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.
Orkney Ferries
On board.
928 tonnes
The MV Varagen was built in Selby in 1989 and weighs 928 tonnes unladen. I’m currently thanking Archimedes that it floats.
Fragile and immortal
The Italian Chapel on Orkney’s tiny island of Lamb Holm is so fragile. These are not bricks; this is not plaster; those …
The words in his pocket
Oh let men, overcoming individual and national egoisms, recognise themselves as brothers, may they refrain from discord, may they love and help one another…
1944
Orkney’s Italian Chapel was completed in 1944. Stonemason Domenico Buttapasta laid cut and polished stones in Roman numerals to celebrate its completion. …
The Earl’s Palace, Birsay
The Earl’s Palace in Birsay was built between 1569 and 1579 by Robert Stewart, the illegitimate son of King James V of …
The Italian Chapel – book launch in Moena
We are in Moena in northern Italy at the book launch for La Chiesetta Della Pace – Orkney’s Italian Chapel by Philip …
Making a mark
Coriolano ‘Gino’ Caprara and Roberto Pendini were Italian prisoners of war in Orkney. They helped build the Churchill Barriers which created causeways …
900,000 tons of concrete and rock
Roberto Pendini was held prisoner on the Orkney island of Lamb Holm during the Second World War and worked as part of …
The Miracle of Camp 34
I’m spending time with Coriolano ‘Gino’ Caparara. He’s now 96 and as smart and as funny as he ever was. He talks about his experiences as a prisoner of war held by the British in Orkney as if they were yesterday when “I learned English 70 years ago,” he says “And I never get chance use it.”
Lord Kitchener wants you
I’m standing at the base of the Kitchener Memorial in Birsay on the mainland of Orkney. It’s a beautiful crenelated stone tower …
“And his staff perished…”
The original inscription of the Kitchener Memorial at Birsay on the Mainland of Orkney was: “This tower was raised by the people …
Bull in field
The Health and Safety Executive says it’s good practice to display a warning sign telling the public that a bull is in …
40 years, 10 months and 16 days
That’s the longest recorded life of a Fulmar. That’s a long time at sea.
Europe’s most complete Neolithic village
Skara Brae is exceptional. The eight houses there form Europe’s most complete Neolithic village. The domestic houses were occupied 5,000 years ago …
North Gaulton Castle
North Gaulton Castle is an amazing rock stack – especially from the air. It was used as a car advert in 1994: …
The Old Man of Hoy
The reason most climbers come to Orkney is The Old Man of Hoy. In fact he isn’t a very old man at …
Will
Will is my oldest friend, and by that I don’t mean that I’ve known him the longest; but that is also true. …
A Raven circles
A Raven circles over Marwick Head looking for carrion. I’m not carrion yet, not while I still have a pulse to make …
She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me
Lying on the grass in evening sunshine.
Light Aircraft
I didn’t realise until today that the best way to see the Orkney Islands is by light aircraft. Lamb Holm is a …
Handcrafted Orkney chairs
I’ve always loved the work of Orkney craftsman Fraser Anderson. I had a beautiful ‘creepie’, an Orkney milking stool, made by him for many years, but I’ve never had the chance to visit his workshop. It was a stroke of luck when I saw the sign for his Orkney Handcrafted Furniture when driving past late one afternoon and realised he would still be open. Thankfully, he was and proved as charming as his craftwork.
Palace Stores
The shop in Birsay, Palace Stores, was a source of great relief today. The Orkney Ice Cream was delicious (I recommend Raspberry), …
Mobilisation by Shame
Looking at the mass of poppies outside St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, it’s hard to comprehend the sheer scale of the death and destruction.