Patients queue for private dental care

Fears that some 6,500 patients could be left without a dentist at all in Orkney, led to a queue forming at Kirkwall’s Scapa Dental Centre on Friday morning.

The rush followed Thursday's announcement that the business was going private, but only had limited spaces for private patients.

Despite an eagerness to register privately, one man in the queue, said: “I feel I am being ripped off – I still pay my stamp.”

See also: Kirkwall dental clinic drops last NHS patients and goes private

Italian date for Orkney Herring Company

The Orkney Herring Company has been hand picked to take centre stage in the British pavilion at an international food festival in Italy later this month.

The Stromness-based company is the only producer to be selected from the Highlands and Islands area and will be one of over 35 food and drink producers in the British Pavilion at the Salone del Gusto event in Turin.

Rugby club seek physiotherapist help

Orkney Rugby Club are hunting for a physiotherapist in an attempt to shorten their injury list.

Club chairman, Dave Fairnie, said the club are unable to offer players the physiotherapy cover which was available last year, since they were promoted to Division Four of the BT National League.

Mr Fairnie has appealed for anyone with the necessary experience who would be interested in helping the club out to contact him at work on 873151 or at home on 873161.

Kirkwall Airport passenger numbers on the increase

The number of people travelling to and from Kirkwall Airport in the last six months has risen considerably on the same period last year.

Loganair said they were pleased with the increase in passenger numbers, on all but the Kirkwall-Inverness route which has shown a 3.7 per cent decline over the same period.

Customer services manager, Ivor Robertson, told the Kirkwall Airport Consultative Committee on Thursday that there had also been a 21 per cent rise in people using Orkney's inter-island service between April and the end of September.

Anglian Princess goes on duty

The Anglian Princess docked in Shetland around 6.15pm on Wednesday and went on duty immediately.

The new tug is expected in Orkney for the first time at the weekend.

Kirkwall dental clinic drops last NHS patients and goes private

Scapa Dental Centre in Kirkwall have sent letters to all their clients on Thursday informing them that the centre is going private.

From January 1, 2003 the centre will no longer provide NHS dental care for adults, leaving thousands of patients in Orkney forced to go private.

But there's still no guarantee of obtaining treatment, even privately, as the clinic have only a limited number of spaces available.

Archive story: Further blow to NHS patients as dentist's
departure leaves 2,500 de-registered

The little bird that caused big excitement

The Veery in North Ronaldsay (Picture: Ross McGregor)

The tawny brown North American thrush, pictured right, is believed to have been blown off course, across the North Atlantic while migrating to South America for the winter.

Click here for full details

No panic over Scotland's first confirmed case of lethal seal virus

The manager of the Orkney Seal Rescue Centre is playing down the significance of the first confirmed case of phocine distemper virus in Scotland, in a common seal washed ashore at Dornoch last month.

Ross Flett said on Wednesday: “I spoke to the scientists who analysed the animal. They said it was an old carcass and it was quite decomposed. So the virus could been have present in the animal for some time and yet not been the cause of its death."

"Hopefully, this is just an isolated case and that phocine distemper virus is not generally with us yet.” he added.

Archive story: Orkney alert after seal virus confirmed in UK

Stromness to host major renewable energy conference

What could become one of the largest conference events ever held in Orkney takes place in Stromness later this month.

The Renewable Realities conference will feature over 160 delegates and 40 exhibitors and take place in Stromness Academy from October 15 to 17.

The event, concentrating on renewable energy, includes a three-day programme of presentations with visits to the proposed European Marine Energy Centre sites and the Burgar Hill site. See www.renewablerealities.com for more information.

NorthLink’s telephone system was thrown into disarray on Tuesday, their first day, when their Stromness phone line went down, and call centre lines were completely overwhelmed.

Callers reported long delays in getting through, and were diverted to a call centre which had no direct links to NorthLink’s reservations department.

Commercial director, Gareth Crichton said that telephone engineers began fixing the lines late on Tuesday afternoon, and that the company had been swamped with calls and requested that only customers who were travelling via NorthLink in the next two days contact them in the meantime.

The Orkney Cheese Company have won a top award at a prestigious awards show for the fourth time in five years.

The company were awarded the Gold Medal at the British Cheese Awards in Gloucestershire for their Orkney Island Mature Cheddar, after receiving the same award in 1997, 1998 and 2001.

Sailing quietly away, St Rognvald severs final P&O Orkney link

Local P&O manager, Arnold Calder, pipes the St Rognvald away. (Picture: Graeme Smith)

After the commotion surrounding departure of the St Ola's on Monday, the final P&O vessel to leave Orkney waters slipped away almost unnoticed on Monday night.

The cargo vessel St Rognvald left Kirkwall around 11pm on Monday night with freight bound for Aberdeen.

A small crowd gathered on Kirkwall Pier to bid a final farewell to the P&O link with Orkney.

Fire at Shapinsay School

Two units from Kirkwall Fire Brigade travelled over to Shapinsay on Monday to tackle a fire at the school.

A police spokesman confirmed that the fire was caused by electrical fault in one of the school's three heating boilers. The alarm was raised around 2pm and the school evacuated and fire contained.

Police say the school suffered minor damage - with smoke damage limited to the room itself.

Three blasts of her horn marks St Ola's emotional farewell to Stromness

The folk of Stromness were out in force on Monday afternoon, bidding a tearful farewell to the MV St Ola as she sailed from Orkney for the last time.

Piped out by the Stromness pipe band and escorted by the Stromness lifeboat, the Ola left at 3.25pm, her last voyage carrying passengers across the Pentland Firth before NorthLink take over the service today.

One of the hundreds of onlookers lining the piers, summed up the mood: "The new boats are certainly impressive, but things just wont be the same here without the Saints."

Archive: Hamnavoe could lie idle for six months

Norse Island Ferries announced on Monday that their new freight service to Orkney will begin on Saturday, October 5.

The Merchant Venture will sail from Lerwick, calling at Kirkwall before heading for mainland Scotland.

The St Rognvald is due to join the service from P&O on Wednesday, allowing the company to provide a six day a week, each-way service.

NorthLink revise Pentland Firth sailing times

NorthLink have revised their Pentland Firth service, to cater for the temporary ferry running the route until the Hamnavoe is brought into service.

• Depart Scrabster - 0530
• Depart Stromness - 0830
• Depart Scrabster - 1200
• Depart Stromness - 1500
• Depart Scrabster - 1800
• Depart Stromness - 2100

This timetable will run seven days a week until further notice.

Crowds turn out to view Hrossey

Almost 4,400 people turned out to view the new NorthLink ferry Hrossey in Kirkwall on Sunday.

The vessel was open to the public before going into service on the Northern Isles-Aberdeen route.

The trial of two Eday residents, accused of being involved in a £3.6 million debt recovery fraud, was adjourned on Friday until next year.

The David and Maureen McHugh, South Park, Eday, was due to start at Liverpool Crown Court on October 7. But the judge heard on Fiday that because of the complexity of the paperwork it will not begin on that date.

The McHughs were described by the judge as being "at the top of the tree" among ten people who pleaded not guilty to conspiring to defraud companies. All were remanded on bail until their trial, estimated to begin in March.

Archive stories: Orkney couple deny fraud allegations
Eday fraud charge woman's international football connection
Eday residents face fraud trial
English police travel to Eday to arrest recent arrivals

Manager of the Pickaquoy Centre Mr Kieran Henderson welcomed the figures which amounted to a £24,552 turn around for the centre from last year’s loss of £17,514.

Catering has experienced the greatest swing in fortunes, moving from a deficit of £32,176 last year, to a surplus of £11,941 this year.