Sanday

This Metasaga was created by pupils and staff os Sanday School.We hope you enjoy your personal journey through

Geocache Sanday’s Metasaga



__** The Wind Turbines at Loth, **__

As the boat approaches Sanday, and you get your first glimpse of the island, these powerful, beautiful giants will fill your vision. Their mighty forms, spinning in the rhythm of the wind, using nature’s energy to create electricity, are an awesome sight. For those of us who live here, travelling by ferry or by air, the sight of the windmills tells us we are nearly home. They are like a “Welcome Home sign” after a sea voyage.

//When you are near your home – how do you feel?//

//Are there any special markers that you look for on the way?//

If you walk up from the pier you can go right up to the base of the windmill that stands alone. As you enter the gate you can discover its owner, and as you look up its little red light it will wink down at you.

Look closely at the windmill:

//How many steps does it have?// //I wonder what is inside the little door?// //Why does it need that little red light?//

But try this……lie on the ground right underneath the tower and look up.

Relax and let your mind think

//Do you have things you need to turn over in your mind and consider?// //Is there Is there something in your life that you would like the wind to blow away for you?//

The wind releases so much energy.

//Do you have a special way that you like to release your energy?// //Is there a special place you go to, to refuel your emotional energy when you are feeling low or release your emotional energy when you are feeling angry or frustrated?//

The windmills have a rhythm regulated by the wind, a bit like the rhythm of your heartbeat.

//What feelings or emotions would make your heart beat speed up or slow down?//


 * Tall white turbine, Slices deep blue sky **
 * Keeping the planet green, Shouldn’t we all try? **
 * Ano **

__ **Cross Kirkyard** __

Many of the graves are coated in lichens. Did you know that lichen is not a plant? It is a symbiotic relationship between an algae and a fungus. Together they help each other survive.

//Think about your own life – is there someone in it who you rely on completely?// //Your relationship may be symbiotic…perhaps you do your bit too…..or maybe you just take…?//

This quiet, peaceful place between the loch and the sea is the final resting place for many people. In the field across the track 11 massive sperm whales were buried in1994 after beaching themselves on the smooth soft sand of Backaskaill bay. But it is an interesting place too – with some interesting inmates- human and non-

Look around the graves- what is the oldest one you can find?

//Can you find graves of the very old, and graves of the very young?// //Are there some family graves?//

Some graves have no names at all – some are merely marked by headers and footers- people too poor to have a proper stone. There are two special graves for you to find. One is of a famous Sanday person called ** Walter Traill Dennison. ** See if you can find his grave and find out what he was famous for.

There is a coffin shaped grave and a ‘table top’ grave with incredible carvings on.

Can you find the hourglass symbol? What do you think is its significance?

Our time on this Earth is limited.

//What would you like to be remembered for?//

**Remember friend as you pass by,** **As you are now,** **So once was I.** **As I am now,** **So shall you be.** **Remember friend,** **We all must die.** **Anon**

You don’t choose how you’re going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live. Now. Joan Baez


 * __ The Devil’s Clawmark __**
 * [[image:images.jpeg width="297" height="244" align="left"]]Some may think this is a Spooky place **
 * …...a Sinister place **
 * …….Scary **
 * ……...Atmospheric and exposed. **

//Do you feel that sense of abandonment and uneasiness here too?//

The old Lady Kirk is no longer used. It was abandoned long ago. //Have you ever abandoned something in your life that you// //later regretted?//

The Kirk has no roof, but the steps on the outside are still tempting. Why do you think the stairs are here…? where did that upper door lead?

Climb to the top and look at the wall. Can you see the deep scratch marks in the stone? They are the Devil’s Claw marks – or so the story goes The legend has it that the Devil was chasing someone who escaped into the safety of the Kirk, where God would protect them.In his anger the Devil scored his mark in the stone for all to see.

I//f you needed sanctuary and safety, where would you go?// //Who would protect you?//

Now look out- what a view! Can you spot three big double storey houses. See if you can discover their names from the map. In one lived the Laird. In another the Minister. The third was owned by a farmer. Can you work out which is which? How did you make your choices?

These houses and this Kirk are landmarks for all to see. They are all built of stone and took tremendous effort to build.

//When you look back over your own life what special effort or achievement might stand out and be remembered by others?//


 * Every spirit builds itself a **
 * house, and beyond its house a **
 * world, and beyond its world a **
 * heaven. **
 * Know then that world exists for **
 * you. **


 * Ralpho Waldo Emerson **

__**The Red Boxes of Burness**__
At the T junction stands the Burness Communication Centre. The telephone kiosk and the post box. Read the inscription on the post box. What happens to a letter you post on a Friday afternoon? The phone box has lots of little windows (how many?) ,but the post box has just one and it has a flap over it…why do you think that might be? What number would you dial to reach the phone box? They are a landmark- we refer to them when directing people- “turn right at the phone box”…. Have you ever wondered why they are both painted bright red? They are remote from the rest of the world, but both can connect you with others far away. They are both old on the outside, but rely on modern technology—maybe they are young on the inside!

