Tinted Skies and Curlews: June 2010

Monday, 7 June 2010

Barony Mill, Birsay

A couple of weeks ago we spent an afternoon out at Barony Mill near Birsay. This is still a working mill in the winter months, producing beremeal and flour for a local bakery and shops. In the summer it is opened up for visitors. Beremeal flour is also available for purchase from the mill. Of course I came away with some of its fine oatmeal and beremeal to try out in some Orkney recipes. More can be found about Barony Mill here.

We had a wonderful guided tour which culminated in the setting off of the waterwheel which set in motion the millstones and the machinery of the mill. These are some of the photo's from our visit.

As you can see it was a beautiful sunny day

An old mill stone

Some of the ironwork

The waterwheel in action ... and the lovely little waterway the water ends up in.

I wish I'd managed to get some internal shots that were good enough to post, but I was so engaged with listening to the excellent tour guide that I forgot to get some photos until near the end. Then they were so rushed that they are not worth publishing. We will be going again though, as it is a wonderful place to look around.

Sunday, 6 June 2010

Spitfire over Orkney

The PT462 Spitfire flying over Kirkwall Harbour

We had a rare treat this week. Probably a one off event that will never be repeated. We had an air display on Thursday evening featuring two biplanes and a Spitfire. What a wonderful evening. The weather was perfect and the visibility couldn't have been better. I've never seen so many people around the bay. Visitors and locals alike all turned out to see the display which was put on with the support of local businesses. My little digital camera is getting a bit long in the tooth, and can manage just 4 megapixels, but I am really delighted that I managed to get one close up image.

Kirkwall is coming alive with visitors and the summer sunshine is highlighting the colours of the island. Below are just a few more images from last week.