Houton Ferry Terminal, Orphir, Orkney
by John Leith
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Panoramic photo by
John Leith
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Houton Ferry Terminal, Orphir, Orkney |
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This is the Houton Ferry Terminal. The ferry to Flotta and Hoy leaves from here. This was a seaplane base during the two Wrold Wars. The harbour with its offshore island makes this a very sheltered spot.
This is the view over Houton in Orphir. This is the location used by the photographer Tom Kent in the...
The bay below this point is Houton which was a seaplane base in WWI. This a sheltered bay in Scapa Flow.
This panorama was taken on the footpath which runs between the Breck and Orphir Kirkyard. It was a lo...
The Breck is the east end of a pleasant walk along the Orphir shore of Scapa Flow. It is just a few m...
This part of the shore is reasonably easy to get to and, according to local legend, may be near to th...
Scorradale road connects Stenness and Orphir. The view from this end of the road allows a view over t...
This is a viewpoint overlooking Scapa Flow. You can see the island of Graemsay with Stromness beyond ...
This viewpoint looks down over Moness pier which is the pier the foot passengers from Stromness arriv...
The hill is known locally as the peat hill because it was where all the fuel for the parish was colle...
This is just down a track from the main road opposite the mill of Ireland. The burn has been damd at ...
Europe is generally agreed to be the birthplace of western culture, including such legendary innovations as the democratic nation-state, football and tomato sauce.
The word Europe comes from the Greek goddess Europa, who was kidnapped by Zeus and plunked down on the island of Crete. Europa gradually changed from referring to mainland Greece until it extended finally to include Norway and Russia.
Don't be confused that Europe is called a continent without looking like an island, the way the other continents do. It's okay. The Ural mountains have steadily been there to divide Europe from Asia for the last 250 million years. Russia technically inhabits "Eurasia".
Europe is presently uniting into one political and economic zone with a common currency called the Euro. The European Union originated in 1993 and is now composed of 27 member states. Its headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium.
Do not confuse the EU with the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states and dates to 1949. These two bodies share the same flag, national anthem, and mission of integrating Europe. The headquarters of the Council are located in Strasbourg, France, and it is most famous for its European Court of Human Rights.
In spite of these two bodies, there is still no single Constitution or set of laws applying to all the countries of Europe. Debate rages over the role of the EU in regards to national sovereignty. As of January 2009, the Lisbon Treaty is the closest thing to a European Constitution, yet it has not been approved by all the EU states.
Text by Steve Smith.
