WARTIME ORKNEY, COAST BATTERIES

stanger head_flotta RMARR Stanger head, Flotta From a black & white medium format series of coast batteries, Viewpoint. More from that series here.

During the war Orkney was the most significant of locations and watching the seas was of critical importance. Now the same seascapes seen from the crumbling towers are watched for their natural drama, a different view from the same point.

The buildings themselves stand as witness to a different world when Orkney’s population swelled to over three times in size. Thousands of troops were stationed in the batteries around the coast to watch the seas and skies. The eerily silent buildings sit on remote edges, home now to ravens and cattle, sheep and swallows. Walkers take shelter from the wind and, like the troops, take in the panorama watching the seas and the skies.

ness.138 Ness Battery, Stromness. From the Director Tower