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Arriving in Orkney by ferry is a great experience. We’ve got a day on the Mainland before heading to Westray on yet …
The most persecuted bird in Britain
I’m hoping to see a Hen Harrier today. I’m going to visit the Eddie Balfour hide on the mainland of Orkney. The …
There are stars in the daytime sky
There are Starlings in the sky. Their plumage sparkles like stars that twinkle in the daytime. Their green and purple iridescence is …
“…beside the lake are stones high and broad, in height equal to a spear, and in an equal circle of half a mile.”
At Stenness stands a stone circle over 4,000 years old. The stones are surrounded by a ditch cut into the bedrock. The …
Knots landing at the Peedie Sea
I’m wandering the shore at Kirkwall Harbour for an hour before the ferry takes me to Westray. I’m loving the complex singing …
Kirkwall at dawn
I’ve just woken up in a Viking city. A city which is only part of the UK, and not Norway, because King …
What is it about Orkney that I love?
When I first arrived in Orkney 11 years ago I hated it. I had high expectations of an interesting and historic place …
A Dunlin feast
There’s a huge tide of seaweed washed up in the bay at North Haven on Westray. We check for seals on the …
When a Gannet lands next to us
It’s blustery at the top of the 60 metre-high cliffs on Westray’s Noup Head. We’re surrounded by Gannets flying past us when …
The crossing
It only takes an hour and a half to cross the Pentland Firth from Scrabster to Stromness on the Northlink ferry. Standing …
Colour co-ordinated Gulls
The brown waters of the River Tiber in Rome never seem to be able to reflect the intense blue of the sky …
The Second Ladybird Book of British Birds #15 – The Puffin
The Puffin is a little bird with a funny face, and a big beak striped like pyjamas.
The Second Ladybird book of British Birds #7 – The Chiffchaff
The Chiff Chaff – 60 years ago and now.
Barquentine Thalassa
The Northlink Ferry from Scrabster on the Scotland mainland to Stromness on the Orkney Mainland is always entertaining, thankfully in a good …
A load of Bronze Age bollards
The Links of Notland is such an amazing place for archaeology. It has a huge neolithic settlement, site of the discovery of …
Westray Connections 2017 – Taster sessions around the Village
Westray is a small island but it’s big enough to have a school and a care home, a doctors and a hotel. …
Floating islands
Looking out across the Bay of Tuquoy we can see a mirage. It might be an island. The shape is constantly changing …
Special Sunday Excursion to a living island
I’ve been in and around Orkney for ten years and never been to some of the outer islands. Being in Westray means …
10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Visiting Orkney for the First Time
Nothing can fully prepare you for coming to Orkney for the first time but I’m going to try. You probably already know …
An Italian Prisoner of War, beachcombing, 75 years ago
Orkney had a substantial Italian Prisoner of War population in the Second World War. They were specially commandeered for building work to …
A picnic bench that won’t blow away
Someone in Orkney could make a fortune making picnic benches and seats like this one in the grounds of this house in …
Ola Gorie – beauty and tradition in Orkney
I knew Ola Gorie’s jewellery before I knew Orkney. Ola is a really important figure to me and to countless others as …
A smile on their face
The woodcarver who made this pair of birds in St Magnus Cathedral had a smile on their face. They look like lovebirds to me.
Hinges on St Magnus Cathedral
I love these ornate hinges on the doors to St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.
The Orkney Museum
I love the Orkney Museum in the centre of Kirkwall, opposite St Magnus Cathedral. One of the mind-blowing exhibits is a carved …
Reading the runes
I love the Orkney Museum. Every time I go there I see something else that I’d bypassed on all previous visits. Here’s …
Saint Olaf in St Magnus Cathedral
In life Saint Olaf was a violent and brutal warlord; a killer Viking who lived 1,000 years ago. Yet he’s a Christian …
It’s getting late at the Bay of Tafts
I love sunsets at the Bay of Tafts. The sun is getting lower and there’s a warm glow in the sky.