Papay Day 18 – Papay’s Roads

It’s close to impossible to get lost on Papay.

There’s one main road that begins at the New Quay where the ferry docks. It winds round a few bends and then passes the Farm of Holland, the cenotaph and the airport on its way to North Hill.

There are a handful of side roads which mostly lead to one or more of the scattered properties. Just north of the airport, a small road goes west to St Boniface Church and a little further on another road goes east to the coast and then runs south along the coast past the small North Wick and South Wick bays.

Backtracking to the Farm of Holland which feels like the middle of the island to me, you’ll find the side that lead to most of the island’s remaining facilities. It passes the Community Shop and Hostel, the kirk, the school and then the Post Office. It continues past the Farm Store (with a couple of marvellous murals) and finally arrives at the Old Quay and the adjacent Kelp Store. From there the track continues north and joins up with the road near North Wick beach.

BUT … if you ever did get lost, you can get your bearings by visiting the Post Office which will at least confirm your longitude and latitude – see photo.

When we parked in the small lay-by opposite the Post Office, I checked our What 3 Words location which was cookbooks.patrolled.move. If you’re not familiar with What Three Words, check it out. It’s an innovative way of confirming a location anywhere on Earth. The globe is divided into squares that are 3×3 metres and each square is associated with 3 unique words separated by a dot.