Westray starts 2024 with very good news
The King recognises Westray's Nancy Scott in the New Year Honours List
It has not been a pleasant December weather-wise and now January is coming in with a blast of cold air and storms aplenty, halting ferry travel and therefore the knock-on effect of daily food deliveries and just now my very iffy broadband connection. The shopkeepers were well prepared for bad weather as usual so we are not going short of anything but it is a bit annoying when mail and parcel deliveries are disrupted by the weather and rough seas. It is our choice to live here in the far north of Britain and we have no right to complain, so we welcome the occasional bright windless days when we get them. I reckon we had one just before Christmas and one just before new year and today as I write, the wind is down to a mere 27mph average. Nevertheless, the sea conditions were so poor that once again I failed to make it to the dentist just before Christmas so I am still walking around with a black gap where one front tooth should be. Fingers crossed for good weather when I next attempt to get to Kirkwall on the 15th of this month.
However, we start a new year with good news that none of us here was expecting.
I think it has been a long time overdue but at last we hear that Nancy Scott has been recognised for her long service to the Westray community and her dedication to the Heritage Centre.
I have written previously about my first meeting with Nancy and the committee organising the refit of the old St George’s Hall back in 1994 (I think). The refurbishment was completed and it emerged as the home for the Westray Heritage Centre under the guardianship of the newly formed Westray Buildings Preservation Trust (WBPT). The opening ceremony was performed by Nancy Scott together with the island’s youngest citizen, baby Stefan Muir, held in the arms of his mother Angela Muir. (Congratulations to Stefan who married Anna here on the island late October 2023). I spent all yesterday looking for that photograph of the opening ceremony but I can’t find it anywhere.
The WBPT changed into the Westray Heritage Trust, carefully (dare I say shepherded?) by Nancy and strongly supported by the Board, when it became more obvious to the island that the Heritage Centre should take precedence over preserving Westray’s buildings. For many years Nancy was present every day making sure the place ran like clockwork, and when it was evident that the building was too small she led the Board forward through the building works, changing it from a small hall to the ultra-modern exhibition and archive centre that we see today. In summer the gardens are stunning; I often see visitors sunbathing or having a snack while sitting at the circular table and benches.
Nancy is also keen on promoting Westray’s past successes as is evident in the many books she has authored. In the first year she asked Edwin Rendall from the Wheeling Steen Gallery, to take photographs all around Westray and they were put into a book which was (is still I think) for sale in the Centre. My dog-eared copy is pictured below.
This book was one of the first publications on sale to help with promoting both the Heritage Centre and the island of Westray. This was followed swiftly by a small book of Westray’s birds. Pictured below are the cook book (not actually authored by Nancy) The Westside Skeul, Shops and Vans in Westray, Fae Quoy tae Castle (2002-3) and The Skello Skeul.
Following on from these publications Nancy had a bright idea to produce the island newspaper What’s On, Aff, Been in Westray which was compiled every month for about 110 issues (nearly 10 years) then, in collaboration with her daughter Ailsa, it was reborn as Auk Talk of which the next issue will be no 72. Some achievement. It is very much in demand and can be found on sale in all the Westray shops around the 20th of the month. A printed copy can be posted to you or for £30 a year a digital copy can be sent. Please contact the Heritage Centre on westrayheritagecentre@gmail.com for details.
Thanks and congratulations to Nancy for her dedication and for all her hard work putting the Westray Heritage Centre on the World Map.
Read about the Westray Heritage Centre on Orkney.com
This is the first VisitWestray post of 2024 and I wish you all a very happy New Year. I shall of course continue these posts with snippets of interesting occurrences when they crop up.
I hope I have all my facts correct; I aim to inform, entertain and grab your interest in the island. If I have offended anyone it will not have been intentional. We welcome visitors and enjoy hearing the diversity of opinions they bring with them. Here in the far north we are a unique community and it is good to share with those who have taken the effort to take what can be a long and expensive journey to get here.
Winter Song
The browns, the olives, and the yellows died,
And were swept up to heaven; where they glowed
Each dawn and set of sun till Christmastide,
And when the land lay pale for them, pale-snowed,
Fell back, and down the snow-drifts flamed and flowed.
From off your face, into the winds of winter,
The sun-brown and the summer-gold are blowing;
But they shall gleam with spiritual glinter,
When paler beauty on your brows falls snowing,
And through those snows my looks shall be soft-going.
Wilfred Owen
A very Happy New Year to you Peter - thanks for another good read :-)