Puffins nest by the thousand on Castle o’Burrian, a grassy sea stack off Westray’s south-east coast and one of the easiest places in Orkney to see them from land, usually from April to early August. At the other end of the island, the cliffs at Noup Head have one of Orkney’s largest seabird colonies, with guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills and gannets crowding the ledges in early summer. Between the two, Noltland Castle is a ruined 16th-century tower house built for Gilbert Balfour, its walls pierced by more than 70 gun loops built to cover every approach; Balfour was executed in Sweden before he ever properly lived in it. The castle stands just outside Pierowall, Westray’s main village, which has the medieval Lady Kirk and the harbour used both by the Kirkwall ferry’s connecting bus and by the small passenger boat to Papa Westray.
Around 560 people live on Westray. Orkney Ferries sails from Kirkwall to Rapness at the island’s south end, and Loganair also flies in — the short hop on to Papa Westray is the shortest scheduled flight in the world.