//Do you know a person like that – whose heart is full of optimism and ideas, even though // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">they are very old? // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">If you had some lovely exciting news who would you phone to share it with? // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Which would you prefer to receive – a letter or a phone call? // //<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Does it depend on what the message is and who’s sending it? // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//Think about dialling a telephone number -// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//how many digits does it have ?// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//What if you just dialled one digit wrong and a// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//complete stranger answered the phone.// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//Think of all the possible reactions you could have!// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//Who knows where that one misdialled number// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//could lead in your life.//

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">The phone box and the post box both sit at this <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">junction. Your life too has many junctions. Think about a choice you have made recently. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Let your mind consider: “What if you had made <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">the other decision?” <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">There are no little things.

“Little things” are the hinges of the Universe Fanny Fern <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Think back over your life and wonder for a <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">moment about some of those junctions, when you chose one path over another. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//Have you made choices that have made you// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">//happy?// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">//Would you make the same choice now, knowing// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 17px;">//what you now know?//

Life has many crossroads and maybe it is our choices that shape our lives. I chose the road less travelled on. And that has made all the difference Robert Frost

__ Quoyness Chambered Cairn __
You follow the sign, and drive across that spit of land with the sea on both sides of you, but the Cairn is not easy to see.Without that sign you may never have noticed it. But if you trudge out along the stony path you will find it. This ancient of atrefacts: The sign at the gate tells you its age – so old……like the great pyramids of Egypt. It has stood on this headland protecting the final resting place of its inhabitants for thousands of years, against the elements and intruders. You notice the little opening by the door. //What do you think it was there for?// You crawl down the dark entrance tunnel –grateful for the torch kindly put there to help you. Can you estimate the length of the tunnel? **We stand on our ancestors’ shoulders.** **It’s that which makes us strong.** **Native American proverb** Crawl into one of the cells. Inside – so quiet – peaceful - womb like. What sort of people do you think were buried in this incredible place? They were buried with special artefacts.
 * Monumental[[image:Sanday,_Quoyness_Chambered_Cairn.jpg width="306" height="203" align="right"]] **
 * Remote **
 * Safe **
 * Solid **
 * Impressive. **
 * Historic. **

//What three things would you choose to take with you on your journey to the afterlife?// Look up at the roof. Imagine it covered in stone and soil. Now look carefully at the gigantic stones. Can you see the Runic writing engraved on some? Like ancient graffiti. //What message would you write for someone to read 5000 years from now?//

As you emerge back into the light, the elemental noises of nature surround you again. In the past it was thought that there were four elements – Earth, Air, Fire andWater

//Which of the four ancient elements would you choose to be ?// //Why?//

__Start Point__
You drive as far North as you can and leave your car in the small car park, with its special little box containing a book. It is a remarkable place indeed. You walk along the eroding path until you reach the fisherman’s hut. And look out. Across that thin strip of sea, to the mound of Mount Misery. You ponder that name. What a place to live! Mount Misery! Surely it couldn’t be that bad! But come here on a wild, wet, windy day and you would believe it. A place so barren and lonely, isolated and far away from everyone. //What sort of person could possibly live there?// // What qualities would they need to survive the long, lonely winter nights? // // If you had to stay there for a month, all by yourself, what three things would you // //choose to take with you, to make your life on Mount Misery less miserable?//

Lighthouse needs the keeper, and the sailors need the Lighthouse And this was the place it had to go. This is a strange lighthouse - do you notice which way the stripes go? It is unique .Built here by Stephenson in 1807, it has stood firm and true all that time and guided sailors away from the rocks by its beam of lig ** h ** t. Did you know that every lighthouse has a particular sequence of flashing lights? Why do you think this is? Watch the light and time the flashes with your watch. Can you work out the individual pattern of Sanday’s Start Point light? // Do you have a personal “lighthouse” in your life- a person who guides you? // // What, or who, steers you away from the rocks and keeps you on a safe course // // through your life? // //What, or who, makes your own light shine – and helps you glow with happiness?//

T he following is a true, (and amusing), story to cheer you in this remote place and remind you of the steadfastness of our lighthouses……..

An American admiral who, spotting a blip on his radar screen, ordered his radio operator: “Tell that ship to change course by 15 degrees”. The word

came back: “You change your course 15 degrees”. When a more heavily phrased message met the same response the Admiral grabbed the microphoneand bawled : “I am an Admiral of the US Navy -you change course 15 degrees”.

A calm voice replied: “And I am a lighthouse” The Daily Telegraph 1986