THE FEARSOME, FRIGHTENING, “OLD MAN OF HOY”

…Kite twisted and turned and stretched the length of the string tighter and tighter until “SNAP”!

“Oh, no!” cried out Emma.

…..flying full speed up toward the great cliff.

Andy watched Kite sail up, up and up ……..

“Kite has landed on the OLD MAN!”

“Oh , my, “ gasped Magnus.

“Oh, dear,” agreed Ragnor.

“Oh, yes indeed,” muttered the others.

Ah, yes the fearsome Old Man of Hoy, big, tall scary, sitting in the sea for

hundreds of years. Who knew what he might do with Kite? What should the new friends do? The Old Man was more than a wee bit scary to most.

But then friends are friends and Andy and the others find courage in their friendship to face the climb up the cliff and the Old Man.

Kite’s rescue is no easy matter and like all plans they need to be smart and make adjustments especially when Andy is in danger of being blown away.

One of the wonderful experiences of writing Andy From Orkney was sitting up by the Old Man of Hoy and developing his personality for the book. While I visited over the years in the sun, wind and fog the Old Man came alive. Truly the sentinel of Hoy he holds a treasure trove of stories beneath his rocky exterior.

The actual Old Man of Hoy on the island of Hoy, Orkney is a real, ancient sea stack that families with children can easily hike to on the newly renovated path.

People young and old fall under his spell as when Sir Chris Bonington repeated his climb at 80 years old in August, 2014. Watch this inspirational climb on youtube.