A Visit to the Fossil and Heritage Centre in Burray


 Last August my friend Kathleen and I had a walk to the Cruaday quarry in Quoyloo, Sandwick, as mentioned in a previous blog. We have now visited the Fossil and Heritage Centre in Burray, where many of the fossils from the quarry, found by Leslie Firth, are exhibited. These fossil fish go back to the Devonian Period, and for 385 million years old, they are remarkably well preserved.
The museum not only houses Cruaday fossils, but ones from other parts of Scotland, Germany and The Green River in the USA. There is also a mineral stone collection, and my favourite part was the darkened room which shows the fluorescence of some of these stones. Downstairs there is a room displaying information about the ships in Scapa Flow and detailing the path of the German U-boat which entered the Flow in 1939 and torpedoed HMS Royal Oak. Upstairs there is the heritage museum, with furniture and utensils from Orkney's past.
The outbuildings include the old dairy, the old laundry and the tack room. The centre has a gift shop and there is a cafe attached to the building.
It is certainly well worth a visit, especially since the entrance fee is very modest and the staff are friendly, enthusiastic about the museum and helpful.
Apart from the glow-in-the-dark stones, the highlight was really seeing the fossils collected from our local quarry.


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