What was this artificial island used for?
There are several large lochs on Westray. Naturally they’re in depressions in the landscape. The Loch of Burness is in a natural …
Pot boiler in the midden
Westray has more archaeology than archaeologists. That means we are losing the most incredible evidence of previous civilisations with every tide and …
Westray Coast 50 – Day Five
My adventures on the fifth of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Four and a Half
My adventures on the four-and-a-half-th of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Four
My adventures on the fourth of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Three
My adventures on the third of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day Two
My adventures on the second of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Westray Coast 50 – Day One
My adventures on the first of five days walking the entire coast of Westray.
Going over the top; walking the coast of Westray
Westray is full of Neolithic, Iron Age and Bronze Age middens; rubbish dumps full of wonderful finds. If you live on a …
A pot boiler
Imagine you have no technology other than fire, stone, wood and bone. How would you cook food, other than directly by roasting …
Westray from the Knowe o’ Skea
I love the walk from Mae Sands to the Knowe o’ Skea. It’s a magical place, where currents meet, the sea boils and where an Iron Age burial ground gives views out towards the island of Rousay.
The top 10 reasons you shouldn’t visit Westray
Friends and relatives often ask me whether Westray is a good place to visit and my answer is always very clear. “No,” I say. “I wouldn’t recommend it.” Here then are my top ten reasons why you should never visit Westray.
Nousts
The outrageous thing about several of these nousts, designed to provide protection to boats pulled up onto the shore, is that they …
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 …
Grassy Knoll
On Westray, if there’s a lump in a field, it’s either rubbish dumped by a farmer or an incredibly precious and very …
On the edge
Just how close are these two 5,600 year old houses to being lost to the sea? It was a thrill to fly …
Limpets in the midden
What we throw away tells a lot about us. A quick look at my bin would tell you I like an occasional …
Manuport
It’s a new word for me. A manuport; Something brought by a human from one place to another. Something which shows conscious …
The Chain-Links of Noltland
Today we visited the Links of Noltland. The chain-link fence has seen better days.
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 …
Driftwood and whalebone
The lack of trees on Orkney has meant that generations of people have relied upon driftwood and whalebone for building materials. Orkney’s …
Links to our past
Coastal erosion at the Links of Noltland leaves scattered stones over a neolithic settlement quicky disappearing with the wind.
Wind Swept Away
The dunes at the Links of Noltland show their erosion by the wind – the grass tufts left are six feet above …
A 5000 year old necklace
I’m standing next to a 5000 year old house looking at a bead from a 5000 year old necklace. It was made …
Second place is nowhere
The most important archaeological find of last year was found on the remote Orkney island of Westray; or at least it was …
Lady Kirk
In 1136, Earl Rognvald went to church at Pierowall in Westray at the start of his campaign to subjugate Orkney. Or at …
The Knowe o’ Skea
Looking out from the Knowe o’ Skea Iron age burial ground across the skerries towards Rousay in the distance.
Ten Percent
Today is an important day in Orkney. It’s a Thursday so it’s the publication day of The Orcadian and Orkney Today newspapers. …