Tag Archives: Stromness

island, Scones, Top

Julia’s Café & Bistro – Again

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This is the second of our random ‘island scone’ reposts. This time it is from Julia’s Café & Bistro in Stromness on the Orkney Isles. We were there in mid-October 2017 at the tail end of Hurricane Maria … windy!

Whatever happened to Brexit?

Some overseas readers have inquired as to what has happened to Brexit. We went on about it in almost every post for months on end. The answer is we don’t know. It has completely disappeared from the news because of coronavirus. There are dedicated teams set aside for the negotiations, however, so presumably they are continuing, albeit at a slower pace because of the current difficulties. They have to be completed by the end of this year, however.

In the words of the former head of the World Trade Organisation, Pascal Lamy, “This is the first negotiation in history where both sides started off with a trade agreement and then discussed what barriers to erect”. They will go down in history as the Stupid Negotiations or, alternatively, the Really Really Stupid Negotiations. And all this while the Prime Minister is in Intensive Care and the country is in lockdown … brilliant! But on to more sensible things on Orkney.

When you leave South Ronaldsay you have to cross several causeways to get to the Mainland. Confusing for simple folks like us because, as far as we were concerned, we had left the mainland far behind at John O’ Groats. On Orkney, however, an archipelago of over 70 islands (the 20,000 population is spread over 20 of them) the largest island is called Mainland. When you become aware of the intricate system of small ferries and flights going to and fro between these islands it is easier to understand why.

Close your eyes

This is a very self-contained and independent community so they would naturally think of their biggest and most populated island as “the mainland”. To get there, all we had to do was drive across four causeways from South Ronaldsay to the island of Burray, then the island of Glimps Holm, then the island of Lamb Holm and we were there … simple. Simple yes, exciting .. very! The storm meant that waves were crashing right over all the causeways. We just closed our eyes and hoped for the best. The Italian Chapel, Orkney

Three potatoes

On Lamb Holm we came to the Italian Chapel. Amazing to think that this entire church was created by Italian prisoners of war, from a Nissen hut and nothing other than scrap materials e.g. the lanterns were made from corned beef tins. The Orkney Wine Company is right beside the Chapel. We had to buy some of their ‘Tattie Wine’. It’s handcrafted from three varieties of Orkney potatoes and matured in whisky barrels. “Discover more with every sip” it says. We’ll let you know.

A view of Stromness, Orkney
Stromness with a Northlink ferry in the middle distance
Lost café
High Street Stromness, Orkney
Main Street

Eventually, we reached Mainland and Stromness where we were lodging for the duration of our stay. Driving in Stromness is almost as exciting as driving the causeways. The main street, which bears seven different names, appeared more like a lane and we were not sure if we were supposed to drive along it since it was only about the width of a car … no problem. It is actually two way and no one here seems to have the slightest difficulty with it. Never even heard a horn being honked!

Login's Well, high Street Stromness, Orkney
Login’s Well on main street where Capt Cook watered the Resolution and Discovery in 1780 and Sir John Franklin watered his ships Erebus and Terror in 1845 … names to fire the imagination

 

 

By this time a scone was definitely called for and it was Julia’s Café & Bistro that rode to the rescue. It is situated at the harbour where the big NorthLink Ferries leave for Scrabster on the mainland. That’s the mainland mainland! Again the service was very friendly and helpful and yet again the scones were fab. A scone at Julias café, Stromness, OrkneyOur second Orkney scone was served with little disposable pots of jam and cream and although not too crunchy on the outside they were delicious .. another topscone. Apparently there is another café in Stromness but we couldn’t find it. It is doubtless tucked away in the plethora of tiny back lanes.

Raised eyebrows

We did find the An art exhibit at Stromness Art Centre, OrkneyPier Art Centre however which is a state of the art building with a wide variety of exhibits, one of which you can see here. All a bit beyond us but great to find such a modern and dynamic facility in Stromness. We spent quite a long time perusing. It was great to be out of the wind which was still blowing a hooley. Will it ever calm down? When you speak to Orkney folk about things like Hurricane Maria you usually just get a raised eyebrow. Hardy, no-nonsense folk!Interior view of Julias café, Stromness, OrkneyKW16 3AE        tel: 01856 850904             Julia’s Café Bistro

Again on the main street, we found a functioning K6 hiding in a corner next to the museum … made in Falkirk.A Falkirk K6 in Stromness main street, Orkney Pat, by the way, is now at thirty-two with her bird list and still a few days to go.

By the way, the Tattie Wine was okay but we won’t be rushing back for another bottle

ORKNEY SHED

A shed on South Ronaldsay, Orkney
A shed on South Ronaldsay in some wild weather

 

island, Scones, Top

Judith Glue Café

It’s our last day on Orkney. Although the wind is still blowing as hard as ever we are already feeling sad at the prospect of leaving this magical island.

The Gloup, Orkney
The Gloup

We haven’t managed to get onto any of the smaller islands like Hoy or Papa Westray, partly because there is just so much to do and see on Mainland and partly because of time constraints. Also the weather has done absolutely nothing to encourage us to board a small boat and head out across the sea! Perhaps another visit with more time is called for? The Brough of Deerness, another prehistoric settlement, was to be our target destination today but when we reached the beginning of the path it became pretty obvious that the clifftop route in such strong winds would just be too tricky. Instead we contented ourselves with a visit to The Gloup, a long sea cave where the roof has collapsed … if you would like to visit just click here.

Insurance claims

Close by is the Covenanter’s Memorial where, in 1679, more than 200 Scottish Covenanter prisoners were drowned when their ship ‘The Crown of London’ was dashed on the rocks as they were being transported to Jamaica to become slaves. All the crew escaped but the prisoners were battened down in the hold with no hope of escape. There was no compensation for escaped prisoners. Cruel, we know, but do you think the captain might have been a Tory?

