I TRY TO ADD PHOTOGRAPHS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO SHOW THE PICTURE OF ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF ORKNEY LIFE
Click on a picture to enlarge it.
APRIL 2017
After a mild winter the daffodils bloomed early this year. It is one of the delights of an Orkney spring to drive along roads which have been planted by daffodils. It started for the Queen's Silver Jubillee and was continued for the Millenium. With apologies for the quality of the photo - it was a very overcast day!
FEBRUARY 2017
Orkney can be a fairly challenging place in winter. Here we have one of the Churchill Barriers with a south east gale taking the waves right over the road. If there is a combination of high tide with the wind then the barriers are often closed to traffic, so cutting off the South Isles from Orkney Mainland.
JANUARY 2017
This may seem a strange picture to herald a new year but it is to show how mild the winter has been for us. This is the flower of the gorse bush. In Scotland it is known as 'the kissing flower', and we say 'When gorse is out of bloom then kissing is out of season.' In a mild year you can find small pockets of gorse at almost every month of the year - it proves that it is always time for kissing in Scotland!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY
DECEMBER 2016
The year would not be complete without a sunset near the winter solstice when the sun reachest its lowest point in the sky. At this time of the year sunset is 1515 in the afternoon and sunrise 0906 so the days are very short. Here the sun is setting behind Ward Hill on Hoy. I do not apologise for putting in so many sunsets and sky views. It is one of the delights of Orkney to have vast skies and ever changing light.
DECEMBER 2016
Delegates come from Grimstad and Hordaland districts of Norway and they bring musicians who play at the tree lighting concert and also in local primary schools. This year it was 2 talented young guys who play Hardanger Fiddle, the traditional instrument of Norway. The children loved their concerts and Chris and I very much enjoyed taking them round the schools and listening to them play.
DECEMBER 2016
The beginning of December heralds our Christmas season with our tree lighting ceremony inside and outside St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. The tree comes from Norway and we celebrate with a St Lucy procession A young girl is chosen to lead the procession crowned with candles [battery operated these days]. She has attendants and elves to help her.
APRIL 2016
Poppies Weeping Window. This stunning art installation at St Magnus Cathedral will be here until June 12th. It is part of the UK arts programme for the First World War centenary. It was originally part of the installation 'Blood Swept the Lands' at the Tower of London in 2014. Orkney was the home of the Royal Navy'sGgrand Fleet and on 31st May Orkney will host the UK's official commemoration for the centenary of the Battle of Jutland which was the largest and most decisive naval battle of World War I.
2016
DECEMBER 25 AND JANUARY 1
One of Kirkwall's most cherished traditions is the Ba'. This is a communual football game played through the streets of the town on Christmas and New Year's Day. New balls are hand made each year and are much prized trophies. No limit to the number who can play and the only rule is that there are no rules! I posted a picture last year of the boarded up shop fronts to protect their windows.
APRIL 2015
Orkney schools are very supportive of music education. Tuition is free with free loan of instruments. Every year there is a joint schools concert in Kirkwall with young musicians from all over Orkney playing in string and wind orchestras. This year 208 talented young musicians entertained an audience of over 600.
JANUARY 2015
Happy New Year!
January has arrived with almost continuous storms powering in from the west over the Atlantic. The Churchill Barriers, built during World War II to protect Scapa Flow are closed when waves driven by wind wash over them at high tide. This means that cars can no longer use the road and the islands to the south become islands again.
2015
DECEMBER 2014
A unique tradition in Kirkwall is the Ba'. It is a mass football game played on Christmas Day and New Year's day through the streets of Kirkwall. There is no limit to the numbers who play in the teams and the only rule is that there are no rules. The games can last up to 5 hours. The local shops and houses all board up their windows in case the mass of men struggling for possession of the ba' [ball] crash through the glass.
DECEMBER
The first week of December sees the start of the tree lighting ceremonies. In Kirkwall there is a concert in St Magnus Cathedral to celebrate the tree which is a gift from Hordaland county in Norway. Norwegian musicians, traditional fiddle orchestra and aschool choir welcomed the tree.
There are seven cities in Britain which have the gift of a Christmas tree but Orkney is unique in Britain in that it has gifts of two trees. One is placed inside the cathedral and one outside in the square.
DECEMBER 2014
Part of the concert is a St Lucy ceremony, which originated in Scandinavia. A girl is chosen to represent St Lucy and, with a crown of candles, parades with her attendants through the church. Nowadays the candles are battery operated but the effect in the darkened church is quite magical.
DECEMBER 2014
The sun sets against the hills of Hoy at the most southerly point in its yearly journey. This was important to the neolithic people of Orkney as shown by the setting sun shining down the 36 foot passage of Maeshowe tomb to illuminate the chamber. It is as magical experience now as it must have been 5,000 years ago. Then as now it is a sign that we have reached the shortest day of the year and from now the days can only get longer.
OCTOBER
Summer ends early in Orkney. By September we are losing our summer visiting birds such as swallows who fly south to the warmth of Africa. We get a different set of visitors from the north. Practically the whole goose population of Greenland spends the winter here - around 70,000.
This October brought the first of the autumn storms. The waves batter the north coast at Birsay.
JULY 2014
From July 16th to August 22nd is the annual archaeological excavation at Ness of Brodgar. They have uncovered beautiful walling on huge neolithic structures which are changing many ideas of the neolithic in Britain. An enormous 'Neolithic Cathedral' has been uncovered - but you can only see it for 6 weeks while the dig is going on. At other times of the year it is covered up. See the August edition of National Geographic Magazine for the full story.
JULY 2014
Shopping week is a highlight of the summer in Stromness. Started to promote local shops, it has developed into a week of concerts and community events, designed to attract all ages. The Shopping Week Queen is chosen by her class at Stromness Academy and arrives by the local lifeboat to open the proceedings.
JULY 2014
A concert by the West Mainland Fiddle and Accordian Society was held in the courtyard of Stromness Pier Arts Centre as part of the Shopping Week festivities. Orkney has a wonderful tradition of music tuition and a great heritage of traditional music. All children get free tuition and groups like this have members of all ages.
MAY 2014
17th May is Norwegian Independence Day in Norway and celebrated too in Orkney. This year is special as it is the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution. Many Norwegians come across the North Sea to celebrate with us. The highlight of the day is the 'Tog', a procession with town band, people in national costume and lots of flags. Anyone can join in the walk from the harbour, through the town of Kirkwall to the Cathedral.