20 Days of Orkney Trees #18

Just a couple of tree snippets today from our research this month:


First of all, even the birds became concerned about the lack of forests and began planting trees on Hoy...

Orkney Herald 10th February 1926

... and second, Stromness used to have a big tree too! Until 1926 that is...

Orkney Herald 24th February 1926

We checked the Stromness Town Council minutes for that time, but there was no mention of the tree removal. There is much talk about work being done in John Street to strengthen walls etc., so perhaps the tree was removed as part of that project.


We looked for a picture of the tree but unsuccessfully. Here is a lovely photo of tree-lined lovers' lane in Stromness instead:



Robertson collection 4596

We Only Do It Because We Care...

We have blogged before about our passive - aggressive relationships with certain TV shows. Sometimes one nit picks because one loves a person so very much and it pains us that they are not reaching their potential.


We wrote a snippy complaint about Autumnwatch calling Orkney 'The Orkneys' because we are pedantic but also because we love BBC's 'The Watches' so very much. It is the only thing that has ever annoyed us about that wonderful show.


We were unreasonably delighted by the first series of Bake Off, and we almost lost our minds when Who Do You Think You Are called (another show we had previously chastised), but we ADORE Spring/Autumn/WinterWatch. Thus, there was another very hysterical afternoon after we were contacted by one of the show's producers to provide copies of audio tapes of Orkney naturalist and expert on Hen Harriers, Eddie Balfour.


The relevant program aired on Wednesday but can still be watched on iplayer here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b61crx

For more information on Eddie, see this obituary which appeared in a 1974 copy of The Orcadian:

 

 

Quiz Answers

Answers to the bird quiz taken from the Orcadian dated 3rd April 1975. As you can see, 48 bird names were concealed within the letter. How many did you manage?