928 tonnes
The MV Varagen was built in Selby in 1989 and weighs 928 tonnes unladen. I’m currently thanking Archimedes that it floats.
The MV Varagen was built in Selby in 1989 and weighs 928 tonnes unladen. I’m currently thanking Archimedes that it floats.
The Italian Chapel on Orkney’s tiny island of Lamb Holm is so fragile. These are not bricks; this is not plaster; those …
Oh let men, overcoming individual and national egoisms, recognise themselves as brothers, may they refrain from discord, may they love and help one another…
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 in Birsay was built between 1569 and 1579 by Robert Stewart, the illegitimate son of King James V of …
We are in Moena in northern Italy at the book launch for La Chiesetta Della Pace – Orkney’s Italian Chapel by Philip …
Coriolano ‘Gino’ Caprara and Roberto Pendini were Italian prisoners of war in Orkney. They helped build the Churchill Barriers which created causeways …
Roberto Pendini was held prisoner on the Orkney island of Lamb Holm during the Second World War and worked as part of …
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.”
I’m standing at the base of the Kitchener Memorial in Birsay on the mainland of Orkney. It’s a beautiful crenelated stone tower …
The original inscription of the Kitchener Memorial at Birsay on the Mainland of Orkney was: “This tower was raised by the people …
The Health and Safety Executive says it’s good practice to display a warning sign telling the public that a bull is in …
That’s the longest recorded life of a Fulmar. That’s a long time at sea.
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 is an amazing rock stack – especially from the air. It was used as a car advert in 1994: …
The reason most climbers come to Orkney is The Old Man of Hoy. In fact he isn’t a very old man at …
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 over Marwick Head looking for carrion. I’m not carrion yet, not while I still have a pulse to make …
Lying on the grass in evening sunshine.
I didn’t realise until today that the best way to see the Orkney Islands is by light aircraft. Lamb Holm is a …
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.
The shop in Birsay, Palace Stores, was a source of great relief today. The Orkney Ice Cream was delicious (I recommend Raspberry), …
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.
May 31st marks the 100th anniversary of The Battle of Jutland where the main fleets of the British and German navies fought …
I prefer the story “The fabulously wealthy rob us of our rightful taxes and expect us to be grateful to them when they abuse shell charities to fund their own self-indulgent and self-aggrandising projects.” That’s not how the story of Lady Susie Sainsbury’s benevolence gets told.
Friday night at The Pierowall Hotel and the bar is rammed. We’ve been there for hours already eating the Orkney beef in …
The Angelica is growing beautifully and wears a bright halo at the Ring of Brodgar.