 'Old Man' is actually beyond Rora Head.

Yours truly at Dunnet Head

We had a second night in the Pentland Hotel, where we were joined by a larger party on a 'Great Rail Journeys' tour. This group was on a similar schedule to our own for the next couple of days on Orkney and Shetland. The next morning we each boarded our relevant coach for the short trip to Scrabster to connect with the Northlink ferry MV Hamnavoe to to take us to Stromness on Orkney, but the 'Great Rail' coach (from the same coach company as our own) refused to start. After delivering us to the ferry, Willy returned to the Pentland Hotel in our coach to rescue the Great Rail party, but by the time he arrived their coach had started, and they made the ferry with minutes to spare.

Leaving Scrabster for Stromness

Scrabster and Thurso from the MV Hamnavoe

The 'Old Man of Hoy' with Rora head behind, seen from the ferry

Arriving at Stromness

The Great Rail coach was the last vehicle loaded at Scrabster, and after we docked in Stromness, that coach once again refused to start, preventing any vehicle from being unloaded from the car deck. Efforts to start it failed, and eventually a ferry company tractor was used to tow it off.

We were joined at the ferry terminal by our guide for Shetland, and we left Stromness a little late after the delay caused by the broken down Great Rail coach.

Typical Orkney scenery as we travel to our first location on the island, Skara Brae

Our Orkney guide at Skara Brae

Skara Brae is a 5,000 year old Neolithic village which lay undiscovered until a storm removed overlying sand to expose the remains. Since then, it has been excavated by archaeologists. Here is the beach adjacent to the village.

These two headlands were once joined, keeping the sea at bay (!) and enclosing a fresh water lake next to the village. It was probably the sea breaking through into the lake which caused the village to be abandoned as its source of fresh water was lost.

The round houses at Skara Brae would have had whale bone-supported roofs

Central fire place, stone 'dresser', and bed enclosures visible here

Back to Stromness, where those who had not had lunch at Skara Brae could get a bite to eat. This is the Stromness Hotel, where Gracie Fields sang to the troops during WW2 from the balcony above the main entrance.

Next visit was to the Ring of Brodgar, a third millennium BC stone circle

Corrigal Farm Museum proved most interesting. It's a traditional 'But & Ben' (humble home) preserved farmstead. Here is a hand quern stone for grinding grain to make flour.

The farm kitchen

A 'box bed' with sliding wooden doors

Outbuilding exterior, with a grain drying kiln tower at one end

St Magnus Cathedral in the Orkney capital, Kirkwall.

The cathedral's west window

The Nave and Altar

The first of the Churchill Barriers. These were constructed by Italian prisoners of war in WW2 on Churchills orders. They were constructed after a German submarine had worked its way past sunken 'block ships' from the north sea into Scapa Flow, where it torpedoed and sunk the British battleship 'Royal Oak'. The barriers link islands preventing a repeat attack.

The barriers have a road on top which appeased the prisoners of war, persuading them that building the barriers was to help local communications between the islands, rather than being an element of the British war effort. Note the reflection of our driver, Willy, in the coach's rear view mirror.

The Italian Chapel, built by the prisoners of war out of two Nissen huts

The interior of the Italian Chapel

Built and decorated using odds and ends, bartered paint from the locals, meat tins to make the lanterns etc, much of the '3D' effects are achieved by paint alone

After dinner at the Albert Hotel, Kirkwall, and a lengthy wait in the ferry terminal departure lounge, we boarded the Northlink ferry MV Hjaltland at about midnight for an overnight cruise to Lerwick, captial of Shetland. Here is my cabin (a double for single occupancy), which is mine for the next two days as the ship will remain in Lerwick during the day of our exploration of the island. We will rejoin MV Hjaltland in Lerwick tomorrow evening for our overnight sail to Aberdeen.

First sight of Shetland, from my cabin window next morning. We were issued vouchers for breakfast on board, which was rather good!

MV Hjaltland docked at Lerwick

As with Orkney, we had a local guide join us for our day on Shetland. Here is a typical 'croft & boat' we passed on our way south to Jarlshof.

At one point we turned onto a minor road to a viewpoint for a photo-stop. Pictures below:

Shetland coastal scenery

Jarlshof prehistoric Norse settlement, dating from 2500 BC. Like Skara Brae, these round houses were preserved beneath layers of drifting sand. The much more modern ruined conventional house shares the site.

The coast at Jarlshof. Jarlshof takes its name from the Walter Scott novel which it inspired

Our Shetland guide, originally from Holland visited Shetland on a motorcycle tour and came back to live on the island of Yell

A 'wheel-house', so named because the chambers are built radially, like the spokes of a wheel

A later 'long house' shares the Jarlshof site

A general view of the site. We retired to the hotel in the background for tea / coffee and shortbread before returning to Lerwick.

Shetland's main airport, Sumburgh, is adjacent to Jarlshof. The 27 / 09 runway projects into the sea at both ends, and the easterly end was the scene of a fatal air accident in 1979 when a Dan Air 748 failed to get airborne and crashed into the sea.

The displaced threshold of runway 09. Interestingly, it was explained to us at Corrigal Farm Museum on Orkney the day before that the origin of the word 'threshold' was a restriction in the opening of a barn wall when 'winnowing' the grain from the chaff was taking place during threshing; its purpose was to 'hold' the windblown chaff so it could be recovered for use on the farm.

We returned to Lerwick for lunch, and while we were there a sail training ship, the 3-masted barque Statsraad Lehmkuhl, moored in the harbour

After lunch we departed for a visit to Shetland Jewelry. I can't pretend that I found this particularly interesting, but on the way we passed a remote house which was the scene of a 'murder' in the Shetland TV series. Colin, above, observes it from our coach as we pass.

