The Milky Way....

no not the chocolate bar but the REAL milky way.... that is what is in the picture. Actually the Milky Way over Stromness and (to the left) Graemsay. Not quite Dark Skies in Orkney, but much less light pollution than further South.

This photo was taken by Premysl Fojtu, who is originally from the Czech Republic but now bides in Orkney.  His aim is to go round all the islands in Orkney taking photos of the remote and less visited parts.  There's an article about him here  The cottage with the daffodils in the article is on Graemsay and is one of my favourite photos. A sad derelict house that was once a much loved home.  What stories that house (and the daffodils!) could tell. Premysl has a Facebook page with photos taken on his journey around Orkney - click here.

And there have been some modest showings of the "Merry Dancers" (Northern Lights/Aurora) over the last few weeks and if you click here you can see a short time lapse film by Sean Lewis of Magnetic North Films.

On a more poignant note, Jack Rendall of Rackwick (on the neighbouring island of Hoy) died last week at the age of 87. There was a large funeral at the weekend as Jack had been part of the community all his life, and was known by many others far and wide.  Jack lived in Rackwick and at one time was the only resident of the valley, one of the remoter parts of Orkney. He was a quiet man with a lovely smile and twinkly eyes. He will be much missed.

But as part of the Hoy Kirk Heritage project a short film was made a couple of years ago which wonderfully captures Jack with his stories of life in Rackwick.  It's 15 minutes long, so make a cup of tea, pull up a chair and enjoy the story of a time gone past.....  Click Here