Monday 14 May 2012

Wee Fea on Hoy


The 'Wee Frees' refers to the Free Church of Scotland and the 'Wee Wee Frees' to the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, but on the Orkney island of Hoy stands the now abandoned Communications Centre at Wee Fea. It overlooks the the Lyness Naval Base and played a pivotal role during World War Two. Some 400 members of the Women's Royal Naval Service - WRNS, popularly and officially known as the Wrens -  were stationed here and worked around the clock in what now appears to be a medieval fortress. In fact, Fortress Orkney gives a fine account of the area in this era and the images of the underground oil tanks here on Hoy gives something of the scale of hidden development in a strategic position.

Scottish Islands Explorer - prepared, but not to this extent

1 comment:

Richard Evans said...

Overlooks Scapa Flow and Fara Island