Churchill Barriers

What an awesome site these Churchill barriers are combined with the shipwrecks they are eye dropping. Built under the orders of Churchill to protect British Naval warships from German UBoat attacks after the Ark Royal was hit by UBoat torpedos and sunk with the loss of life.

The Barriers are 4 causeways that link the Orkney mainland to Sth Ronaldsay via Burray , Lambs holm and Glimps Holm .This was a late answer to the U Boat problem after the sinking of the Royal Oak by the sub U47 which slinked in between Mainland and Lamb Holm and resulted in 835 of the 1234 crew being killed. after the war the barriers were converted to road links , much of the labour was provided by over 1300 italien pows who also built the nearby Italien chapel on Lambs Holm

There are three of these. You can see the sunken blocking ships on the southern two, but not that I noticed on the first. The third is the most interesting in terms of sunken ships. The barriers now function as causeways for traffic, we cycled over. The third one has viewpoint and an explanatory sign. They were installed during ww2 to prevent further u-boat entry, after HMS Royal Oak was sunk.

Absolutely beautiful drive across the causeways. Crystal clear water! Sugar like sand. I'm lucky to have a nice sunny day while we were there. At high and low tide, you can still see the sunken ships between the islands. Also, there are a few viking things to find close by, totem poles, and a few other things. I highly recommend visiting the Italian chapel along the way

Beautiful shipwrecks and a nice beach you can walk along

Greetings Space Cadets, The Churchill Barriers are a series of four causeways in the Orkney Islands, United Kingdom, with a total length of 1.5 miles (2.3 km). They link the Orkney Mainland in the north to the island of South Ronaldsay via Burray and the two smaller islands of Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm. In 14 October 1939, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk at her moorings within the natural harbour of Scapa Flow in a night-time attack by the German U-boat U-47 under the command of Günther Prien. The barriers were built in the 1940s primarily as naval defences to protect the anchorage at Scapa Flow, but now serve as road links, carrying the A961 road from Kirkwall to Burwick. The barriers are numbered from north to south. In 2016, Historic Environment Scotland designated barriers 3 and 4 as Category A listed buildings.

Tried to sail through. Barriers stopped me. Barriers are super effective...

Really interesting bridge connecting the small Orkney Islands! There is a nearby airbase so you get to see planes take off occasionally :)