“For well over a thousand years the Church has played an important role in life in Orkney and, while there is no exact date for the coming of Christianity to the isles, there is some evidence to suggest that Irish monks had visited the islands, some possibly even settling here, by the early 700s.”
Ian Cooper would love to know the names of any folk on this photograph of the South School pupils & staff, believed to have been taken in the 1920s.
“in 1911, a new concrete slip with a shed atop to house the lifeboat was built at a cost of £3050. All the gear needed for the John Ryburn and its crew was also stored in this shed”
“Built at the Thames Ironworks near Greenwich in London, the John Ryburn was a Watson class lifeboat, 43ft (13m) long with a beam of 12½ft (4m), built at a cost of £2770 -9-5d, and was one of two lifeboats funded from a generous bequest from William McCann of Largs. “
“Stronsay has twice had the privilege of being a Lifeboat Station for the North Isles of Orkney and played host to lifeboats of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.”
“My cousin, Jim Cooper from Cleat, was a few years older than me and seemed to have made the transition from horse to tractor with nary a thought, although he did occasionally speak fondly of some of his memories of the Cleat horses.”
“Horses having a drink at the pond at Holland Farm. In the background is what must be fairly recently built stacks as they haven’t yet been secured with ‘simmans’ (straw ropes) to prevent them from blowing away in the winter storms.”
“This tale goes back to a day of dense fog on18th July 1934, while the Stronsay herring fishing was at its height”
“Much of the farm butter would have been sold, most of it bartered with the travelling shop vans that came around. Many of the farms had their own wooden butter stamp to imprint their name on the butter so that customers could see whose butter was being offered. Many of these customers would have their preferred maker of butter and would look to buy it where possible”
“During the herring fishing season in Stronsay, the population could swell by about 4,000 souls and all those extra folk needed to be fed.”
