Kirkwall rides its marches each August

Every August, horses, ponies, carriages and their riders take over the streets of Kirkwall to carry a standard around the old boundary of the town. The Riding of the Marches happens every year on the second Sunday of August, and the roads through Kirkwall and St Ola close for it. The riders gather in front of St Magnus Cathedral, emerging from Tankerness Lane onto Broad Street.

After a short speech, the standard passes to this year's bearer and the procession sets off towards the Pierhead, hooves clattering on the old flagstones. One of the best places to stand later in the route is Scapa beach, where the riders toast before taking their horses into the water, crashing through the surf of Scapa Flow.

Riding the boundaries is an old habit here. In 1706, ten burgesses who failed to turn up were fined £10 apiece. The event lapsed for long stretches and was revived in 1986 to mark 500 years since Kirkwall became a Royal Burgh. It caps a busy week in the islands, coming the day after the Orkney County Show at Bignold Park.