A Tystie with something tasty
Black Guillemots seem to be called Tysties on Orkney. This one has caught something tasty. It looks to me like a Butterfish. …
Peeled paint litters the floor
Peeled paint litters the floor at Einar. There’ so much on the floor that I have to sweep it up. There’s more …
The crack in the wall
There’s such a crack in the wall at Einar I could be in an episode of Dr Who.
Restoration of The Italian Chapel
Antonella Papa spent a month last year as restorer of Orkney’s Italian Chapel Antonella says: “The Italian Chapel now is part of …
The view from St Magnus Cathedral
St Magnus Cathedral dominates Kirkwall just as the Vikings who built it originally intended. If you ever get the chance to go …
Tree-ring cobbles
On Westray the traces of Lake Orcadie are everywhere. 380 million years ago this land we now call Westray was in the …
A fine day on Westray
A fine day on Westray is better than being anywhere else on earth.
Sunset over Einar
If I’m being pedantic, it’s actually sunset next to Einar, rather than sunset over Einar, but I’m hoping you’ll forgive me.
Ritual and Tradition
Food is a subject of much ritual and tradition, no more so than when I’m on Westray. There’s coffee and cake at …
Daisies on the walk to Grobust
I love Grobust beach. The walk down to it from the car park is covered in daisies.
A miniature rock stack
There’s a miniature rock stack on the east coast of Westray. It’s slippery as I make my way across the rocks to photograph it at dawn.
Do you ever dream?
Do you ever dream of having a different life? Do you ever dream of moving somewhere where you can savour each day? …
The Castle o’ Burrian
The Castle o’ Burrian on Westray is famous for its Puffins.
60,000 tonnes
The statistics say we catch 60,000 tonnes of edible crab around the British Isles each year. Imagine if we talked about humans …
Pierowall Poppy
There’s a single red poppy down by the bay. It’s so fragile. As fragile as life itself.
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 …
Published in The Orcadian – “Italy visit for chapel committee members”
I was delighted to see my photographs used in The Orcadian‘s article about the Italian Chapel Preservation Committee’s trip to Moena in …
