We are delighted to be hosting an event for the St Magnus Festival with a performance by the Escocia Duo. The festival have kept tickets back for Hoy folk, to secure your ticket – phone the festival office on 871445 and (this bit is important!) select option 2 which will take you through to Pamela, tell her you are a Hoy resident. Islander tickets are withheld from general release for one week (Thurs 19 June). Any unsold tickets will be sold on the door (cash only) but they are sold out on general release already so best to call Pamela to book.
The event will be held at Hoy Kirk Wednesday 25 June at 1pm. The concert will last an hour and there will be teas and coffees and a raffle afterwards. Tickets are £18 / £16 conc.
It’s all getting very active at Hoy Heritage Centre as we gear up for the season. We are delighted to welcome 4 of Orkney’s festivals to our venue: Orkney Nature Festival and Orkney Folk Festival next month, St Magnus Festival in June and Orkney International Festival in September.
Orkney Folk Festival Friday 23 May 7:45pm with the Strings across the shore concert by Natalie & Brittany Haas and Stravaig.
First up is a day of activity on Friday 16 May: a daytime walk through the valley for the Orkney Nature Festival and an evening of Reels and Jigs.
Ramblers Marion and Iain Talbot will lead a walk through the Hoy hills to Rackwick starting at Moaness Pier at 10:30am. A bus will take you to Sandy Loch and then you will take a leisurely 2 hour walk through the valley (uneven path and boggy in parts). Time to enjoy lunch at Rackwick beach (bring your own packed lunch) before a bus ride back to Hoy Heritage Centre to explore the Effy Everiss Natural History Library over tea and cake. Tickets £15 – cash on the day inc. bus and tea and cake. Places limited and must be booked See poster below or the Orkney Nature Festival website for booking details. Ferry travel must be pre booked through Orkney Ferries – the event ties in with the 10am from Stromness returning at 4:30pm.
In the evening reeler Mabel Besant will lead you for Reels and Jigs. Live music from Craig Mainland and his band, there will be soup and refreshments and a raffle. This is the first of 3 reels and jigs sessions over the summer. The event starts at 6:30pm until 9:30pm. Booking essential see poster below for booking details. Tickets £8 adults / £2 children – cash on the door. Note ferry tickets must be pre booked through Orkney Ferries for the 6pm from Stromness returning from Moaness at 10pm. There will be bus transport to and from Moaness to Pier to Hoy Kirk for those coming on the ferry.
We are extending the PHOYTO exhibition until the Thursday 29 August. The show features five young photographers from the island: Adele Heddle, Ruby Ionides, Morwen Thomson and the Tulloch brothers.
image: Ruby Ionides
Two of the exhibitors visited the show last Friday – Max and William.
Thank you to those who joined our seaweed workshop. It was a beautiful day mooching around Moaness and making algae art. The workshop ended with an ice cream from Beneth’ill café -did you know that there is seaweed in ice cream and in beer, even in your toothpaste? It is used as an additive to stabilise many products, but if you want to know more about seaweed as a delicious food you can check this out.
Back in May, as part of the Orkney Nature Festival, we held a nature photography walk through the old road to Rackwick and enjoyed seeing some beautiful grasses and sundews along the way. Our nature walks are inspired by the wonderful natural history library left to us by naturalist Effy Everiss. Author Victoria Bennet mentions Effy and her library in this interesting article here.
This summer we had several packed evenings for Mabel’s popular Reels & Jigs evenings with dancers enjoying live music from Craig Mainland and his band. Plenty more of that planned for next year!
But still with this year’s programme – next month we are delighted to be hosting and event as part of the Orkney International Science Festival. The Friday night in Hoy has become a regular feature of the festival and we are looking forward to welcoming everyone back again this year. We have a time travelling sea theme with speakers transporting us to Greece and Portsoy. So make sure you come along to Hoy Heritage Centre, Hoy Kirk on Friday 06 Sept to enjoy some insightful talks, sample some Orkney food and sip some Orkney beer all in the friendly atmosphere of the kirk.
Thank you to everyone who supported us at Kirkwall’s Blue Door last month and to Olivia and Iain for volunteering in the charity shop. And congratulations to the Hoy Show winners!
It’s Mabel’s last Reels and Jigs of the year so be sure to come along and enjoy a fun programme with something for everyone and live music from Craig Mainland and his band.
FRIDAY 19 JULY from 7:10 to 9:40pm £5 / £1 children pay on the door
Places must be booked before Monday 15 July. To book call 079009666950
The evening ties in with the 6pm passenger ferry service from Stromness to Moaness (returning 10pm) pay your ferry fare on board. There will be free transport to and from Hoy Kirk.
We are delighted we will be in the Blue Door Charity Shop for a fundraiser. Any donations of bric a brac, clothes, homebakes and raffle prizes welcome. Contact 07858208120 to arrange collection at Hoy Kirk or North Walls School. Last donations will be collected from Hoy Kirk on 19 July or can be left at the Blue Door during our week there. We will be in the Blue Door in Victoria St Kirkwall 22-27 July – Come in and grab a bargain.
We are delighted to let you know that the new exhibition PHOYTO is now open at Hoy Heritage Centre showing photographs by Adele Heddle, Ruby Ionides and Morwen Thomson.
The show of young Hoy photographers is open until the end of July.
Hoy Heritage Centre HOY KIRK ORKNEY 