Orkney - Photographs from early in the twentieth century.

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
Nov 29, 2004
7,808
22
Scotland
Not particularly bushcrafty, however perhaps of interest to some here.

A selection of BW photographs taken in Orkney sometime early in the twentieth century.

My Grandmother's family hailed from Orkney, she spent the first thirteen years of her life there, moving to Edinburgh around 1910. Throughout her childhood, she and her sisters would comb the beach for shellfish and crabs to add to the family table, if they didn't they'd be hungry. It was from her that I learned how to take a crab apart, I was six. :)

Her father was a farrier, business was better for him in Edinburgh, they became quite well off by the nineteen thirties.

Enjoy.

http://humus.livejournal.com/3765522.html
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
Great pictures!
The wife and I went to Orkney for 2 weeks holiday last year and fell in love with it. We are going back for 2 weeks this year :)
I love the history and prehistory, my wife loves islands - we both love the scenery, the people, the pace of life and even the weather!
Bracing!
The place could use a few more trees though!
 

kaiAnderson

Tenderfoot
Feb 11, 2013
95
0
Liverpool
I keep meaning to go up there, we alays holiday along the west coast of Scotland, but never been to an island higher than bute, which isn't exactly your remotest spot.
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
There is a church yard there filled with my ancestors, however I don't think I'd ever move back, the lack of forests and mountains would drive me mad. :)

I had a very enjoyable day in "Happy Valley" a sweet spot that has some quite big trees ... a veritable "forest" and is at least 150mx50m in size :)
It saved my sanity :)
 

kiltedpict

Native
Feb 25, 2007
1,333
6
51
Banchory
Many happy memories of being a student nurse at the Balfour Hospital, and then holidays there as my best mate is from Orkney and I stayed with him a few times. Introduced my wee girls to the place last year as we stayed with my Uncle who moved up there many years ago and we are going back this summer again- I think his house has the best view in the Island! (Will post a pic shortly).

Thanks for the link- some great photos!

yzu7ysej.jpg
syqa6eza.jpg
equpyme4.jpg
 
Last edited:

Andy T

Settler
Sep 8, 2010
899
27
Stoke on Trent.
I've spent a bit of time on the Orkneys and found the people to be some of the nicest and friendliest i've met, with a lovely soft accent. Thanks for posting the great pics.
 

ReamviThantos

Native
Jun 13, 2010
1,309
0
Bury St. Edmunds
Absolutely fantastic photos, very grateful to have them shared. I recently went to Whitby and was amazed in the local shops of old photos of the fishing folks and there clothing and kit. How did you end up in Hungary then, I'm interested :)
 
Nov 29, 2004
7,808
22
Scotland
"...How did you end up in Hungary then, I'm interested :)..."

I was walking along the Pyrenees when I saw a very attractive Spanish woman walking with some friends. They caught up with me later that evening and it turned out that only the friends were Spanish, she was Hungarian. Seven years and two kids later and here I am. :)
 
Last edited:

Joonsy

Native
Jul 24, 2008
1,483
3
UK
interesting thanks. i have a book called ''Orkney from old photographs'' by Gordon Wright which is full of very similar black & white photos from 1860s-1930s. By contrast i went to turkey a few years back and saw people making hay stooks just like in your first pic, if i had taken a b/w photo of them you could have easily been mistaken into thinking it was taken in the UK in the 1920s, it was like watching a past rural scene in real time and i found it mesmerizing.
 

SCOMAN

Life Member
Dec 31, 2005
2,583
452
53
Perthshire
Great photo's I've forwarded them to colleagues up there. I'm lucky enough to visit regularly with work and have got about quite a bit. If you ever get across to Hoy check out the Dwarfie stone on the way to Rackwick. Mind the midgies though I got eaten alive when one or two got inside my shirt. I was there last year with my Dad, we were keen to see some of the digs and the burial mounds. We were keen to see the new big dig past Maes Howe but they had shut it down for the winter which was a real shame.
 

TallMikeM

Need to contact Admin...
Dec 30, 2005
574
0
54
Hatherleigh, Devon
fantastic photos. Not quite as old, but a few years back my mum said she was about to throw out a load of old photos. When we (my wife and I) went through them we found a load from when they used to go hop picking just after the war (my mum grew up in the east end of London, and that was their holiday). Some fantastic photos, my wife is scanning, will upload them when she's finished.
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,106
2,833
66
Pembrokeshire
I was walking along the Pyrenees when I saw a very attractive Spanish woman walking with some friends. They caught up with me later that evening and it turned out that only the friends were Spanish, she was Hungarian. Seven years and two kids later and here I am. :)

I can understand that - when I was in Hungary I saw so many damn good looking women I was tempted to emigrate ... despite already being heavily married!

The Dwafie Stane was one (amongst many!) highlights of my visit to Orkney. This year the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall should be open (closed last time I was there) and if it is 1/4 as good as the Stromness Museum I am booked for at least 2 days!
 
Nov 29, 2004
7,808
22
Scotland
"...I can understand that - when I was in Hungary I saw so many damn good looking women I was tempted to emigrate ... despite already being heavily married!..."

The borders of Hungary were obviously quite a bit larger until the nineteen twenties and encompassed quite different landscapes and many different peoples, that and the fact that the middle bit has been the crossroads of European trade and warfare for a thousand years means the Hungarians benefit from Heterosis. Despite having such a unique language and culture that has lasted so long, Todays Hungarians share very little DNA with the folks who arrived in the 990s.

Heterosis and genetic diversity apparently makes for good looking women but also very bad male drivers. :)
 
Last edited:

Harvestman

Bushcrafter through and through
May 11, 2007
8,656
26
55
Pontypool, Wales, Uk
The photos are fantastic, and really interesting to see all the details there. However, they also show just how hard life was. Note also that these look like summer pictures. I've lived on an island in Scotland, albeit a lot further south, and the winters are hard. I don't much fancy the Orkneys in winter if I'm honest.

(But yeah, I'm a southern softie :eek:)
 

Macaroon

A bemused & bewildered
Jan 5, 2013
7,209
362
73
SE Wales
Am I alone in thinking how much more evocative black & white photography can often be?.......Great photo's.
 

Ecoman

Full Member
Sep 18, 2013
934
2
Isle of Arran
www.HPOC.co.uk
The wife and I spent six months living on Orkney through a tough winter. (It was so bad our daughter was conceived there :D). When Cathy's posting was over we had to reluctantly leave. It was heart wrenching for us and it gave us the taste for island life. Cathy tried in vain to get a GP post on the islands and once or twice she got to the second and even third interviews but the scales were usually tipped by either a known locum GP getting a permanent post or the experience of her competitors. I saw how much it hurt Cathy when she got the rejection letters and eventually I asked her to give up for the time being and widen her location search. We now live on Arran (our second island choice) We try to get back as often as we can to Orkney as we are still very much in love with the place, the people and the lifestyle.
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE