South Ronaldsay

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looking south across Wind Wick, South Ronaldsay.
looking south across Wind Wick, South Ronaldsay.

South Ronaldsay is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. It is linked to the Orkney Mainland by the Churchill Barriers, running via Burray, Glimps Holm and Lamb Holm.

With an area of nineteen square miles, it is the joint third largest of the Orkney Islands along with Sanday and Rousay.

South Ronaldsay's main village is St Margaret's Hope, named after Margaret, Maid of Norway who died there. The village has a small museum and is known for its annual Boys' Ploughing Match. Orcadians claim this but in truth it really is only a legend. There is no proof of this claim as other more evident conclusions to this name have been found.

The island is also known for the Neolithic Tomb of the Eagles. Ferries sail from Burwick on the island to John o' Groats on the Scottish mainland. In 1991, the island was rocked by false allegations of widespread child abuse and satanic rituals in a scandal that saw nine children being removed from their families by police and social workers. The case was thrown out of court when it was found the social workers were using unorthodox interrogation techniques to force confessions from the children, who all denied the abuse.

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Coordinates: 58°47′N 2°57′W