Written by Bessie Skea. The much-loved Orkney writer Bessie Skea (‘Countrywoman’) wrote in The Orcadian of 31 August 1978 an account of one of her favourite walks. Forty-five years later, to mark the centenary of her birth, some of her family went on the

Written by Christine Muir. This week the hay is already being baled. There has been no rain for almost five weeks, and the earth is full of cracks where the sun has dried it out. The grass is thin and poor instead of its usual

Written by Mary Leonard. The Hudson’s Bay Company, which celebrated its 350th anniversary in May 2020, had an immense economic impact on Orkney in a time of otherwise little opportunity, providing income and employment locally and to many hundreds of men who went to

Written by Christine Muir. Potatoes were also boiled in the pot, then the meat lifted out on to an ashet, and the soup eaten first, followed by the mutton and potatoes. Mutton was a winter food, for the sheep were at their fattest in the storms of

Written by Christine Muir. A late spring can bring feelings of malaise and tiredness. One of the tonics common to Orkney last century involved catching snails late at night, when they have a quiet feed, suspending them on a string in front of the fire,

Written by Howie Firth. Planting trees is an Orcadian labour of love. The salt winds of autumn are particularly destructive, and in a poor year they can blacken foliage and tear off the leaves before the various nutrients have been absorbed into the rest of