| Kirkwall Airport commemorates 70 years
of commercial air mail |
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Kirkwall Airport hosted the 70th anniversary celebrations
of the first official internal British airmail service on Saturday.
Captain Ernest Edmund Fresson OBE flew the first airmail service
from Inverness to Kirkwall on May 29, 1934 - the same year he flew
the first scheduled passenger service on the same route and operated
the first UK air ambulance flight.
Captain Fresson's son, Richard Fresson, was among those marking
the anniversary at the airport. The original pennant presented to
Capt Fresson was also being flown to Orkney and put on display in
the airport terminal by the Orkney Museum.
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| Youth football weekend |
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The Pickaquoy Centre is hosting a weekend of youth football, with
teams travelling to Orkney from Caithness and Shetland.
The competition kicked off today with a seven-a-side tournament
for the Viking Analytic Service Trophy.
Tomorrow, Sunday, is the under-12, 14 and 16s eleven-a-side challenge.
We hope to have full results online on Monday morning.
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| Flotta walk for diabetes research |
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A fundraising walk to raise money for juvenile diabetes research
was launched in Kirkwall on Friday morning.
The walk, sponsored by Talisman Energy, will take place on Flotta
on Sunday, September 19, with walkers being transported out to the
island free of charge to participate.
For further details or a registration form, contact Phyllis Brown
at the Flotta Oil Terminal (Tel 884000).
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| Alvis cars tour the county |
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Fifteen Alvis cars and their owners are in Orkney
for a weekend of touring.
The Scottish section of the Alvis Owners Association has organised
the trip and the the cars will tour the South Isles on Saturday
and go to Hoy on Sunday.
The Alvis was produced in Coventry from 1920 to 1967 and the cars
ranged from sports models to luxury saloons and even military vehicles.
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| Man convicted of Stromness rape |
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A South African man has been convicted of raping a Stromness woman
he met in an internet chatroom
Mervyn Morgan, 32, was found guilty of raping the woman at her
home while she was under the influence of alcohol and cannabis on
April 11, 2004 - hours after he arrived in Orkney.
Morgan, who was tried in Inverness, will be sentenced in Glasgow
on June 17.
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| Plans for new Highlands and Islands
history centre |
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Plans have been unveiled for a new
centre of learning dedicated to the history of the Highlands and Islands.
Orkney College is one of the three of the colleges that form the
UHI Millennium Institute that are collaborating to develop and launch
the centre, which will be headed by a new Professor of the History
of the Highlands and Islands.
From autumn 2005, students will be able to study the history of
the Highlands and Islands to university degree level. Subject to
formal validation, the new course will be the first of its kind
and unique to UHI.
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| "Best ever" Folk Festival
kicks off in Stromness |
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 What
has been described as the “best ever” Orkney Folk Festival
began in Stromness on Thursday night.
With 24 visiting acts and 26 events across the
county featuring local musicians, the festival’s opening concert
was in the Stromness Academy.
The final events are on Sunday evening, with two
farewell concerts - at the Stromness Town Hall and the academy –
with most of the visiting acts at both.
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| Executive publish
draft terms the northern isles ferry service retendering |
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A new draft contract setting out the conditions for the re-tendering
of the ferry services to Orkney and Shetland was published on Thursday
by the Scottish Executive.
The draft specification sets out the terms and conditions an operator
must fulfil when the current NorthLink contract ends next year.
Among the proposals is confirmation that a single contract will
be issued for all routes to the northern isles - in other words
the routes will not be split and issued to separate contractors.
Consultation will now take place with local communities with responses
due by Friday, July 16.
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| Orcadians urged to participate in ferry
consultation |
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Orkney's parliament members, Jim Wallace MSP and Alistair Carmichael
MP, are urging Orcadians to take part in
the consultation on the draft specification for the ferry contract
which is to take over when the NorthLink contract ends next year.
Jim Wallace said: "This consultation is a genuine wish to
engage with the Islands communities. The service specification is
only a draft and it can and will be changed if there is evidence
of strong demand for practical and affordable changes which will
improve the service to be provided under the new contract."
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| Operator says boat is ready for Egilsay
boy |
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A boat owner has hit out at Orkney Islands Council for refusing
to let him transport Egilsay's
only pupil to school in Rousay.
In 2004, Steve Vile, of Great White Sea Charters, won an OIC contract
to transport five-year-old Jordan Basford to school. Boat problems
meant he was unable to complete a trial run.
But now, Mr Vile claims that although his boat has been refitted,
the OIC refuses to go ahead with trials.
Meanwhile, Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre residents have rejected OIC
proposals to reschedule the inter-island ferry to allow Jordan Basford
to be transported to school.
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| OTE are new 'A' League sponsors |
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Electrical retailer Orkney
Television Enterprise have been named as the new sponsors of
Orkney's top football league.
The company, which has bases in Kirkwall and Stromness, has signed
a deal with the Orkney Amateur Football Association (OAFA) to become
the new name behind the 'A' League.
They take over from former sponsors Dounby
Stores, who have backed the league for the past four years.
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| Eurofighter testing to continue over
Orkney despite crash risk reports |
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The RAF's new Eurofighter military jet will continue to be tested
in the skies above Orkney - despite reports that defects mean it
has an "unacceptable" risk of crashing.
However, a Ministry of Defence spokesman denied the risk this week
saying it is usual for "issues" to become apparent during
testing.
