Long evening shadows
Long evening shadows at the Bay of Tafts with the sound of bike tyres grinding on shell sand as my tires slip …
The Dark Island is so very close
So very close and so very far away. It’s 8:40am and it’s not legal to buy alcohol before 10:00am here. My ferry …
Sleeping in my car
Sleeping in my car overlooking Kirkwall bay – waking to watch the world turn.
Crunching boots on empty tracks
Our boots crunch as I walk along the farm track with Fitty Hill behind and the silver sea ahead.
Sometimes a picture is enough
Fitty Hill from East Kirbest
Sailing Westray down.
Leaving the Island is always a wrench. As I leave the Island, I watch as the ferry sails and Westray begins to …
Playing in a big space
A photo-shoot with Chris from the band Ippykak at our nearest beach. It’s a glorious Westray day and the Bay of Tafts is calm and blue. Perfect for a quick kayak.
The sun shines out of his guitar
There’s just time on a glorious day to see my friend Chris and record a video for one of the songs from his album with his band Ippykak.
Deceptive
A new day and a new beach to explore. This one is hidden behind long kelp drying walls. Over shattered rock and …
Buried Treasure
When I was a child I played on the beach all summer holiday and one day, when I was very young, I …
Grace and poise
Cycling past the Skello shop I see a vision in white, a stunningly beautiful, windswept and magnificent white horse. She has grace …
Capturing the emptiness
There’s only one road from Einar and in the wind it’s tough cycling. I stop for a breather and capture the emptiness.
Snuffle, oink, scratch
The pig needs a scratch so bicycles are stopped, bristles are rumpled. What a fine looking pig.
Spring light
It’s a beautiful time of year as low spring light gives the view from my field a golden glow and sheep graze …
Middle of the road
Middle of the road; that’s something you could never accuse Westray of being.
Lambing
Lambing is a wonderful time; quivering tails and wobbly legs are always a pleasure at this time of year. Cycling past the …
The truth at last about Westray tourists
So this is what happens to visitors? Spotted in a glass cabinet of curiosities at the Museum in Kirkwall.
Noltland Panorama
Noltland Castle is a wonderful castle with panoramic views of Pierowall and its bay. Here’s a 360 panorama taken with a Spinner …
Mice nibble… #2
Slippers Just when I was thinking I’d like to get my cold feet into some snug slippers in this Orkney Summer I …
Sugar and spice and everything nice…
… that’s what Westray is made of. Slugs and snails. That’s what my house is made of. Here’s an adventurous slug who …
Sunrise through broken windows
In art classes when I was a teenager I used to love using blue with red, orange and yellow. It is a stunning combination. No more so than in nature, and there’s nothing that my dirty, broken windows can do to dull the spectacle. In Orkney, just a sunrise is so spectacular it’s as exciting as an eclipse.
Is that on the inside or the outside?
Is that fly on the inside or the outside of the window? I really can’t tell. If it’s on the inside, then …
10 minutes after dawn
I’m up early because it’s dawn at 6:07 and I want to see the sun appear on the horizon. It’s ten minutes …
20 minutes before dawn
It’s light in my window and it’s not yet 6 am . The sky is bright and the walls reflect the early …
Turnips like melons
Living on a small island gives people a different mentality. Living on Westray ranks somewhere between living on the main islands of …
Megrim
Mmmm… Megrim is on the menu at Helgi’s tonight: Megrim Vierge – steamed Megrim fillets on crushed new tatties with herby citrus …
Cockles on the beach
Cockles on the shell-sand beach in Pierowall.
For Want of a Nail, the Ship Was Lost
In dazzling sunshine I step off the grassy bank and onto the beach, ending sock-deep in something black and congealed. It’s the …
A chap with an attitude problem
A chap with an attitude problem… and a bull. A quick cycle to the Bay of Swartmill in the sunshine with my …
Lay me down in a field of daisies
A trek to Noup Head Lighthouse and time to rest and use my Spinner 360 camera to capture the scene. “Lay me …