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Orkney

Orkney Wireless Museum

Radio, radar and wartime listening on Scapa Flow, at Kiln Corner.

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Welcome

A small museum at Kiln Corner in Kirkwall, given over to wireless: the domestic sets that brought the world into Orkney kitchens, and the far more serious equipment that watched and listened over Scapa Flow through two wars.

The collection was begun by one man, Jim MacDonald, and it is full of valves, dials, service radios, the workings of the defences laid out and explained.

Round the cornerHelgi’sA small Viking-themed pub on the Kirkwall harbour front, with home-cooked food and a good run of malts; over 18s only.1 min by roadSee itA plate of seared scallops with asparagus and potato at Helgi's.
Before you go
How long
Three quarters of an hour to two hours
Their website
gb2owm.org.uk
Telephone
01856 871400
Where it is

Kirkwall, Orkney.

Close byThe rest of Orkney, near at hand.
  1. St Magnus CathedralSt Magnus CathedralBegun in 1137 for a murdered earl, and still the centre of Kirkwall.Under a mile1 min by road
  2. The children's corner of the Orcadian Bookshop, shelves of picture books above small chairs and a table.The Orcadian BookshopThe Orcadian newspaper's bookshop on Albert Street, Kirkwall, for Orkney books, maps and gifts.Under a mile1 min by road
  3. The Orkney DistilleryKirkjuvagr gin, made on the Kirkwall waterfront.Under a mile3 min by road
  4. Highland Park Distillery's stone buildings and cobbled yard lit by lamps at dusk.Highland Park DistilleryOrkney's whisky distillery on the edge of Kirkwall since 1798, with tours, tastings without booking and a shop.1 mile2 min by road
  5. A chocolate and redcurrant dessert with honeycomb, drawn in chocolate on a white plate, the Lynnfield.Lynnfield HotelA small country-house hotel above Kirkwall, with a peat fire, over 300 malts and a restaurant built on Orkney produce.1 mile3 min by road
Directions
A plate of seared scallops with asparagus and potato at Helgi's.RestaurantsHelgi’sA step away
The Foveran's dining room, tartan chairs at laid tables and big windows onto the fields and Scapa Flow.RestaurantsThe Foveran3.0 miles
ShoppingSheila Fleet Kirk Gallery6.3 miles
A barrier of stone blocks and its road from directly above, a rusting blockship in the green water beside it.AttractionsChurchill Barriers7.7 miles
The white and red front of the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm, a path leading up to it under a stormy sky.AttractionsItalian Chapel8.2 miles
Wooden steps down through the dunes to the beach at Glimps Holm, the barrier and the sea beyond.AttractionsGlimps Holm Beach9.3 miles
Maeshowe, a great grassy mound in green fields under a grey sky.AttractionsMaeshowe Chambered Cairn9.6 miles
The tall, thin Standing Stones of Stenness on green grass, the loch and the hills of Hoy behind.AttractionsStanding Stones of Stenness11 miles
Fursbreck Pottery, a stone cottage with a red-edged roof and a garden of pots and benches, Harray.AttractionsThe Harray Potter11 miles
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Every photograph commissioned, every word written by somebody who went. Printed twice a year, made in Scotland.

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For further reading, before you go.