Today the 1st of February 2018 The Orkney News celebrates its first birthday. We were told it would not last. That there was not enough news. And yet here we are growing our readership by the day. Delivering, free to view, online the community alternative news about Orkney and all things of interest to the people of Orkney (and beyond).
So we thought you might like to know a little bit more about us. We are all volunteers: everyone who contributes to the Orkney News.
Nick Morrison
A veteran of the first Gulf war, Nick had 12 years in the military.
He is building his own house out of straw bales (you can read about it in our back pages).
He is a semi-retired environmental scientist and a small holder.
Martin Laird
Born and raised in Orkney.
Martin studied fine art and architecture in Aberdeen.
Currently a craftsman for Sheila Fleet Jewellery, cartoonist for iScot magazine, and occasional artist.
Logo design and IT support for the Orkney News.
Fiona Grahame
Fiona has been a school teacher, a child minder, care worker, tour guide and journalist.
All her working life she has been an active trade unionist.
As well as reporting she is the editor of The Orkney News.
Helen Armet
Born and brought up in Bonnyrigg Helen worked for the Inland Revenue in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. She came to Orkney in 1991 for a wedding and fell in love with the islands and stayed. She met Kenny in 1992 and married in 1993. They have two girls aged 24 and 18 and whilst they were young Helen worked the pubs and clubs in the evening for 17yrs so she was able to stay home during the day. She loves nothing more than walking and becoming the eyes of her wonderful collie Bandit over the last 8yrs which she thought was a full time job in itself until she got so fed up mumping at the reported news that she got together with some like minded souls in 2016 from which the Orkney News was born.
Helen is the sub editor of The Orkney News and writes amongst other things the very popular home cooking pages
Kenny Armet
Born in Renfrew, Kenny left school on his 15th birthday with no qualifications and made his own way in life in the early 70s.
He was an apprentice Electrician when he joined the Army(Royal Engineers).
He drove L.G.V. and L.P.C. vehicles for 32 years and the last 9 years in administration (likes the office to be warm).
Kenny has been with The Orkney News since its launch day (01/01/2017) and is very proud of the paper’s achievements.
Categories: Uncategorized
Happy Birthday to you All. As you celebrate just remember to add a spot of water. Have fun, enjoy.
My Dad used to say, that he’d take the water out, if he could. He also made his own – his cure-all for every ailment. Thereby hangs a tale…..
I’m looking forward to meeting y’all tommorrow
My cousin still does, sometimes, in the wilds of ‘The Rosses’, Co. Donegal, LOL. He jokes that he supplies NASA, LOL.
Rocket fuel?
Ah Bernie, I believe we have a tale or two to swap. Aye and it was ‘Rocket Fuel’ blew your bloody heid aff and God did you suffer next day, well I did. Nowadays I stick to the ‘legal’ stuff.
Well, Charles, I started to respond with another tale of ‘craetur’ comfort’, then it got a bit long, so I’m going to write it out as an article and send it to Fiona for if she’d like to use it in TON. You have been warned!
Bernie, looking forward to it.
OK – I’m going to tell…………..
When we lived in Bradford, secrecy was needed, so….Dad made his ‘still’ from a metal bread-bin, with a hole in it ( sealed with putty), from this hole, passed a length of copper pipe, which then passed through a baby’s bath of cold water ( holes again sealed with putty), and out the other end, where there was a bit of a matchstick, to direct the flow.
The mash was made in the bread-bin, then placed in the airing cupboard until ready. Then, when ready, the bread-bin was placed on the cooker, on a low heat. Then Dad left it to nature/the laws of physics, whatever, and the evaporation/distillation occurred. The strongly laden ‘steam’ passed through the copper tube, through the cold water in the baby’s bath, where it cooled, and condensed and, out of the end , came ……the creature. Mum was the taster – it was only when Mum said it was ready, that it was ready.
The whole contraption could be completely dismantled, in minutes. When Mum and Dad retired, and went ‘home’ to Ireland, he sold it to a young man, who took on the responsibility of providing the cure-all for the people of Bradford.
https://genius.com/The-dubliners-rare-old-mountain-dew-lyrics
I could also tell of where my Aunt and Uncle used to hide their illicit hooch, which was just as ingenious as Dad’s way of making a still, but I won’t, as, well, what’s the point of tipping off the coppers?
Ah Bernie them really were the days
Now then – is that the cousin known as ‘Young Anthony’? or the nephew known as ‘Little Ant’?