Scone time meant we had to go back to Kirkwall and this time to the Judith Glue Café. It is directly opposite St Magnus Cathedral, founded in 1135 and known as ‘The Light in the North’ … truly magnificent! Interior of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall,OrkneyJudith Glue comes from a very entrepreneurial family that has stuck together (sorry) to run lots of businesses around Orkney and further afield. This is actually quite a large shop selling everything – clothes, art, jewellery and antiques. It complements another shop she runs in Inverness. At the back of the shop you come to the café/restaurant area which is quite big in itself. They pride themselves on supporting the local community and 60% of everything they sell is from the island. And that includes the clothing, the jewellery and the food. Would we find Rhodda’s Cornish Cream here, no!

Old fashioned beliefs

We decide to have what they call a ‘Peedie Cream Tea’. In this part of the world you see the word ‘peedie’ everywhere and applied to all sorts of things. Transpires that it simply means ‘small’. OA scone at Judith Glue, Kirkwall, Orkneyur Peedie Cream Tea cost about £8 and for that we got two sandwiches of our choice as well as a scone of our choice together with jam and cream and tea or coffee. It was all perfectly delicious and would you believe it, another topscone! That makes a clean sweep of topscones for Orkney. Testament, we think, to their old fashioned believes in good friendly service and self reliance. The toilets here have interesting signs for the ‘ladies’ and ‘gents’. We think both look particularly attractive.Viking man and woman at Judith Glue, Kirkwall, OrkneyAlso a great advert for Old Orkney whisky.

Stromness whisky advertisment at Judith Glue, Kirkwall, OrkneyPat ended up with her bird list totaling a very healthy forty nine … excellent considering we didn’t see any of the usual culprits – blue tits, chaffinches, sparrows etc. Perhaps our biggest surprise was the number of swallows still flying around at this time of year. They have a much longer journey than us ahead of them!

Surprises

This really is a wonderful island. It has been full of surprises … not least of which was the following morning at 7am when we drove from Stromness to St Margaret’s Hope to catch our ferry. In a flat calm! C’est la vie!

KW15 1DH         tel: 01856 874225     Judith Glue Real Food Café

island, Scones, Top

Julia’s Café & Bistro

When you leave South Ronaldsay you have to cross several causeways to get to the Mainland. Confusing for simple folks like us because, as far as we were concerned, we had left the mainland far behind at John O’ Groats. On Orkney, however, an archipelago of over 70 islands (the 20,000 population is spread over 20 of them) the largest island is called Mainland. When you become aware of the intricate system of small ferries and flights going to and fro between these islands it is easier to understand why.

This is a very self contained and independent community so they would naturally think of their biggest and most populated island as “the mainland”. To get there, all we had to do was drive across four causeways from South Ronaldsay to the island of Burray, then the island of Glimps Holm, then the island of Lamb Holm and we were there … simple. Simple yes, exciting .. very! The storm meant that waves were crashing right over all the causeways. We just closed our eyes and hoped for the best. The Italian Chapel, Orkney

On Lamb Holm we came to the Italian Chapel. Amazing to think that this entire church was created by Italian prisoners of war, from a Nissen hut and nothing other than scrap materials e.g. the lanterns were made from corned beef tins. The Orkney Wine Company is right beside the Chapel. We had to buy some of their ‘Tattie Wine’. It’s hand crafted from three varieties of Orkney potatoes and matured in whisky barrels. “Discover more with every sip” it says. We’ll let you know.

A view of Stromness, Orkney
Stromness with a Northlink ferry in the middle distance

 

Lost café

Eventually we reached Mainland and Stromness where we were lodging for the duration of our stay. Driving in Stromness is almost as exciting as driving the causeways. High Street Stromness, OrkneyThe main street, which bears seven different names, appeared more like a lane and we were not sure if we were supposed to drive along it since it was only about the width of a car … no problem. It is actually two way and no one here seems to have the slightest difficulty with it. Never even heard a horn being honked!

Login's Well, high Street Stromness, Orkney
Login’s Well on main street where Capt Cook watered the Resolution and Discovery in 1780 and Sir John Franklin watered his ships Erebus and Terror in 1845 … names to fire the imagination

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By this time a scone was definitely called for and it was Julia’s Café & Bistro that rode to the rescue. It is situated at the harbour where the big NorthLink Ferries leave for Scrabster on the mainland. That’s the mainland mainland! Again the service was very friendly and helpful and yet again the scones were fab. A scone at Julias café, Stromness, OrkneyOur second Orkney scone was served with little disposable pots of jam and cream and although not too crunchy on the outside they were delicious .. another topscone. Apparently there is another café in Stromness but we couldn’t find it. It is doubtless tucked away in the plethora of tiny back lanes.

Raised eyebrows

We did find the An art exhibit at Stromness Art Centre, OrkneyPier Art Centre however which is a state of the art building with a wide variety of exhibits, one of which you can see here. All a bit beyond us but great to find such a modern and dynamic facility in Stromness. We spent quite a long time perusing. It was great to be out of the wind which was still blowing a hooley. Will it ever calm down? When you speak to Orkney folk about things like Hurricane Maria you usually just get a raised eyebrow. Hardy, no nonsense folk!Interior view of Julias café, Stromness, OrkneyKW16 3AE        tel: 01856 850904             Julia’s Café Bistro

Again on main street we found a functioning K6 hiding in a corner next to the museum … made in Falkirk.A Falkirk K6 in Stromness main street, OrkneyPat, by the way, is now at thirty two with her bird list and still a few days to go.