Orkney have won their first National League Division Four match of the season by beating the borders' team Earlston at Pickaquoy 12-0 on Saturday.

The two bottom of the league teams fought out a game which was noticeable mainly for the poor handling skills by the backs of both teams.

Both of Orkney's tries were scored, whilst playing with the wind, during the first half, and, luckily for the home team, the visitors failed to utilise the wind advantage, in the second half.

More than 90 per cent of tenants are satisfied with the quality of Orkney Housing Association’s homes, approachability and value.

However, there were some areas where residents felt performance could be improved, according to the association’s annual report for 2003-2004.

Those in Stromness felt they were slightly worse off in terms of service provision than those elsewhere, and play areas were still thought to be inadequate, although dissatisfaction reduced from 37 per cent to 25 per cent.

A delegation from the Confederation of Scandinavian Societies of Great Britain (CoScan) arrived in Orkney on Friday for a short visit to the county.

A dozen organisations will be represented over October over the weekend.

As well as being entertained by members of the Orkney Norway Friendship Association, delegates will be visiting local sites such as Brodgar, Maeshowe and the Italian Chapel.

A bottle of Orkney whisky, which cost £95 a year ago, sold for £130 in Glasgow.

The bottle of John Scott’s single malt whisky was sold at McTear’s auction house and was valued by the experts at £200.

The 37-year-old whisky was released by John Scott and Miller’s of Kirkwall in September, last year, and was the first of a family of Highland Park single malts. The 37-year-old whisky is now sold out.

Click here for John Scott & Miller's website

A new development group in Hoy hopes to pull the island “up by its boot straps”.

The public meeting held in North Walls Centre on Wednesday night, organised by the steering group, which is set to form an association as a limited company, gave a stamp of approval to go ahead to secure the future of both Hoy and Walls.

Lindsay Hall, chairman of the group, said: “We are keen that everyone feels fully informed which direction we are going. We want to generate the islands so they continue to thrive through the 21st century.“

The Groattie Hoose this week (Picture: Kenny Pirie)

The first pieces of the Groattie Hoose have been removed in preparation for its removal to Tankerness House Gardens, Kirkwall.

Leslie Burgher of Pentarq, which is supervising the project, said: “It is going slowly and carefully as it is important that we get it right.

It currently stands in a square behind the former Tods of Orkney Bakery in Kirkwall's Bridge Street.

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Kirkwall police officers went to investigate after what was believed to be part of an aircraft was washed up on the Evie shoreline on Monday.

The debris recovered was identified as part of an unmanned flying target, used by the armed forces.

A Loganair flight attendant has been sacked following a disciplinary hearing.

The former employee, who cannot be named, was suspended last month following complaints from passengers on an Inverness/Kirkwall flight that he was slurring his words and couldn’t fasten the seatbelt during the safety demonstration.

A thorough investigation was carried out prior to the disciplinary hearing, and the company confirmed that the individual had been dismissed.

The Pelamis wave energy generator will be on site permanently at Billia Croo to produce electricity within the next two weeks.

Tests in August saw the experimental device, nicknamed the sea snake, producing electricity for two weeks, before being towed back to Lyness in Hoy for final checks.

Clare Brodie, of Ocean Power Delivery, which developed the device, said: “We have had two people at Lyness tending the ropes and it has been fine. The next step is that we are waiting for a clear weather window, and then it will be towed out to Billia Croo and connected up.”

Residents of Shapinsay and Rousay are on their way to completing a deal to retain their doctors after a meeting with NHS Orkney on Monday when members of both communities met with the chief executive Steve Conway and other representatives.

A spokesman said: “The NHS board has confirmed that GP services will be provided for the islands as branch surgeries of a larger practice.

“The board team has agreed that it would be acceptable for a GP to be resident on the islands, but stresses that the GP would be unable to be on call at all times on the island.”

Through its open learning centre, Orkney College has been successful in an award of nearly £20,000 from Learndirect Scotland.

The cash will be used in a project called “port to port”, to provide free IT training for passengers and crew on the North and South Isles ferries.

Four “trainers” will travel on various ferries from October, this year, through to February, 2005, to provide the computer taster sessions as well as demonstrating the use of farm cattle record-keeping programmes and delivering learning bytes.

