After a vacancy of about 2½ years, Rev Joyce Keyes was ordained and inducted to the charge of Stronsay and Eday in September 1996. Among those present at the induction were: Back row: Rev Fiona Lillie, Stromness, Rev Iain MacDonald, Westray, a minister from Joyce Keyes’ home church in Glasgow and Rev Joan Craig, East Mainland. Front: Rev Bob Mellis, Shapinsay, Rev Joyce Keyes, Rev Frank Bardgett, Community Minister, Rev Marjory McLean, Stromness.
All parts will have a dry day with variable amounts of cloud and some bright or sunny intervals. Freshening southeasterly winds in the afternoon and evening. Maximum temperature 16 °C.
Ian Cooper – “This photo would probably have been taken sometime in 1953/54 as the Church was opened in May 1955and shows some of the workmen who were involved in the building of the new Kirk having a break, Note the machinery in the background – I have a feeling that Health and Safety regulations may not have been quite as strict then as they are today! Standing: James Mowat, Johnno Miller, Tom Carter, James Work Snr, George (Dod) Burghes, Ernest Firth, (contractor) & Sammy Reid. Sitting: Ronnie Garson, Edward Dunnet, Frances Craigie, John Miller, John Pottinger. “
“Among the business that evening was a report from locum Mr Ireland, who explained his difficulties in travelling throughout the island to fulfil his duties and it was agreed that he should be supplied with a new bicycle!”
The site, which is also recorded as Cutter’s Tuo, consists of a rounded, grassy mound with numerous stones protruding from the surface.
Stronsay’s Massive Weekend is taking place on the 18th, 19th and 20th of August
On the left is Rev Claude Brownlie, his wife Louisa and three of their five children: William, Margaret and Claude. William joined the army with the Royal Scots and was killed in Gallipoli in 1915. On the right is Rev Brownlie in his later years
“This new church, manse and glebe was given the name of Mansefield and was only the second Secession Church to have its own place of worship in Orkney, Kirkwall being the first.”
“With the difficulty in travelling when roads were very poor or non-existent, a number of other small chapels also existed on Stronsay at various times, “
“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.”
