Stromness man, Cameron Stout, was one of the 12 housemates who entered the Big Brother household live on national TV on Friday night.

Cameron (32) was the second to enter the Big Brother house and, all going well, will spend the next nine weeks under the scrutiny of the British television viewing public.

The son of Doris and John Stout of Cairston Road, Stromness, Cameron's brother Julyan is well known to Scottish television viewers and opened this year's Edinburgh Hogmanay ceremonies.

"Matta" memorial football tournament

The Matta Monkman seven-a-side football tournament, aimed at raising money for charity, was held at Pickaquoy on Saturday.

The event was held as a memorial tournament in memory of keen football fan Matthew “Matta” Monkman, who died in January, aged 74.

Teams travelled to Orkney from Thurso, Inverness, London and the Faroes for the event.

Scottish Literary Studies conference

Members of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies held their annual conference at the Orkney College on Saturday.

It was the first time that the association’s annual conference had been held outwith a major Scottish university town.

Talks were given on the importance of Orkney writers such as George Mackay Brown and Eric Linklater to English literature and an international perspective was given by an Icelandic writer, Einar Karason.

Archive story

A new Orkney duo, called Saltfishforty, celebrated both their appearance at the Orkney Folk Festival and the launch of their first CD - Goose Music.

Douglas Montgomery, who plays the fiddle, and Brian Cromarty, who sings and plays guitar and mandola, have both featured in other bands – the Silver Penguins and the Smoking Stone Band.

Thursday night’s appearance by DJ Judge Jules at the official opening of the new nightclub, Fusion in Kirkwall went off without a hitch.

Judge Jules said: "The new club is spectacular - it could hold its own against any in the UK."

Among the clubbers was a contingent from Shetland who travelled especially for the event.

The Orkney Folk Festival came of age this year when the 21st annual event was launched on Thusday night with concerts in Stromness and Deerness.

Compared to the first festival, which saw only a handful of performers making the trip across the Pentland Firth, this year organisers expect to play host to some 100 guests as well as the hundreds more who travel to join in the fun year after year.

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For programme click here

The Ferry Inn in Stromness has again been nominated for an award in the Scotland’s Pub of the Year competition.

In the competition organised by the Sunday Mail newspaper and the licensed trade magazine Dram, the hotel and bar in Stromness was named as Pub of the Week earlier this year and has now been entered into the Pub of the Year contest.

NorthLink have announced a change in departure and arrival times for their ships which run on the Kirkwall service from the Hatston Terminal.

The new timetable, which will come into effect on June 1, will see the arrival and departure times brought forward to a "more sociable hour" with a 2300 arrival time and a 2345 departure time.

Departure and arrival times at Lerwick and Aberdeen will be unaffected.

It was disappointment for the Orkney Celtic fans who travelled to Spain for the UEFA Cup Final on Wednesday night amid the army of Celtic supporters, as Celtic lost 3-2.

Hugh Markey, pictured, aged 73, from Lambaness in Kirkwall was the oldest Celtic fan from Orkney who travelled to Seville.

Three Orkney drivers have been caught using illegal fuel in a crackdown by the Customs and Excise and Northern Constabulary.

The three vehicles, seized during roadside spot checks last week, were found to be running on red diesel, which is a rebated fuel specifically for use in agricultural machinery.

Customs’ head of detection in Scotland Dave Clark said: “One major objective in this operation was to increase the awareness of the public and businesses in Orkney of the consequences of illegal fuel misuse."

A full scale emergency was called at Kirkwall Airport on Tuesday afternoon, when a helicopter was forced to make a precautionary landing.

A Super Puma helicopter carrying 14 passengers and two crew was returning to Aberdeen from Shetland, when a warning light came on in the cockpit, forcing the chopper to land in Orkney.

The helicopter from CHC Scotia Helicopters in Aberdeen has now returned to Aberdeen..

Orkney’s MSP, Jim Wallace, has been reappointed as Deputy First Minister in the new Scottish Executive, but he has lost his previous role of Justice Minister.

Mr Wallace takes on the portfolio of Enterprise and Lifelong Learning, which has an added responsibility for renewable energy and European Structural Funds, as well as further and higher education, and training.

Ross Finnie remains as Minister for the Environment and Rural Development and the Liberal Democrats have gained a third ministerial appointment - Nicol Stephen becomes Transport Minister.

At Kirkwall Sheriff Court on Monday, two men admitted breaking into the Anchor Buildings in Kirkwall in January of this year.

A jury trial was averted after Carl James Howley (19) and Bernard Peter Wishart (22) changed their pleas at the last minute.

Sentence was deferred for reports until June 5 and they were remanded in custody.

Orkney can still boast having the highest breastfeeding rate in Scotland – nearly double the national average.

Recent figures show that more than 70 per cent of mothers leaving the maternity unit at the Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall chose to breastfeed.

On average about 35 per cent of Scottish mothers choose the natural method. Orkney has been top of the league table for several years.

A man was taken to Balfour Hospital on Saturday morning after his vehicle collided with a drystone dyke in Finstown.

Stromness and Kirkwall fire brigade members had to cut the driver free from the car, which was extensively damaged.

The condition of the man is not known.

Guests preview new nightclub before this week's official opening

The doors of Kirkwall's new nightclub and music venue, Fusion, was opened briefly on Saturday night for a special preview function for invited guests.

The club officially opens on Thursday, with dance DJ Judge Jules headlining the event. The 500 tickets for the opening night sold out within three hours earlier this year.

North Ronaldsay sheep on national radio

North Ronaldsay's world-famous sheep were featured in a radio programme broadcast on Sunday.

Three times a year, the island's wild, seaweed-eating sheep are rounded up in one of the last acts of communal agriculture in the UK - the pund. The programme followed the shearing pund.

The Shearing Shore was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and simultaneously on the Internet.

Annual Norwegian Constitution day celebrations

Orkney was invaded by Norwegians at the weekend - all travelling to the county to take part in the annual Norwegian Constitution Day celebrations.

This year's event was particularly significant as it falls in the silver jubilee year of the Orkney Norway Friendship Association and guest of honour was the Norwegian minister Sven Ludvigsen.

The traditional procession, or tog, through Kirkwall left Kirkwall pier at 3pm on Saturday.

Click here for full schedule of events

Ironman challenge for Ewan

Orkney triathlete Ewan Taylor is due to compete in the Canary Islands on Saturday - taking part in the gruelling Lanzarote Ironman competition.

Ewan was competing with around 800 other athletes taking part in the event.

Click here for full details.

2001