orkney

One foot in Eden

| hoyheritage

The British Film Institute have released the 1978 film One Foot in Eden free to view on YouTube. The film is a portrait of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and of Orkney.

The poetry of George Mackay Brown, Robert Rendall and Edwin Muir features, as does the ferry to Moaness, the cliffs of Hoy and Rackwick.

Throughout the film, Davies’ often sparse, experimental music accompanies the majestic island landscapes, giving a sense of both their ancient beauty and their danger. 

Davies worked across many styles of music, and the film includes extracts from Ave Maris Stella, O Magnum Mysterium and the final scene of his opera The Martyrdom of Saint Magnus. We also hear George Mackay Brown reading his own verse, as well as quotations from the works of Edwin Muir, Robert Rendell and the ancient Orkneyinga Saga.

– from BFI website

You can find out more about Max and Hoy here.

And you can catch Max and George in the Tales o Hoy episode ‘Hidden Valley of Light’ here.

An old friend, the Old Man of Hoy.

| hoyheritage

The next exhibition being planned for the Hoy heritage project at the Hoy Kirk will feature one of the best known characters in Orkney – the Old Man of Hoy.

Do you have any stories, photographs, newspaper clippings, films or even bits of the Orkney landmark? Perhaps you have recollections of climbing the Old Man or maybe you have studied birds on him.

Has the Old Man changed over the years?

The exhibition hopes to explore the geology, flora and wildlife of the stack and the Friends of Hoy Kirk are keen to hear from anyone who can contribute to the exhibition.

Contact us here

  Tom Kent photograph c.1900 from Orkney Archive

Orkney International Science Festival at Hoy Kirk

| hoyheritage

We are looking forward to the Orkney Science Festival event at Hoy Kirk.

FRIDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 7:30-9:30pm

The Rising Tide

See images from a lost world on the seabed around the islands, with traces going back as far as 10,000 years. Hear the story of the changing sea levels and the latest underwater findings from the underwater team: Caroline Wickham-Jones, Sue Dawson, Richard Bates and Martin Bates.

Friday evening ferry from Stromness 5.45 pm, back from Moaness in Hoy 10 pm, details from Orkney Ferries 01856 872044.
Sponsored by Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme

This event is free and we will be enjoying homemade soup, bannocks and Arctic Char from Rackwick.

And that’s not the only Hoy connection at this year’s festival…

On WEDNESDAY 7 SEPTEMBER there will be a One O’Clock Toast at the Peedie Kirk, Kirkwall.The man being toasted is James Sinclair, the botanist from the Bu (see our exhibition at Hoy Kirk) and the man toasting him is the Bu’s Terry Thomson.

Here’s to you both!

Large stone slab, supported by four stone pillars - Pictures courtesy of Rising Tide Project

photograph from waters near the island of Damsay. Image from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8416600.stm