SAW003578 SCOTLAND (1947). Old Man of Hoy, Orkney. An oblique aerial photograph taken facing east.

The impact of the weather on the land creates erosion, which - although it is slow - is one of the most powerful forces which shape the world that we see today.



The Old Man of Hoy rises for nearly 450 feet off the West coast of the island of Hoy, which is part of the Orkney Islands archipelago. The Old May is a good example of a 'sea-stack' - that is, a column of rock which was originally part of the mainland behind it, but which has been eroded by the sea. This first forms a natural rock arch and then (when the roof of the arch collapses)leaves behind the outer buttress of the arch as a sea-stack, as we see here. Other Scottish examples include the Old Man of Stoer and Am Buchaille in Sandwood Bay, both off the West coast of Sutherland

The Old Man of Hoy rises for nearly 450 feet off the West coast of the island of Hoy, which is part of the Orkney Islands archipelago. The Old May is a good example of a 'sea-stack' - that is, a column of rock which was originally part of the mainland behind it, but which has been eroded by the sea. This first forms a natural rock arch and then (when the roof of the arch collapses)leaves behind the outer buttress of the arch as a sea-stack, as we see here. Other Scottish examples include the Old Man of Stoer and Am Buchaille in Sandwood Bay, both off the West coast of Sutherland

The grid reference shows this in the English Channel!

Hoy, Britain from Above's most northerly image.