Stone balls from the stone age
Orkney Museum has an assortment of stone balls in its cabinets. They’re from the Neolithic and our ancestors kept them and prized …
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 …
A wild Neolithic hat-trick
It’s time for me to catch the ferry away from Orkney for a short while. I have an evening to spare and …
A load of Bronze Age bollards
The Links of Notland is such an amazing place for archaeology. It has a huge neolithic settlement, site of the discovery of …
A petrosphere at the Orkney Museum
I’m fascinated by this neolithic petrosphere, or stone-age stone ball, at the Orkney Museum. I lean forward and suddenly bump my nose on the glass looking at it. What is it? What was it used for?
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.
One of my favourite objects
One of my favourite objects in the Orkney Museum is this neolithic pestle mace head. It makes me wonder just how fabulous …
A small island with a smaller island and a smallest island
Westray is a small island. Just off Westray is a smaller island; Papa Westray. Just off Papa Westray is an even smaller …
Wind Swept Away
The dunes at the Links of Noltland show their erosion by the wind – the grass tufts left are six feet above …
The Links of Noltland
Wandering along the beach at Grobust on Westray in Orkney I spot a group of people with wheelbarrows kneeling in the sand …