School pupils at North Walls Community School have been working with stained glass artist Carole Robinson to create 3 new windows for the entrance of Hoy Kirk. It’s lovely to think that the window will be there for years to come and the pupils as adults will be able to say ‘that bit there was my idea’. Carole will be delivering the windows in October and then we’ll wait for a suitable weather window to install!
Congratulations everyone at North Walls Community School and to Carole. Thanks to OIC Culture Fund for supporting this fab project.
We are taking part in the Doors Open Festival this weekend 13-14 September with a return of the wonderful Rackwick woodcuts by artist Andrew Parkinson. The prints will be on show beyond the festival until the end of September.
The theme of this year’s festival is Architecture and Andrew’s Rackwick houses woodcuts celebrate the venacular architecture of the valley. This collection of 40 woodcut prints was made as part of an ongoing series by the artist.
We will also have displays of then and now photographs of Rackwick and an archeological survey by Dan Lee (ORCA UHI ) of Rackwick including ‘The house that was built in a day’. Find out more in the film below:
A view of the eruption area with the northern lights dancing in the sky near the town of Grindavik, Iceland, on April 16 2021. Photo: The Associated Press
Friday 05 September 6:45 – 9:30pm
We are delighted to be part of the Orkney International Science Festival once again. It’s one of the highlights of the year for us – always a great evening. Starting with a warm welcome, light supper and refreshments, good company, interesting speakers, raffley raffle and out into the starry night. This year we have two talks –
Life in Iceland, says Prof. Roger Crofts, is the art of survival, between ongoing volcanic eruptions and coping with increasing visitor numbers and big energy development. He describes the challenges and how Icelanders are responding and shows scenes of a land of ice and fire.
Dr Vassilios Spathopoulos describes how the painter Vincent van Gogh often incorporated celestial elements into his work; and how we can now compare his paintings with real astronomical data – and the resulting surprises.
The evening ties in with the ferry service operated by Orkney Ferries departing Stromness at 6pm and returning from Moaness at 10pm. Tickets for ferry travel must be booked through Orkney Ferries in advance. Transport from the pier.
The committee of the Friends of the Hoy Kirk are looking for someone to join the team of staff and volunteers at Hoy Heritage Centre, Hoy Kirk.
CARETAKER: Duties will include:
Checking the Kirk to ensure it is presentable
Checking the fabric and maintenance of the building
Preparing the Kirk for events (ie: setting chairs out)
Maintaining the good order of displays
Cleaning all areas of the Kirk: Kitchen / toilets / entrance vestibule / vestry at rear / upstairs research room / stairway and the main body of the Kirk
Ordering any cleaning materials or items required for Kirk maintenance
The above duties will be performed over the Spring/ Summer season with some work during Autumn/Winter (the frequency will be dictated by the number of visitors and timing of events)
The hours will be, on average, 4 hours per week and can be timed to suit the candidate
The position is between October 2025 and October 2026
The position will be paid at £12.50 per hour
The successful applicant will be responsible for fulfilling their own arrangements for tax
Applications for the above position to be submitted in writing please. The final date for submission of applications is 30 Sept 2025. Applications should be submitted by email to Fay Clark, Chair of Friends of the Hoy Kirk at hoyheritage[at]btinternet[dot]com or through our contact page here.
Enjoy this film of the historic Rackwick Ploughing Match held this year. Many thanks to Rob Ionides for his wonderful filming and photography and to BBC Radio Orkney for allowing us to use their interview with match organiser Adam Clark.
The walls of Hoy Kirk enjoyed a wonderful St Magnus International Festival performance yesterday by Escocia Duo. Many thanks to the festival, the Hoy Kirk committee, the packed audience, Jacqueline the festival volunteer and most of all to the tremendous musicians Katrina and Roberto. Their album can be found here. Hoy Kirk has a strong connection to the festival through one of its founders, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Max held a composers school for several years at Hoy Kirk. So these walls know a thing or two about music. Find out more about Max in Hoy here.
Hoy Heritage Centre HOY KIRK ORKNEY 