Welcome to Owlswood Lodge,
This newly built house offering self catering accommodation in Orkney for up to 7 people sits in an elevated position looking over Scapa Flow and the South Isles but is conveniently located just 4 miles from Kirkwall.
It has been built in a traditional style with welsh slate roof, flagstone floors and multi fuel stove but has all the comforts of modern living. Under floor heating, powered by an environmentally friendly ground source heat pump, ensures that the Lodge is always cosy even when Orkney experiences several changes of weather in one day!
The environment is very important to us and all our cleaning products for the accommodation are eco-friendly, we use low energy lighting where possible and all appliances energy efficiency ‘A’ rated. Our flag stones and stone for the dykes came from a local Orkney source and we encourage re-cycling. We are members of the Green Tourism Business Scheme and were delighted in September 2008 to recieve our Silver Award .
BIRDWATCHERS
We are members of the RSPB and the house is located adjacent to Orkney's Hobbister RSPB reserve – bird watching from the window! The open moorland near the house means there are lots of opportunities to see grouse , pheasant, snipe, lapwings, curlew etc and for keen birdwatchers we frequently see a Short Eared Owl ( around tea time )and hen harriers too . The reserve includes Waulkmill Bay which has acres of sand when the tide is out and is a bit of a ‘sun trap’ on a bonnie day.
FISHERMEN
Orkney is a fisherman’s paradise with lots of lochs for wild brown trout fishing and the long coastline offering lots of opportunities for sea angling from boat or the shore. We can arrange boat hire, ghillie services and ‘visitor membership ‘for the Orkney Trout Fishing Association prior to your visit. We can even arrange to have your ‘big ones ‘vacuum packed and /or smoked for you to take home. The larger Lochs of Harray, Stenness and Broadhouse are approximately 20 mins drive away and the smaller Kirbister Loch is just a five minute drive down the road! – Ideal for that evening ‘dabble’!
Owlswood Lodge self-catering is the perfect base for your Orkney experience whether that is trout fishing at midnight, waiting patiently to see otters, beachcombing on long sandy beaches , watching red throated divers on a moorland lochan , exploring historic sites , riding Atlantic breakers at the Bay of Skaill, hearing traditional music, discovering inspirational art or simply enjoying locally produced food .
In the building and planning of Owlswood Lodge we have tried to pay attention to all the details (large and small) which will make your holiday perfect and hope that you have a memorable experience in Orkney.
We look forward to meeting you soon ………
Carol and Vince Mainland