Keeping It All Together

There are some seventy islands in the Orkney archipelago but just how much of a challenge is it to keep all these islands connected? To find out, Paul Murton is making a grand tour of Outer Orkney and begins his journey at North Ronaldsay. This may be the most northerly of the Orkneys, but Paul discovers that it's actually surprisingly well connected with a regular airline service - in fact it's easier and quicker to get here than to many isolated spots in the Highlands. From here Paul is island hopping to Papa Stronsay, which is now populated by an order of monks who have chosen to make this isolated island their home. Paul's final destination is the most southerly of the Orkneys, the island of Stroma in the Pentland Firth, which sadly is no longer inhabited. Despite only being two miles from the mainland, life on this island became just too difficult and it was abandoned in the 1950s. Paul makes a poignant journey to visit Stroma along with one the last islanders to live there and who remembers what it was like when it was still a thriving community.