Let me sleep in a bed of clover
The white clover is beautiful. In many places in the world people are discouraged from growing it because it attracts bees which may sting people. Personally I’d rather have bees than lawyers.
Raiders of the lost Aak
Guillemots are known as Aaks in Orkney. This Aak egg has been raided from the cliffs at Noup Head and eaten.
A different view of a Puffin
I’m on the cliffs at Westray’s Castle o’ Burrian with the Puffin Whisperer. They are such curious birds that when she calls, …
Magnificent battlements, gunloops and ravens
Noltland Castle is a ruin that was never finished built by a paranoid man who placed defensive positions everywhere; it has walls 7 feet thick and 71 gunloops to shoot at attackers.
Nousts
The outrageous thing about several of these nousts, designed to provide protection to boats pulled up onto the shore, is that they …
5,000 quills
A strange beast of 5,000 quills has decided to pay us a visit.
Handsome chap
Red Bull. All I need now is the vodka.
The more you can see the horizon…
The more you can see the horizon, the more you can see the arc of your whole life and think about what’s …
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.
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 …
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 …
Beautiful Pierowall
Pierowall is Old Norse for ‘Small Bay’. We seem to have forgotten that in modern times so Pierowall Bay means Small Bay …
Shelter
I’ve spent two entire days of my life crawling up the seashore measuring the height and diameter of limpets. The conclusion? Limpets …
These boots were made for walking
A rock arch on Westray, at Backarass.