St Margaret's Hope

St. Margaret's Hope ( known locally as " The Hope ", pronounced " Hup ") is a village on the Orkney island of South Ronaldsay in the north of Scotland. It has about 550 inhabitants and is the third largest after Kirkwall and Stromness settlement of Orkney.

The town lies on WaterSound, at the inner tip of a sheltered bay on the north coast of the island of South Ronaldsay via the Churchill Barriers ( A961 ) has a connection with the main island of Mainland, and is a popular excursion destination of the inhabitants of Kirkwall. The Pentland Ferries maintain a ferry service to Gills Bay on the Scottish mainland.

" The Hope " is the main village of the island and either named after Margaret the ' Maid of Norway ", who died there or after Queen Margaret of Scotland, wife of Malcolm III .. The latter explanation comes from Victorian Ordnance Survey maps that show the attributed name to an early Christian St. Margarets Chapel. The village has a primary school, a museum and a number of shops and restaurants. It is known for its annual Pflügewettbewerb, a local tradition on the sand by Wright.

Traces of an Iron Age Broch's lying in a field above the village.

View of the ferry from St. Margaret's Hope

" Waterside "