Fiona Grahame

The exciting Orkney Energy Landscapes Project led by Dan Lee, Lifelong Learning & Outreach Archaeologist, Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology (ORCA), Archaeology Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, has published its report.

The project worked in partnership with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of St Andrews.

It explored the past, present and future of energy production and its role in shaping the identity of islands communities. A core part of the project was involving local people in exploring this theme and learning new skills.

You can download a copy of the final report here : Orkney Energy Landscapes

This was a fascinating project to be involved with. Before I joined this project I knew nothing about the wind turbine at Costa Hill. I became so interested in this development, undertaken just after World War 2, that I did a bit of personal research into it. I wanted to know what the wider context of the installation of the Costa Hill Turbine was: what did the public think ? what were politicians saying about it ? and what was the media reporting of it at the time?

You can download read my take on the Costa Hill Wind Turbine project here:

or you can email: fiona@theorkneynews.scot for a copy.

I also wrote a short article for The Orkney News about it.

The 1955 Costa Hill Wind Turbine

Dan Lee and all those involved in the planning and delivery of this project, recording more recent archaeology before it is lost, of Orkney’s Energy history, deserve much praise. This really was community based archaeology at its best.