Orkney has precious few trees. And I mean precious. Perhaps I should say Orkney has a few precious trees. Windswept, almost barren to the eye, the landscape is largely bare of woodland. Wood has been a scarce commodity on the Islands and so beachcombing for flotsam and jetsam has been an essential part of the [...]
There’s just time for some rough cycling down to the nearest beach at Taftend before sunset. It’s a chance to get off the bike and sit and marvel at the sky.
I’ve seen the sun rise, orange and luminous over the ocean from my bedroom window and now it’s time for me to see it set behind Fitty Hill. A glorious day.
There’s just time to wander down to Taftend om my bike to watch the sun set behind Fitty Hill.
On the roof two slates have cracked and fallen. I have a box of replacements ready, because on Westray one slate missing and one bad storm means one roof missing.
The lack of trees on Orkney has meant that generations of people have relied upon driftwood and whalebone for building materials. Orkney’s Neolithic settlements had driftwood and whalebone roofs covered in turf over 5,000 years ago. Here’s a whalebone from a 50ft Sperm Whale washed onto one of Westray’s beaches. This one’s not much use [...]
Westray’s beaches are full of interesting finds. Whether it’s a groatie buckie (or Cowrie) on the tideline or the skeleton of the rusting hulk of an abandoned tractor, there’s always something interesting on the next beach. Here’s a rusting metal buoy from one of those beaches resting in my garden at Einar.
… is of nothing but fields and clouds and ocean.
It’s wonderful to see that the Swallows who visit Orkney in the Summer to breed have done so well. There are at least three nests in the outbuildings here and the young are learning to catch flies on the wing and perching around the house. I don’t think that catching flies here can be too [...]
Westray is an Island with a sense of community. Large extended families live here, with a high possibility of seeing distant relations on a daily basis. That’s one of the factors that leads to a low crime rate, after all, you wouldn’t steal from your own family, would you? There’s a significant moral code which [...]
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