KIRKWALL
Kirkwall is where we are, the great metropolis of Orkney. Home of a cathedral, two palaces, a ghost of a castle and our stupendous workplace the Orkney Library & Archive.
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| Kirkwall Postcard by W H Hourston, our ref: WHH8612 |
Kirkwall has been hard hit by the Pandemic with many shops struggling to cope with the lack of custom. A popular music venue and colourful café has recently announced defeat and will not re-open again.
During Lockdown it was very quiet in the centre of town.
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| A Saturday afternoon in Albert Street during Lockdown, April 11th 2020 |
Normally Albert Street would be full of locals and visitors. But this year there was no usual crop of Summer People: tourists, cruise-shippers, students or archaeologists.
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| A Saturday afternoon in December 2020 |
The compulsory wearing of face-masks in shops has given more locals the confidence to meet and chat in the street again, but even now the shops are still quiet when they should be busy with Christmas shoppers. Many people might still be nervous about visiting the town centre and choose to stay at home and shop online.
Tenuous Link Alert!
Back in the past when the residents of Kirkwall and Orkney had to rely on trades and shops to be close by, Kirkwall was teeming with businesses. This is the Kirkwall Burgh list from the 1920 Peace's Almanac:
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| Peace's Almanac 1920 (Orkney Room Ref: 914.1 YZ Periodicals) |
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| Peace's Almanac 1920 (Orkney Room Ref: 914.1 YZ Periodicals) |
Photo credits: A Saturday in April by John Ross Scott; A Saturday in December by Lucy Gibbon
My heart aches for all the small business owners everywhere who are struggling so hard to stay in business. We have a friend here who owns a Texas-style small BBQ restaurant. He is from Honduras, came to the US legally, started working at the restaurant when someone else owned it, then bought it and named it for his oldest son. His plan is to fund his childrens' college educations with the money he makes from his business. We have done our best to help him, but the many times we picked up dinner and we and Marvin were the only people there were scary. I know he's worried...and I know your friends who own the shops in Orkney are too. I keep hoping and praying that the pandemic will end soon. At least there are vaccines which will be available very shortly.
ReplyDeleteSue.