Crossing the sea from Orkney Mainland to Westray feels like coming home.
Aug 172011
Nov 062010
Being away from Orkney and Westray only makes the memories of being there more intense. Whilst I look forward to my next trip there, here’s a poem I wrote many years ago – the lines “And gazed at the blue waves breaking, On the fine bright silver sand,” always remind me of Westray’s beaches. The [...]
Oct 012010
One of the great things about having a decent sized space is the ability to get out of the wind and for Gabriel to try some of his freestyle football tricks.
Sep 082010
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 [...]
Aug 302010
According to the Orkneyinga Saga, detailing the lives of the Earls of Orkney from the 9th to 12th Centuries, King Harald’s sons were real troublemakers. Gudron Gleam and Halfdan Long-Leg caused lots of trouble in Norway and then killed Earl Rögnvald of Møre, the father of Einar, Earl of Orkney. Einar lived between the 890s [...]
Aug 302010
There’s big excitement at Einar as Mr Pig arrives with news of the piglets. Little Kim has produced in the night. There are twelve piglets and sow and piglets are doing well. We’re on our bikes and down the road before you can say pig swill. The piglets are unbelievably cute, with curly tails and [...]
Aug 302010
Coastal erosion at the Links of Noltland leaves scattered stones over a neolithic settlement quicky disappearing with the wind.
Aug 302010
The dunes at the Links of Noltland show their erosion by the wind – the grass tufts left are six feet above the current sand surface and a complete neolithic settlement and bronze age village lie just inches below the surface of the shifting sands.
Aug 302010
I’m standing next to a 5000 year old house looking at a bead from a 5000 year old necklace. It was made from a cow’s tooth by someone who lived on this spot in the neolithic age. Someone who wore animal skins, who farmed barley and kept cattle. Someone who worked bone and antler and [...]
Aug 292010
Einar. It’s a great name. It’s an Old Norse name for ‘One Warrior’. It’s a fantastic name for our house. As soon as I saw Einar advertised in the Solicitor’s window I was fascinated by the name. Einar. I looked up the name and found that one of the best-known bearers of the name was [...]