16 April: Orkney Day

Today is Orkney Day. 10 things you might not know about the Orkney Islands.

1. The Orkneys are made up of more than 70 islands of which less than 20 are inhabited. The population is around 21,000 and the coastline is around 500 miles long. The largest island is called Mainland and is where Orkney's two towns, Kirkwall and Stromness are. To avoid confusion, mainland Scotland is referred to simply as “Scotland”. Other islands include North Ronaldsay (the northernmost), Scapa Flow (famous for being the place where a German fleet was scuttled during the first world war), Auskerry (population, five) and Wyre (site of Cubbie Roo's Castle).
2. The islands are located at the same latitude as southern Alaska. They are separated from the Scottish mainland by the Pentland Firth, which is 6.5 miles wide at its narrowest point. The Fair Isle Channel separates the Orkneys from the Shetlands.
3. Orkney was first mentioned in writing by the Greek explorer Pytheas in 224BC. He recorded that he was certain he'd seen the edge of the world.
4. Later on, the island belonged to Norway as they were conquered by the Vikings. They were given back to Scotland in 1469 in payment of a debt. King Christian I of Norway wanted to marry his daughter Margaret off to King James III of Scotland and was required to pay a dowry. He pledged the Orkneys as security, so when he failed to cough up the islands were given back to Scotland in 1472.
5. Opinions differ as to the origin and meaning of the name. It could have come from Pytheas, who referred to the northernmost tip of the British Isles as “Orcas”. The Romans referred to them as “Orcades”, possibly deriving from the Latin word for Whale, Orca. Or it could come from the Pictish words for “Island of young Pigs”. The Vikings called it “Orkneyjar” which means Seal islands. Or they might have been named for a person, Earl Orkan.
6. Natives of the islands are called Orcadians. People who have moved there from elsewhere are called “ferry loupers”, “loup” being the Scottish word for jump.
7. There used to be a thriving Egg industry here, but it literally collapsed overnight in 1953 when a hurricane blew down 7,000 henhouses and killed 56,000 Chickens. Today, Orkney's main exports are fish, beef, Whiskey, Beer and Cheese. Tourism is another important sector.
8. Orkney's largest landowner is the RSPB. They maintain 113 nature reserves on the islands.
9. The island of Hoy is home to Britain's oldest and most northerly natural woodland, and the islands are home to some unique animals and plants. There's a subspecies of vole which is found nowhere else. It's larger and has paler fur than other voles. There's also a species of sheep which feeds on seaweed. The highest perpendicular sea cliffs in Britain are also found on Hoy – 1,140 feet high.
10. The shortest scheduled flight in the world is between Westray and Papa Westray, two of the Orkney Islands – flight time approximately two minutes. Less than that if there's a tail wind.

My Books 

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The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny.