Black William
The name Guillemot doesn’t sound English at all, and it isn’t. It’s French, from Guillaume, or William. Here then, are a few …
The name Guillemot doesn’t sound English at all, and it isn’t. It’s French, from Guillaume, or William. Here then, are a few …
When you have a beach to yourself.
Knee protectors.
Just a glimpse at Pierowall from the air tells you all you need to know about why the Vikings held Pierowall in …
Shoe laces.
Stained glass window featuring Daniel from St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.
I love the view around the back of the Italian Chapel.
The wreck of SS Reginald just off Orkney’s Churchill Barriers.
I was completely blown away by Sangar Mill. It’s incredible that’s it’s survived so intact, with the windmill mechanism still visible and …
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?
My favourite part of the ruined house at Quoygrew is the garden path of the 13th to 16th Century house. What a …
Quoygrew is a 1,000 year old house on Westray which was lived in by Vikings from 950 AD, shortly after they arrived …
This grimacing head wearing what seems to be a wig and surrounded by wings is in St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. It …
Hardly any bird species have a sense of smell – and that probably means they have very little sense of taste either. …
It must be shell sand below for it to be so beautifully pale and for the water to be so turquoise. The …
The language that estate agents speak is not English as we know it. Breck o’ Aikerness was for sale recently. It may …
Burning seaweed on Westray used to be quite an industry. The island is still littered with low kelp-drying walls where the tangle …
When I first visited Westray I was amazed to see that everything was tied down. The wheelie bins; tied down. A static caravan; tied down. A trampoline; tied down, with a couple of helfy concrete blocks for good measure. When the wind blows here it blows to teach everyone a lesson.
I’m told that my friend who has the relatively high-sided box van no longer needs an inspection pit to view any problems with the axles or the exhaust. It has been laid on its side; by the wind. → 6 July, 2016
Yes, it’s true; I’m addicted to Fulmars.
From the air, the Church of Scotland Kirk looks just as imposing as it does when on the road below. I can …
People of the past have left traces of their ancient lives all over Orkney. The beautiful Brough of Birsay is no exception.
The Brough of Birsay on mainland Orkney was a Viking stronghold 1,000 years ago. 380 million years before that it was a huge inland lake in the Southern Hemisphere. Here are the fossilised ripples to prove it.
There used to be a floating bank which visited the outer Orkney islands. Now the banker gets the plane and a tour of the Northern Isles is more likely to be a rare example of a ‘stag-do’ pub crawl by motor launch. How cool is that? One pub per island and miles of water in between. That’s one occasion you definitely need a designated driver. → 5 July, 2016
Pierowall is Old Norse for ‘Small Bay’. We seem to have forgotten that in modern times so Pierowall Bay means Small Bay …
45 degrees. No, that’s not the temperature in Fahrenheit. It’s the angle at which people have to walk in this wind just to keep upright in Orkney. If there’s ever a still day, there must be people falling over all over the Islands, with nothing to keep them upright. → 3 July, 2016
I’ve spent two entire days of my life crawling up the seashore measuring the height and diameter of limpets. The conclusion? Limpets …
On board.