Bernie's Blog

This morning, an incoming email from the Orkney Archaeology Society about Viking Week – much of which, I’m pleased to say, is taking place outdoors…..

https://brodgar.co.uk/vikingweek/... so pray for good weather…or try a few Runic spells! 

Tankerness House Museum in Kirkwall has a strong section about the Vikings in Orkney, including a very fine runically inscribed bears tooth which I covet..…… https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/01/04/time-travel-in-tankerness-house/

Some of the events are part of the Orkney International Science Festival…. https://oisf.org/ and they are all v.v. interesting.

Here are some bits & pieces I’ve previously written which have some relevance to places which will be included in this year’s Viking Week …… The Bu at Orphir – of course….. https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/10/29/mooching-about-at-the-bu/  and  https://theorkneynews.scot/2021/09/09/breck-to-bu-and-back-again/

Mills – there will be visits to the Douby Click Mill and the Barony at Birsay ….  https://theorkneynews.scot/2018/05/19/orkney-mills/

Looking good – looking good……

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And then we set off to have a walk to the Covenanters Memorial, Deerness which we have done before….. https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/08/12/remembering-the-covenanters/

On the way we stopped at the Dingies Howe toilets where someone had placed some jolly little painted stones on the nearby sand bank…..

Then on to the Memorial, where the sides of the track are full of summer flowers including two of my favourites – Angelica and Devil’s Bit Scabious…..

…plus whole banks of thistles, covered in bees…..

And one of Nature’s  ‘Installations’…..

Back at the car park we noticed a sign which we hadn’t seen before marking a path to the Gloup ….. https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/09/15/two-go-glouping-in-deerness/

We looked on the map and ear-marked it for another day…another walk…..

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