PHOTO & INFO:
Orkney x 3 Gigs - June 2006

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“The Essence of Orkney’s magic is silence, loneliness, and the deep marvellous rhythms of sea and land, darkness and light.” (extract from Orkney tourism flyer)

	A woman called Sheila Anderson who runs a puppet organisation called “Puppets from Penicuik” had chosen to take a 6 month break from her work and become a World Exchange Volunteer in Orkney. When she arrived, one of the things she started to arrange was a big childrens praise event on the main island (Kirkwall) as the final big activity she would build towards.
	I have worked with Sheila many times before, and pretty soon I was on board for this excellent opportunity to discover a part of Scotland I had never seen before. My wife Rachel was also keen to come along on the trip, and so we decided that we would have a holiday on Orkney at the same time! As I was now going to be on Orkney for at least a few days, I suggested that we could run some additional workshops, and soon we had another 2 gigs in the pipeline!
	And so it was, that on 1 June 2006, Rachel and I headed across on the Aberdeen-Kirkwall overnight Ferry taking our car with us. When we arrived, we drove to the Minister’s (Andrea Price) house where we stayed the night.

Friday 2 June - 2 x Workshops!

	We got on an 8 seater plane at Kirkwall Airport and we touched down in Westray briefly, at which point we then did the official world record shortest commercial flight from Westray to Papa Westray! It has been done in approx 1min, but today it took just over 2mins!
	Sheila had said that she would meet us on the “Papa Westray Airport Shopping Mall, 3rd Floor Reception”. We soon realised this was a joke when we landed in the middle of a field! Sheila gave us a tour of Papay (as the locals like to call it), and we took in St Boniface Church and just went on a general drive (Papay is only approx 6 miles in extent).
	FIRST WORKSHOP AND GOSPEL JUGGLING SHOW - Westray: We caught a boat to Westray and met Rev Ian McDonald who took us to our first workshop venue (his Church hall). We had a good turnout of approx 20-25 kids aged 5-7yrs, and plenty of parents happy to watch. I did a 2hr workshop which included a Gospel Juggling show.
	We then headed back to Ian’s manse for a rest, and I was given a book by Sheila called “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”. I read it on the ferry home a few days later, and it is very moving and awesome, and I highly recommend it if you can grab a copy! Ian’s family treated us to dinner at the excellent Pierowall Restaurant, and my dessert was Cappucinno Ice Cream, which I had to eat very quickly as it was time to head back to Papay on the boat for the next gig!
	SECOND WORKSHOP AND GOSPEL SHOW - Papay: As there are only 70 people on this island, I got a good turnout of approx half the island! There were lots of youth at this workshop and I could tell it was going to be harder for them to just come forward and take part, so I let them take some equipment (such as beach flingo) outside, at which point they all enjoyed the workshop also! Everyone came together for drinks near the end and my Gospel Juggling show got a positive response.
	We were staying in an excellent B&B just round the corner from the Church Hall. Morag & Jim Hewitson were our hosts for the night. Jim has written many books on the History of Scotland and the Orkney Islands, and I bought one of his books – “Jim Hewitson’s Scottish Miscellany” which he autographed “to Steve and Rachel, who taught Papay to juggle”! I would highly recommend this B&B. and you can contact them on sonofhewitj@aol.com or phone 01857 644268 if you are ever looking for a place to stay on Papay.

Saturday 3 June - the Final Event!

We headed back on a small 8 seater plane from Papay to Kirkwall. I got to be co-pilot and sit up front, so I had a fantastic view. I even got to wear the headphones and listen in to the communications with the ground crew!

Let’s Party Praise Event: We all met at the start, then the kids were divided into 3 groups and rotated around the activities (30min juggling workshop, or puppets workshop with Sheila, or singing with Tim). Approx 70 kids came to the event. Worship happened at the end upstairs, and each of the workshop leaders each did a little something to bring the praise party to a close (including a 10-15min gospel juggling show from me). When the workshop finished, so did our juggling work on Orkney, and we then had 2.5 days of holiday after all our hard work!

Holidaying in the Orkney Isles!

	For the remainder of our stay on Orkney, we stayed at the excellent Houton Bay Lodge at Scapa Flow. Friendly staff, and excellent facilities, with an absolutely stunning view! Visit Houton Bay Lodge Website for more details.
	We enjoyed strolling around the town centres of Kirkwall and Stromness, going for drives along the coastlines, and stopping off at various beaches and eating Orkney Ice Cream!
	On the Sunday morning, we went to Kirkwall East Church for Sunday Morning Worship. What a difference the Sanctuary looked like compared to yesterdays workshops and performances! We also visited the Italian Chapel near South Ronaldsay, which is one of only a couple of relics of Camp 60, which housed in the later years of the Second World War, several hundred Italian Prisoners. This chapel is absolutely stunning.
	We also went to Leila Thomson’s Hoxa Tapestry Gallery, and visited the Tomb of the Eagles which is a family run museum introducing ideas about life in Orkney during stone age and bronze age times.
	On our final day, we weren't due to catch the ferry until nearly midnight, and had to be out of our accommodation in the morning, so we had a full day of sightseeing! We decided to go on a bus tour, as this would be the best way to see as much of the main Orkney Island in a day. We visited: • Skara Brae • Standing Stones of Stenness, • Meashowe • Ring of Brodgar

Summary

A wonderful time on Orkney. We would never have got to see so much and get to know so many local people if we hadn’t been running workshops and performing at the start of the holiday! A big thanks to Sheila for inviting us to Orkney and to Andrea and Family, Morag and Jim (B&B), Lynda Baird (Houton Bay Lodge) for accommodating us. To top it all off, a month after we returned home, I got an invite to a friends 30th birthday party in Orkney. I hadn’t realised she lived there or else we could have met up! Nevermind, there’s always next time... !

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