A distant view of the house made famous by the Shetland TV series

Weisdale, near the Shetland Jewelry factory / showroom

We also visited a Shetland Pony farm...of course!

The Scalloway Museum was well worth a visit; here is a view of Scalloway from the viewpoint above the town.

Back to my cabin aboard the MV Hjaltland. Ominously, the captain's 'welcome aboard' message over the ship's public address warned of strong winds and rough seas on our crossing to Aberdeen tonight. He wasn't wrong!

We leave Lerwick bound for Aberdeen, sail ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl still in port

The Lerwick sea front from the deck of MV Hjaltland

A small coaster inbound to Lerwick

Looking back to the port as we leave

Our curved wake out of Lerwick. It was very windy out on deck!

Lerwick cemetery

MV Hjaltland leaving Lerwick Click on the link to see the video

Fair Isle seen from my cabin window

As we left the shelter of Lerwick harbour we began to feel the effects of wind and swell on the ship. It gradually got worse, the pitching and rolling increasing as we neared Fair Isle. Soon this was accompanied by loud thumps from below, vertical accelerations, and flying spray obscuring the view from my cabin window.

Dinner was arranged for our group in the ship's restaurant at 19:15, but only a handful of us turned up for it. There was plenty to go round!

Once again we had vouchers for the rather good ship's breakfast, and after partaking we gathered our cases and disembarked at Aberdeen to rejoin Willy who had retrieved our coach from the car deck.

The coach dropped us in the city centre for an unexpected one and a half hours 'free time' in Aberdeen (couldn't we have done a city tour on the coach to fill the time?). Our train to Stirling from Aberdeen wasn't until 11:42 and this 'lost time' was included in the itinerary in case the ferry docked late (it didn't). After wandering the streets we rendezvoused with the coach again to collect our bags and bid farewell to Willy before making our way to the station for our train.

A view from the train as we sped south from Aberdeen. Our itinerary promised that we would 'cross the spectacular Tay Bridge' but a glance at a Scottish rail map showed that we wouldn't, and indeed we didn't. But we did see it at Dundee. That's something else Railtrail should really have got right and didn't!

I was sitting next to David from the Isle of Wight on the train south to Stirling, and he had picked up a train timetable at Aberdeen. Perusing this I noticed a trip from Edinburgh to Dundee return would cross not only the Tay Bridge, but the even more famous Forth Bridge as well. A plan began to form! Instead of tomorrow's planned walking tour of Edinburgh David and I (who had both seen the Scottish capital before) decided to 'bag' these two major Scottish bridges.

On Friday morning we left the Highland hotel for Stirling station a little earlier than the rest of the group in order to purchase return tickets Edinburgh to Dundee. On being joined at Stirling station by the rest of the group we caught the southbound HST 'Highland Chieftain' train to Edinburgh, where David and myself joined the train to Dundee.

Heading north from Edinburgh our Scotrail class 170 Turbostar train reaches the Firth of Forth. As we had earlier travelled south from Stirling to Edinburgh we had entered a band of rain, but heading north again out of the city we left that behind as the pictures show.

View from the 1889 Forth rail bridge, looking towards the 1964 road bridge which is gradually failing as its corroding suspension cable elements snap, and its replacement, the 2017 'Queensferry Crossing'.

Another view of the Forth from the northern bank

Leaving the Forth behind we speed on for the Tay

'The Sil'vry Tay' of William McGonagall fame

The first Tay bridge was built in 1877 but collapsed while a train was crossing it during a storm just two years later. That tragedy inspired the 'poet' William McGonagall (much lampooned as the worst poet ever) to pen these famous lines:

The Tay Bridge Disaster

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time.
’Twas about seven o’clock at night,
And the wind it blew with all its might,
And the rain came pouring down,
And the dark clouds seem’d to frown,
And the Demon of the air seem’d to say-
“I’ll blow down the Bridge of Tay.”
When the train left Edinburgh
The passengers’ hearts were light and felt no sorrow,
But Boreas blew a terrific gale,
Which made their hearts for to quail,
And many of the passengers with fear did say-
“I hope God will send us safe across the Bridge of Tay.”
But when the train came near to Wormit Bay,
Boreas he did loud and angry bray,
And shook the central girders of the Bridge of Tay
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time.
So the train sped on with all its might,
And Bonnie Dundee soon hove in sight,
And the passengers’ hearts felt light,
Thinking they would enjoy themselves on the New Year,
With their friends at home they lov’d most dear,
And wish them all a happy New Year.
So the train mov’d slowly along the Bridge of Tay,
Until it was about midway,
Then the central girders with a crash gave way,
And down went the train and passengers into the Tay!
The Storm Fiend did loudly bray,
Because ninety lives had been taken away,
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time.
As soon as the catastrophe came to be known
The alarm from mouth to mouth was blown,
And the cry rang out all o’er the town,
Good Heavens! the Tay Bridge is blown down,
And a passenger train from Edinburgh,
Which fill’d all the peoples hearts with sorrow,
And made them for to turn pale,
Because none of the passengers were sav’d to tell the tale
How the disaster happen’d on the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time.
It must have been an awful sight,
To witness in the dusky moonlight,
While the Storm Fiend did laugh, and angry did bray,
Along the Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay,
Oh! ill-fated Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay,
I must now conclude my lay
By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay,
That your central girders would not have given way,
At least many sensible men do say,
Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,
At least many sensible men confesses,
For the stronger we our houses do build,
The less chance we have of being killed.

The central 'high girders' of the Tay Bridge

A view of the bridge from the Dundee side. The central 'high girders' can be seen, as can the stumps of the old bridge alongside the piers of its replacement.