Westray Connections 2015 – Concert and Dance
In previous years I’ve taken instant photos of all the artists at Westray Connections. This time I thought I’d try black and …
Westray Connections 2015 – Westray Heritage Centre
Westray Heritage Centre is an amusing place for a concert, with its scale model of the Noup Head cliffs and racks of …
Westray Connections 2015 – The Graand Owld Byre
One of the great success stories of 2015 in Westray has been the development of The Graand Owld Byre. Michael and Teenie …
Westray Connections 2015 – Kalisgarth
It’s Saturday morning after a late Friday session in the Pierowall Hotel. At 10:30 in Kalisgarth it’s time for Andy Cant and …
Westray Connections 2015 – The Pierowall Hotel Sessions
Friday night at The Pierowall Hotel and the bar is rammed. We’ve been there for hours already eating the Orkney beef in …
The Kelp Store
One of Orkney’s most important exports used to be the ash from Kelp, the seaweed which is regularly washed ashore by storms …
The shortest scheduled flight in the world
The shortest scheduled flight in the world is between Westray and Papa Westray (and, of course, the other way round). It’s in …
Free Range Eggs Sold Here
Cycling past the turning to the Bay of Swartmill I spot this great sign on a disembodied fridge door. Inside the intact …
Pink and orange
Pink and orange don’t go together; they clash. Or at least that’s the mantra when accessorising or designing a garden of flowers. …
Bistorted
There are beautiful pink flowers in the garden at Einar. They look like Bistort in which case I wish I had more …
Well drop my scone…
One of life’s little pleasures is a cup of tea and a piece of cake. One of the very few downsides is …
Fettered
Around Gill Pier I spot a buoyancy ring. The word buoy comes from the 13th Century from the Old French boie “fetter …
Even a Gypsy caravan was too much settling down
Alicen’s Gypsy caravan has some wonderful paintwork.
Telling stories
Photographs tell stories. They tell stories about objects and people and the relationships between them. Some photographs tell you their own story; …
Stromness Professionals at the Graand Owld Byre
Tuesday night in Westray and the only gig in town is a packed house with every available seat taken, children on laps …
Inside Lady Kirk
Lady Kirk in Pierowall was built in 1674 on the foundations of a 13th-century church.
Rain-Cloud Grey and Sea Foam
Morwenna is a beautiful Thai cat. She’s a Korat, described as “a silver-tipped blue that appears to shimmer”. The Thai people refer …
First Light
Dawn is at 3:57 this morning. In Rendalls, one of the shops in the village, I notice a small pile of CDs. …
Lady likes a carrot
Lady the ginger and blonde Shetland pony loves a carrot.
Monk Supper
“A monk supper please,” I said. That’s not a supper fit for a monk, although it might be. It’s monkfish and chips …
#islandproblems
My son introduced me to Yik Yak, an iPhone app which shows you local people’s comments wherever you are. I logged in …
Graand Owld Byre with Traybakes and Fancies
By chance I see a tiny slip of paper in the shop. It doesn’t count as a poster. It’s more than a …
Muster Stations
It’s time to board the Westray Ferry and to hear the familiar Orcadian voice telling us about the ‘Emergency Procedure’ and ‘Muster …
Putting the world to rights
Beer, football, conversation, soup, bread, cheese and putting the world to rights. A lovely evening, topped off with a gift of tatties …
If you want to know what cycling on Westray is like…
…then you really need to watch this hilarious video by some random stranger on YouTube: This is the road I cycle on …
Fattie Cutties and Drop Scones – the rivalry
Home baking on Westray is a way of life. It takes an hour and a half to get from Mainland Orkney by …
Prizewinning vegetables
What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow. – A. A. Milne
Orkney skies
The sky in Westray is wonderful on many occasions. There’s something awe-inspiring about the 360 degree view, the clarity of the atmosphere …
The best Potatoes, Long, White (4)
A brilliant plate of potatoes by Jean Drever. She’s such a talent in the vegetable garden. I only like food without color, …
The best Animal from Vegetables
The best ‘Section 10 – Animal from Vegetables’ entries at the Westray Industrial Show 2013. Classic :) I just love the giraffe …