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Ward Hill from Grut Fea
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Ward Hill from Grut Fea

In connection with comments on pic #26154, here's a possibly slightly unfamiliar view taken in 1988 from Grut Fea, Hoy. Graemsay lies very roughly diametrically opposite, on the far side of the Ward Hill 'massif'. Having yet to hear from an obliging Graemsay person as to whether the Ward Hill cairn is visible from that island, one can deduce from the absence of a well-defined apex that anything more than a degree or two below the horizontal is likely to be out of sight to someone standing right beside the cairn (which is itself invisible in this shot, unfortunately, but you can see where it must be). I still believe Graemsay lies entirely within the out-of-sight zone, and is the only inhabited Orkney isle that does. A candle-lit supper to anyone who can prove otherwise.

[It's quite Uluru-like in this picture! - Steven]
Picture added on 23 February 2012 at 15:54
Comments:
Yes, it is a bit Steven - and if Hoy folk were to decide it was a sacred place in their unique culture it too would become hard for anyone else to access. Like Ayer's Rock, it would get a 'new' (old) name. Hmm - I wonder what the Old Norse is for 'the hill from whose apex you can't see Graemsay unless you're really really tall' . . .
Added by Ian Hourston on 23 February 2012
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