No. 6 was built around 1820 and at one time No’s 2, 4 and 6 belonged to Edward Baikie, a Stromness boat builder. The boat building shed still remains on the pier and the derrick can still be used to hoist boats in and out of the water.
The pebbly beach to the north side of the pier is known as the Broad Noust. In the early 19th Century the pilot boats were hauled up here. At one time there were 26 pilot boats operating in Stromness, the largest number in any Scottish port. Next to the Broad Noust is the museum, part of which was formerly the town hall.
The burn which runs to the north of No. 2 is called the Mayburn. From it was drawn water used in the making of the Old Orkney Whisky at the former distillery which used to be situated where the Mayburn Court flats are now, to the west of No. 2 across the square George Mackay Brown, the Stromness poet and author, who died in 1996 lived and worked in the first floor flat overlooking the square.
If you look south to the next pier you will see the former Login’s Inn, now two private houses. As well as being an Inn, the office of the Login family’s whaling and shipping company was situated in the gothic windowed building at the side of the house. Across the street you can see Login’s Well which for many years provided water for visiting ships including those of Captain Cook and Sir John Franklin.
Looking east, enclosing the harbour, lie two small tidal islands, the Inner and Outer Holms, where seals can often be seen basking. Beyond the Holms, across Scapa Flow, lie the Orphir hills.
Further south you can see the islands of Graemsay, Cava and Flotta with Hoy in the background.
Although, over the years, there has been a decline in the fishing fleet, Stromness remains a busy harbour. During the course of the day you can see creel boats, larger fishing boats, dingies, dive boats and ferries heading for Graemsay, Hoy and Scrabster. The number of yachts coming and going has increased in recent years as have small boats involved in renewable energy projects. You might be lucky enough to see a two or three masted tall ship gliding in, reminiscent of earlier days in Stromness.
None of the activity, however, deters the birds for long. As well as many types of gull you will see eider ducks, mergansers, black guillemots (known as tysties in Orkney) shags and cormorants. Long tailed ducks are also quite frequent visitors and red throated divers can be spotted.
The occasional seal bobs past and many of them can be sighted on the Holms especially in the winter. More rarely a dolphin swims past and on one exciting occasion five or six orcas (killer whales) were spotted off the Inner Holm at about 11 pm one June evening when it was still light enough to watch them.