The Great Chicken Disaster of 1952
There’s a reason chickens are mostly kept inside in Westray. It’s because of the great chicken disaster of 1952. On 15 January …
Waves
I love a breezy day on Westray. The waves fascinate me. Watching them roll and seeing a small tunnel appear within them, …
Pickieterno over the rainbow
I’m out taking photographs of the female Grey Phalarope. Yes, this one: I did come here to take photographs of Dunlin, which …
10 ways you know you’re in Orkney
10 ways you know you’re in Orkney Orkney is a very special place. What makes it so special? Here are ten ways …
The Bay of Tafts
The Bay of Tafts is not quite, but almost, my nearest beach. It’s a five minute cycle ride away, although the time …
Atlantic Wave
I love walking the west coast of Westray. On a beautiful day there’s no place like it. I’ve been enjoying getting to …
It looks like the end of the world out there but it’s only Asperitas.
I look out of the window and I know something seriously weird is happening. It looks like the end of the world …
Iridescent clouds
The clouds are like the insides of shells today. There’s a beautiful mother of pearl effect on the edges of the high …
Swallow over the rainbow
I’ve seen some spectacular rainbows on Westray. Some have been fleeting. Some have been intense. Some have been full arcs which split …
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.
Rainbow waves
At the north end of Westray the Atlantic is unrestrained and waves crash into the coast making blowholes, sea caves and spectacular …
Rapness Mill, a Puffin, a rainbow and the sunset
The Mill at Rapness is falling down. I’d love to help save it. Red Campion grows around it: Red Champion And Sea …
10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Visiting Orkney for the First Time
Nothing can fully prepare you for coming to Orkney for the first time but I’m going to try. You probably already know …
Barbed wire sunset
It’s only a small climb to the top of the field at Einar, but the view is so rewarding at this time …
Damp
In Orkney, when it’s damper inside than it is out you have a problem.
This light
The wall at the top of Einar looks beautiful in this light.
The bit in-between
Winter days on Westray are very much like the short flight between Westray and Papa Westray. The flight is the shortest scheduled …
Stormy sunset on Westray
Walking down to Grobust beach from the tiny car park I’m suddenly aware of how dramatic the sky has become. There’s such …
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.
All hail
It’s a beautiful blue sky; so blue we are tempted up to Noup Head along the rutted track and past the farm …
Einar and the Northern Lights
There’s a fluorescent green ring encircling the Earth tonight made by charged particles from a solar wind. As if the milky way …