When I was a nipper my bedroom window looked out over a large plot of land used as allotments for the villagers to grow food. Beyond that were trees which hid some buildings, but the bell tower of Norbury church poked above them and beyond that the gentle hills which hold Lyme Park, with Lyme Cage, pictured atop it. I spent the first twelve years of my life looking out at Lyme Cage, the allotments behind our garden (which are still there), Norbury church and the Pennine Hills and parkland. It would take another thirty years for me to find somewhere to live which would better that view and environment. For a while I loved the snows of Montreal in Canada, the hills in High Peak provided fields for lambs to be born and play, witnessed from my bedroom window again, but nowhere matches the fields, loch and sea vistas here in Westray.
From home I see two farms, Burness left and Breckaskaill, right. Please ignore the lawnmower.
(above) Looking in from Noltland Castle across the loch of Burness to where I stay. I am surrounded by natural beauty, enhanced and maintained by the work of Westray’s farmers. This is early October and there are fewer beasts about in the fields, but they are around.
The above photograph was taken yesterday morning. It shows a herd of cows in the foreground and in the distance is one of the fish farms that have been here for the past thirty years. Farming and fishing have been the mainstay of island living for hundreds of years. Westray used to have a white fish fleet until only recently but that has now decreased so much, the boats are now being based further south. Creel fishing continues of course.
The farms are now being tended by fewer people, whereas at one time they would have used horses for ploughing and reaping, thus requiring many men to tend them.
Fields would have grown fodder to feed the horses whereas now they grow grass and silage to feed the cows. Sheep are still grazed here but as with the cows, they have to be sent south to be slaughtered as our abattoir closed over twenty years ago. As far as I am concerned, I am grateful for all the hard work that the farmers put in, tending the landscape and keeping it healthy for the future generations. Westray would be a different place without their work. The growing sector for employment is definitely the salmon farm. Most of the workers choose to stay on the island and they are most welcome here, bringing their families and helping to keep the school at a viable level. Some farmers have diversified to help support the increasing demand for accommodation during the tourist season. Some other farms have deteriorated, although at least two large farm houses have been reborn, renovated and reused as personal residences or guest accommodation.
Renovation of buildings is very costly as anyone who has done it will be only too happy to tell you. Last week I went to look around one old mansion that has succumbed to the ravages of time. The Farmhouse of Cleat had an open day last Sunday for islanders to view the old buildings and big house.
Renovation of this large estate house will take time and money, lots of it, but on completion it will be a fine example of a different century gone by.
Farming has shaped the island in both the landscape, employment and practicality, from the neolithic age as our archaeologists have proved but we now no longer require farms to supply all our food. I can point to the very field where my tatties grew and who harvested it. Not many folk can say that nowadays.
At one time the ferry service was very restricted and when it did come it serviced all the North Isles. Now we have two ferries a day, weather permitting and provided that they are not having a breakdown. Our ferries are old and long past renewal date but that is not in our hands, it is in the gift of the Scottish Government, but so far, at least we do have very reliable deliveries of everything that we need, only thanks to our highly efficient shops and haulage folk.
Our island is green and welcoming as I have shown in the photographs, you just get a warm feeling of security when you look out your windows and see cattle grazing outside in the fields (or occasionally in your garden!) I am proud to live in an old farm building as are many more folk; some old properties remain to be renovated or land sold to build new; each to their own. We may have cold dark winters but so does everybody else, but we know we are safe in our houses knowing there are folk around us of like minds, ready to give help or shelter if needed.
What better landscape or environment could anyone wish for?
Poem for today, thanks to Palgrave’s Golden Treasury.
The Noble Nature
It is not growing like a tree
In bulk doth make Man better be,
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald and sere:
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night–
It was the plant and flower of Light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measures life may perfect be.
Ben Jonson
(Jonson produced the comedies for which he is now most famous in nine intensive years: Volpone (1606), The Alchemist (1610) and Bartholomew Fair (1614). The coronation of James I in 1603 marked the beginning of Jonson's long literary relationship with the Stuarts.
When visiting Westray I recommend the Pierowall Hotel which is residential with an excellent restaurant for both sit-in and takeaway, and for sightseeing go to Westraak Tours. Fresh fish is available from Pierowall Fish.
A word of caution: this post is not aimed at attracting new residents. If by chance you were thinking of moving here, do visit in both summer and especially winter just to find out how things work: weather, deliveries, shopping, schooling, healthcare. Ignore social media it will not help, just spend time in Orkney first.
As usual, I apologise if I have made any errors, or offended anyone, neither are intentional.