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Orkney Islands

Stronsay - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

A day trip to Stronsay

Stronsay is one of the ‘other’ Orkney islands. I’ve not been there before because there’s no way of getting there from Westray …

Plane shadow - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Flying shadows

A trip on a light aircraft gives a wonderful perspective of Orkney. Here there are cattle, sheep and our shadow.

Rainbow - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey

View from the ferry

The higher the sun, the lower the rainbow. The lower the sun, the higher the rainbow. This photograph must have been taken …

The Italian Chapel - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Peace to you

Orkney’s Italian Chapel is a jewel, a relic, a prayer and a tiny beacon of hope. It’s also a spectacular work of …

Meadow Pipit - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The Bird by Edwin Muir

Here’s another of my favourite poems by Orcadian poet Edwin Muir. The Bird Adventurous bird walking upon the air,Like a schoolboy running …

Oystercatcher - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Sea Pies

Oystercatchers are known as Skeldro, Chaldro, or Shaalder in Orkney. If you think those names are difficult, internationally they are known as …

Barquentine Thalassa - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Barquentine Thalassa

The Northlink Ferry from Scrabster on the Scotland mainland to Stromness on the Orkney Mainland is always entertaining, thankfully in a good …

The North Sea - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The North Sea

The North Sea is magnificent. It’s been the victim of overfishing, suffered from industrial and agricultural runoff, dredging, and dumping of waste. …

Orkney Ferries - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Orkney Ferries to Westray

I’m heading to one of the North Isles of Orkney, which are North Isles themselves. I took this photograph of the North …

Northlink Ferries - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

Scrabster to Stromness by Northlink Ferry

The Scrabster to Stromness ferry across the Pentland Firth takes about 90 minutes. As we leave mainland Scotland for the Mainland of Orkney there’s a classic Stevenson’s lighthouse.

The Italian Chapel - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

The Italian Chapel has twins

Orkney’s Italian Chapel was once part of a large complex of Nissen huts with tracks and gardens. For many years it has …

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

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

MV Varagen - photograph (c) 2016 David Bailey (not the)

928 tonnes

The MV Varagen was built in Selby in 1989 and weighs 928 tonnes unladen. I’m currently thanking Archimedes that it floats.