This morning Scout sprained a paw. She was romping with some other dogs, and I think it must be like when a 40+ year old guy joins a bunch of twenty-somethings for a game of hockey, and thinks he can keep up with the youngsters. I, on the other hand, blew out my knee whilst sitting on the sofa this afternoon watching the Great British Sewing Bee (first time I’ve been injured watching other people work). So, I figured we were stuck inside all day, but, as I’ve said before, when it is 13°C and sunny on Orkney, you have to go out. So off we went to the peninsula of Deerness to The Gloup.
This is The Gloup. A gloup, according to Merriam-Webster, is ‘an opening in the roof of a sea cave through which incoming waves may force air to rush upward or water to spout’. We know I’m not exactly Ansel Adams, so let me explain what you are seeing. The thin blue line above the fence is the North Sea and the peedie (small) blue square towards the bottom is an arched opening to the sea. The whole thing is 80 metres long and 25 metres deep.
We limped along beside it (well, I limped – Scout seems to have recovered), and then along the cliff tops towards the Broch of Deerness. We didn’t quite make the broch, as my limp was becoming more pronounced, and a rather aggressive looking bull terrier was off-leash up ahead.
But, I’ve seen a gloup.