I agree that tunnels are for ants and worms and groundhogs. I do the bridge thing, under my own limiting conditions and caveats, weather being one. I have seen some dandy bridges in central america dangling there about 75a years past their prime! They will never build a link tunnel to Orkney, because it is expensive, unnecessary, and somewhat detractive and offensive to the life there. Just one theory. It could be propelled by some underlying value, like the housing for an oil pipe to ship the crude offloaded in Scappa Flow, to the mainland and onward down country to some thirsty refinery. Petrol flow from Scappa Flow...now the tunnel makes sense! hmmmm On Jun 18, 2010, at 12:59 PM, KJEMEM@aol.com wrote: > My purely selfish opinion comes from the fact that, although I have > been > known to use them, I have an irrational real of tunnels and > bridges. You'll > never get me in the Chunnel and I have been known to try to drive over > bridges with my eyes shut. I hope there will always be a boat. > And, if > tunnels and bridges are created there should be some form of public > transport > over them so that everyone wanting to get from point A to point B > wouldn't > have to have/use a car to do so. > > Karen > > > In a message dated 6/18/2010 11:39:50 A.M. Central Daylight Time, > tuck12@comcast.net writes: > > All, > > To me, not being a resident of those grand isles, a Pentland Firth > tunnel sounds like a massive expense for little return. It > wouldn't do > much not being done by ship - just a bit faster - and would > service, I > suspect, far fewer people than would ever make it cost effective. > Sure, it would be an all-weather job, but then sometimes retaining > some sense of the wrath of Mother Nature is not bad for our > humility..... > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA- > request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message >

All, I have crossed the English Channel by three means - car ferry, hovercraft, and tunnel. The tunnel is like riding a subway. You roll through the English countryside at a gentle pace, then the windows go dark and you glide along for a half hour or so, just like being in a subway, then you emerge into the light again and on the Euro side the train picks up speed until it is really going some. But as for crossing the channel, ho hum. there is no sense of distance nor geography. I took a hover craft once, in winter, and you sit inside, the windows are so covered with spray and fog there is nothing to see, and the barf bags were passed out early and use copiously. No thanks. Last time I took the ferry we got off the train in Calais and boarded. It being noon we went straight to the restaurant where there awaited us large roasts of beef, pork, ham, and turkey, with loads of nicely cooked vegetables, plus a good selection of wines. Taking our tray to a window seat we watched as we sailed, watched the heavy ship traffic in the Channel, chatted with some folks, saw the White Cliffs rise in the distance, and about the time we were finished we were landing at Dover. Now THAT's the way to cross. Likewise I prefer to arrive at Orkney on the ship from Scrabster, past the Old Man, looking for puffins and gannets, round the end and into Stromness harbor. That, to me, is the proper way to reach Orkney. I'll say this: if they build a tunnel (which they won't we needn't worry) I won't use it. Speaking of that, we no longer cross the Atlantic sitting in a silver tube, knees in our noses, eating with our elbows touching each other, trying to get some sleep with your backside aching and then arriving with horrendous jet lag. This August we will come in the front of the plane, which means a flat bed, great food on a huge tray, plenty of leg room, but alas still the jet lag. However the last two years (and will again next year) we crossed in style, sleeping in a king size bed, glorious meals (dress is formal, m'dear) plus shows, lectures, and sea air, arriving with no jet lag, and able to b ring as much luggage as you wish. iI's called the Queen Mary2, and indeed, it is the only way to cross. Tuck On Jun 18, 2010, at 1:13 PM, stephen davie wrote: > I agree that tunnels are for ants and worms and groundhogs. > I do the bridge thing, under my own limiting conditions and caveats, > weather being one. I have seen > some dandy bridges in central america dangling there about 75a years > past their prime! > They will never build a link tunnel to Orkney, because it is > expensive, unnecessary, and somewhat > detractive and offensive to the life there. Just one theory. It could > be propelled by some underlying value, > like the housing for an oil pipe to ship the crude offloaded in > Scappa Flow, to the mainland and onward down country > to some thirsty refinery. Petrol flow from Scappa Flow...now the > tunnel makes sense! hmmmm > > On Jun 18, 2010, at 12:59 PM, KJEMEM@aol.com wrote: > >> My purely selfish opinion comes from the fact that, although I have >> been >> known to use them, I have an irrational real of tunnels and >> bridges. You'll >> never get me in the Chunnel and I have been known to try to drive >> over >> bridges with my eyes shut. I hope there will always be a boat. >> And, if >> tunnels and bridges are created there should be some form of public >> transport >> over them so that everyone wanting to get from point A to point B >> wouldn't >> have to have/use a car to do so. >> >> Karen >> >> >> In a message dated 6/18/2010 11:39:50 A.M. Central Daylight Time, >> tuck12@comcast.net writes: >> >> All, >> >> To me, not being a resident of those grand isles, a Pentland Firth >> tunnel sounds like a massive expense for little return. It >> wouldn't do >> much not being done by ship - just a bit faster - and would >> service, I >> suspect, far fewer people than would ever make it cost effective. >> Sure, it would be an all-weather job, but then sometimes retaining >> some sense of the wrath of Mother Nature is not bad for our >> humility..... >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA- >> request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes >> in the subject and the body of the message >> > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message