A joint open day is being held in Kirkwall this Saturday to let parents of special needs children discover what the voluntary agencies concerned have to offer them.

The event is being built round the monthly toy library session which this Saturday is at the Boys Brigade Hall in Meadowbank. It runs from 11 am to 2 pm.

SNAP - Special Needs Children and Young Adults' Parents Support Group - and Autism and Aspergers' Support Group are the other organisations involved.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise has launched a campaign to sell a number of properties - including the Orkney Enterprise building in Queen Street, Kirkwall.

However, HIE plan to lease the property back from the new owner, meaning the staff at the Kirkwall-based office will see no change.

HIE is advertising nine properties across the network area in the first stage of a phased three to four-year programme. They expect the sales to raise about £5 million, which will be reinvested in a range of strategic development projects across the Highlands and Islands.

The huge blades for the Sanday turbine are unloaded. (Picture: Roderick Thorne)

The final pieces of the Sanday wind turbines arrived at the island on Saturday. The MV Fairlane, after several weather delays, and a prolonged journey across the North sea from Denmark, tied up alongside the breakwater at Loth terminal.

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) bought the 11MW windfarm development from Spurness Wind Energy earlier this year.

The three turbines should be fully up and running by the end of 200, and consent is in place for a fourth turbine to be added at a later stage.

Two Orkney butcher businesses have scooped a number of awards at the Scottish Meat Challenge 2004 in Edinburgh.

Dounby Stores and George Donaldson & Sons, Kirkwall, competiting against competition from over 200 butchers across Scotland won three awards each in the Quality Meat Scotland and Scottish Federation of Meat Traders Associations’ “Make it with Meat” competition.

Dounby Stores received a silver and two bronze awards for two pork and a sirloin steak dish. While Donaldsons achieved three bronze awards for a lamb loin dish, and their special recipe sausages and burgers.

The importance of wearing a seatbelt hit home at the weekend, as three people escaped serious injury in a head-on collision in Orkney.

Kirkwall police are now appealing for the driver of a third vehicle, believed to have been on the Finstown road at the time of the accident at 9.30pm on Saturday, to come forward.

A spokesman for Kirkwall police said: “The wearing of a seatbelt is compulsory, and on this occasion probably saved their lives. Police inquiries are continuing and anyone with information is asked to call them on 872241.

Police are investigating after the bodies of 12 pregnant seals, shot by a gunman using a high velocity rifle, were discovered on an Orkney beach on Friday.

The seals were seeking the sanctuary of the shore to give birth to their pups when they were attacked. Their bodies were found at Burwick, South Ronaldsay, by Ross Flett, who runs the Orkney Seal Rescue centre.

Flett, who has devoted the past 16 years to caring for sick, injured and orphaned seals, said: "It's a horrendous thing to have happened, a terrible shock for me to find them lying dead on the beach."

Kirkwall 's town centre will be closed next week to allow for road resurfacing works.

Castle Street , Broad Street and Palace Road will be affected by resurfacing works from October 3, for approximately one week, depending on the weather.

An OIC spokesman said the road surface has reached the end of its serviceable life and therefore needs to be replaced.

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Tickets for the 2004 Sports Awards Dinner Dance, on November 12, went on sale on Monday.

Tickets for the event, which will see the cream of Orkney's sporting crop honoured, are available from the Pickaquoy Centre and cost £18.00 for seniors and £12.00 for juniors.

Nominations forms, which are available to download here, must be returned to the OIC by October 18.

Almost 150 children marched along the streets of Stromness with colourful umbrellas and musicians to launch the fifth Orkney Blues Festival.

The 141pupils from Stromness Primary joined the musical talents of fifth and sixth year youngsters from the academy on Friday.

Streamers and colourful umbrellas brightened the dull day and made a fitting start to what was another packed festival an eclectic mix of talent to entertain blues fans.

11,215 passengers used the airport in August 2004, compared to 11,055 in August 2003 - an increase of 1.4 per cent.

The lack of registered childminders in Orkney is well-known, so a special event is being held in Kirkwall this week to recruit childminders.

The Scottish Childminding Association will have representatives at Kirkwall Community Centre from 1.30 to 3pm on Wednesday, September 29.

Katie Adam, of the North of Scotland branch of the association, said registered childminding was the ideal home-based business, and will be also be advising parents on how and why they should choose a registered childminder.