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| New owners for Quoyburray Inn |
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The Quoyburray Inn in Tankerness
has been taken over by a family from Caithness.
Craig and Angela Burns are moving to the county with their three
children, five months after first viewing the business.
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| Broadband is go...in Kirkwall |
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The Kirkwall telephone exchange was broadband enabled on Wednesday
morning, giving residents of the town access to fast, always-on
connection to the internet.
The Finstown exchange is due to follow next month, with the remaining
eligible exchanges in the county switched on by summer 2005.
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| Consultants consider Orkney Ferries
replacement options |
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Consultants looking at the operation of Orkney
Ferries, with a view to replacing the ageing fleet of vessels are
in the county this week.
Peter Iles and Mary Gallagher were brought in by the OIC and are
looking at all aspects of the ferries' operations to make recommendations
on ferry replacement options - a requirement if the Scottish Executive
is to consider funding new ferries for the internal routes.
The pair have been visiting the islands to discuss proposals with
residents and are in Orkney until Friday. They will report back
to the OIC in June.
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| Orkney views invited on natural heritage |
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Orkney residents are being encouraged to provide
feedback on wildlife and the environment in the county as part of
a new national public information service on the internet by Scottish
Natural Heritage (SNH).
Natural Heritage Trends www.snh.org.uk/trends
catalogues a wide range of trends in the natural heritage throughout
Scotland, including species such as breeding seabirds to habitats
such as forest and woodlands, farmland and freshwater.
The website will be regularly updated, and asks people to write
in if they have a concern about the natural heritage by clicking
on the 'bee in your bonnet?' link.
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| Executive funding for OIC recycling
programme |
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Orkney Islands Council has been awarded £950,000
from the Scottish Executive for a new waste recycling programme which
could save Orkney up to £100,000 annually.
In addition to the initial grant, the OIC will receive an annual
top up of £235,000 to run the programme.
Among the measures included are two new civic amenity sites in
the Dounby and Finstown area and six new mini recycling centres
in remote areas to collect glass, cans, waste oil, textiles and
paper.
By 2005/6 the OIC aims to be recycling 29 per cent of Orkney's
waste, exceeding the Scottish Executive's national 25 per cent target.
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| Welcome return as Hamnavoe resumes
Pentland Firth service |
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It's service as usual on the Pentland Firth this
week, with NorthLink's ferry Hamnavoe returning to operation
again on Tuesday morning.
The vessel arrived back on Monday night, after
the completion of repairs to hairline cracks on the vessel's hull
in a German dry-dock last week.
The Hamnavoe's return marks the end of
a difficult period for the ferry company and travellers across the
Pentland Firth..
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| Driver hospitalised after Orphir accident |
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A man was taken to hospital on Monday night following a road accident
in Orphir.
The emergency services attended the incident in which a Vauxhall
Astra car left the road and collided with a dyke in Orphir village.
The driver was transferred to Balfour Hospital where he was detained
for observation.
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| Stromness writers reach final of national
short story competition |
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Two Stromness writers, Alison Flett and John Aberdein,
are through to the finals of a new short story competition, with the
result due to be announced next Tuesday.
The Scotsman and Orange Award is the country's richest short
story prize and in its first year of existence the competition has
seen the submission of 1,500 stories, all of which deal directly
or indirectly with the theme 'North'.
The launch of the collection 'North' and the announcement of prizewinner
and runners-up will take place in Edinburgh on Tuesday, June 1.
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| Fourth place for Sanday runner |
| |
 Sanday-based
ultra-distance runner, William Sichel, finished in fourth in last
Friday's Apeldoorn International 24hour road race in Holland.
In covering a distance of 134.4 miles, his best since May of last
year, William's performance still fell short of the UK Athletics
qualifying distance for the World 24hr Championships to be held
in the Czech Republic in October.
William expects to run in the forthcoming World 24hr Championships
as an individual runner rather than attempting another attempt at
a qualifying run before the selection deadline in mid July.
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| Sanday turbine construction begins |
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The first parts of the new Sanday
wind turbines were transported to the island on Monday.
The windmill bases were transferred from Hatston to Kirkwall pier
on Monday morning, for transporting to Sanday via Orkney Ferries.
Scottish and Southern Energy bought the windfarm development at
Spurness from Spurness Wind Energy earlier this year.
The three turbines should be fully up and running by the end of
2004 and consent is in place for a fourth turbine to be added at
a later stage.
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| Kirkwall marina opens to visitors |
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The Kirkwall marina officially opened to visitors on Monday.
It was opened to berthholders without ceremony last Thursday morning
by the company which operates it, Orkney Marinas Ltd.
The beleagured facility faced delays after the pontoons were damaged
in a storm in December which prompted a rethink about the design.
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| NorthLink invites applications for
travel sponsorship |
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The second phase of NorthLink's sponsorship programme opens for
applications from 1 – 30 June, with requests invited from individuals,
groups, clubs and charities throughout the northern isles.
In the first phase of this year's programme, NorthLink contributed
almost £80,000 of travel sponsorship to over 100 applicants.
Although NorthLink does not offer cash sponsorship, the ferry operator
can provide free and discounted travel, as well as travel vouchers
for prizes.
For further information or to request an application form, contact
NorthLink on 01856 885500 or email: info@northlinkferries.co.uk
.
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