Houghton Battery, Orkney

Small Quick Firing battery covering against torpedo boat attack between the mainland and Hoy

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Fab pics. Thanks for sharing...

Cheers. Some more on the way.

Great looking place. Wild!

Thanks for all this concrete.It looks a very peaceful place,I wonder whether they ever let rip in anger?

Being the home of the Naval fleet during both wars the history of Scapa Flow is very well documented. It was perhaps the most heavily defended naval area in the war, and no they never did fire in anger. The only incursion on Scapa flow during WW2 was a single u-boat, which in Oct 1939 managed to sink HMS Royal Oak who was at anchor at the time.

I suspect that the old wooden furniture may actually be original , hard to believe, but I found the same type in one of the buildings at the Hoxa Head battery as well.

Great pics, I liked the shot of the kettle with a nest inside, I enjoyed it, Thanks

Ace set and love I the birds nest shot.

Nice one, doesn't look too busy up there either
Fantastic photos, thank you for sharing

bobblehead said:

I suspect that the old wooden furniture may actually be original , hard to believe, but I found the same type in one of the buildings at the Hoxa Head battery as well.

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You may well be right - Both the Houton ( no gh in name) and the Balfour (Hoxa Head WW2) Batteries were dismantled in 1955. I visited both in Sept 1960 and the interiors were tidy and ordered - shelving and brackets still on the walls - plus the heavy duty electric feeder cable (Image 8883) was still connected to a distribution box or some such, and other electrical stuff was still attached and fastened up. I certainly cannot recall the chest of drawers - perhaps it was under the wall mounted work surface, or the plans/drawing cabinet. On Hoxa Head I only walked around the actual WW1 and WW2 Battery works and not the 'offices'. Perhaps they were locked up? Obviously all that had been removed in the dismantling was the armaments and associated gear. The turned wooden bedstead leg? or perhaps broken turn table leg? is definitely not MOD issue of the era, but as the fitting out of these places could have been done by local firms, perhaps they used what was on hand.

The purpose of my 1960 visit was to see the places where Dad was stationed on the Orkneys from mid 1937 to the end of 1945. As he was not involved with Battery control / generator rooms, I only gave them a cursory glance.