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Orkney Beef Cattle
Agriculture is one of the mainstays of the Orkney Islands and Orkney beef is renowned for it’s tenderness and full flavour. Cattle in this region need to be quite robust as Orkney summers are short, with temperatures often peaking around 18 or 19 degrees and from October, light is lost from around 3.00pm with sunrise [...]
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2010, Year O Orkney Dialect
The Orkney Heritage Society are making 2010 the Year O Orkney Dialect. They aim to raise awareness of the rich heritage reflected in the dialect and encourage its use in everyday life. History of Orkney Dialect The Orkneyjar website has some excellent information on old Orkney dialect and explains that; “For almost 950 years – [...]
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Login’s Well – Stromness, Orkney
Two things limited the distances early mariners could sail, one was food the other was fresh water. Early sailing ships needed large quantities of both of these commodoties before any adventures could begin. Login’s Well in Stromness, Orkney, is once source of fresh water drawn upon by some of our famous explorers. At first glance [...]
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Orkney Island Yarns – Woolgathering
This interesting website belongs to one of our twitter followers. Woolgathering.org.uk is the home of The Woolgatherer, aka plumbum. Woolgathered concentrates largely upon the fibre habits of The Woolgatherer but also encompasses several areas of Woolgathering Lifestyle. Pull-out sections are available for readers with focused interests. For readers who love knitting, cats, dogs or are [...]
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The Westray Storm Witch
January 10, 2010 by admin
Filed under Featured, Myth & Legend
The story of a storm raising witch is based upon historical fact and island myth. Janet Forsyth lived in Westray in the 17th century. In 1627, Janet dreamed that she saw her fisherman sweetheart, Benjamin Garrioch, perish at sea. The following day, Garrioch, and his colleagues set sail on their fishing expedition not heeding the [...]
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Orkney Ba’ Game
January 6, 2010 by admin
Filed under Featured, Sports and pastimes
This Kirkwall Ba’ Game is the traditional mass ball game also known as the Uppies and Doonies, played in the town’s streets on Christmas Day and new Year’s day, starting at 1300 GMT. The Uppies attempt to get a leather ball to a wall at the top of Kirkwall town whilst the Doonies do everything [...]
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The Orkney Chair
It is rare to come accross a true craftsman, who is not only making traditional furniture from scratch but is preserving a piece of the Orkney heritage with passion and well researched knowledge. The traditional Orkney Chair maker, Fraser Anderson creates a range of award winning traditional furniture, building on the legacy of the distinctive [...]
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Sports and pastimes on Orkney
September 2, 2009 by admin
Filed under Sports and pastimes
If you have a team, club or association in the Orkney Isles and would like to feature on this page, then just let us know via the “contact us” page. Athletics Badminton Orkney Badminton Association – The badminton season runs from September to April each year. Climbing Darts Kirkwall & District Darts League. KDDL was [...]
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Orkney Flower Festival 2009
Over the last 35 years the Kirkwall Flower Arrangement Club has created floral displays in St. Magnus Cathedral in aid of the restoration fund. In this 50th year, the club looks back over the decades, highlighting some memorable aspects of each. Bel Drever, the outgoing Club President talks about the event and her three year [...]
