In the Pentland Firth, the stretch of water between Orkney and the north-eastern tip of the Scottish mainland, Stroma has been uninhabited since 1962, when its last families left; the population had once passed 370, fishing and crofting a living from some of the roughest water around Britain. The empty houses, school and kirk of the old village still stand; the island is owned today by the family of a former islander, who graze sheep on the old fields.
At the north end, the Stroma Lighthouse, built in 1896 by the Stevenson brothers David Alan and Charles, stands above the Swilkie, a fierce tidal race whose name comes from the Old Norse for “swallower”. In Norse legend, two giants grind salt into the sea with an enormous millstone. Stroma Wildlife Cruises, a new operator, began running boat trips to the island in 2026 that land passengers for a guided look around, plus separate wildlife cruises along the coast; both sail from John o’ Groats.
