Black William
The name Guillemot doesn’t sound English at all, and it isn’t. It’s French, from Guillaume, or William. Here then, are a few …
A glorious day
When you have a beach to yourself.
Mice nibble… #12
Knee protectors.
Pierowall Bay
Just a glimpse at Pierowall from the air tells you all you need to know about why the Vikings held Pierowall in …
Mice nibble… #11
Shoe laces.
Daniel
Stained glass window featuring Daniel from St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.
Round the back of The Italian Chapel
I love the view around the back of the Italian Chapel.
Wreck
The wreck of SS Reginald just off Orkney’s Churchill Barriers.
Blown away by a windmill
I was completely blown away by Sangar Mill. It’s incredible that’s it’s survived so intact, with the windmill mechanism still visible and …
Sitting in a stall of hay at Quoygrew
A dirt floor. A stone hearth. An open fire. No glass or windows. A turf roof. Stone stalls with hay bedding. What am I describing?
Down the garden path at Quoygrew
My favourite part of the ruined house at Quoygrew is the garden path of the 13th to 16th Century house. What a …
The fifteen hearths of Quoygrew
Quoygrew is a 1,000 year old house on Westray which was lived in by Vikings from 950 AD, shortly after they arrived …
Cathedral Carving
This grimacing head wearing what seems to be a wig and surrounded by wings is in St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. It …
A sense of taste
Hardly any bird species have a sense of smell – and that probably means they have very little sense of taste either. …
The Bay of Skaill
It must be shell sand below for it to be so beautifully pale and for the water to be so turquoise. The …
Breck o’ Aikerness
The language that estate agents speak is not English as we know it. Breck o’ Aikerness was for sale recently. It may …
Seaweed, limpets, riots and arsenic
Burning seaweed on Westray used to be quite an industry. The island is still littered with low kelp-drying walls where the tangle …
When I first visited Westray I was amazed to see that everything was tied down. The wheelie bins; tied down. A static caravan; tied down. A trampoline; tied down, with a couple of helfy concrete blocks for good measure. When the wind blows here it blows to teach everyone a lesson.
I’m told that my friend who has the relatively high-sided box van no longer needs an inspection pit to view any problems with the axles or the exhaust. It has been laid on its side; by the wind. → 6 July, 2016
Addicted to Fulmars
Yes, it’s true; I’m addicted to Fulmars.
The Church of Scotland
From the air, the Church of Scotland Kirk looks just as imposing as it does when on the road below. I can …
Use your imagination
People of the past have left traces of their ancient lives all over Orkney. The beautiful Brough of Birsay is no exception.
Making waves at the Brough of Birsay
The Brough of Birsay on mainland Orkney was a Viking stronghold 1,000 years ago. 380 million years before that it was a huge inland lake in the Southern Hemisphere. Here are the fossilised ripples to prove it.
There used to be a floating bank which visited the outer Orkney islands. Now the banker gets the plane and a tour of the Northern Isles is more likely to be a rare example of a ‘stag-do’ pub crawl by motor launch. How cool is that? One pub per island and miles of water in between. That’s one occasion you definitely need a designated driver. → 5 July, 2016
Beautiful Pierowall
Pierowall is Old Norse for ‘Small Bay’. We seem to have forgotten that in modern times so Pierowall Bay means Small Bay …
45 degrees. No, that’s not the temperature in Fahrenheit. It’s the angle at which people have to walk in this wind just to keep upright in Orkney. If there’s ever a still day, there must be people falling over all over the Islands, with nothing to keep them upright. → 3 July, 2016
Shelter
I’ve spent two entire days of my life crawling up the seashore measuring the height and diameter of limpets. The conclusion? Limpets …
Orkney Ferries
On board.