Orkney's Island Games squad arrived back home on Saturday, on a special ferry laid on by NorthLink.

After the closing ceremony in Lerwick on Friday night, the ferry carrying the Orkney contingent left Shetland at 10am, arriving in Kirkwall at 3pm.

The final Orkney medal tally was two gold, three silver and four bronze.

The 11th NatWest Island Games in Shetland came to end on Friday night, when a colourful closing ceremony brought the curtain down on an event that has been hailed by organisers and officials as a major success.

For Orkney, their ten medal accomplishment at this year’s event is the most successful since 1989, when the games were held in the Faroes.

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Orkney MSP Jim Wallace will open the new building, an extra play area for children and young people with special needs.

Harry Potter fever gripped The Orcadian Bookshop in the early hours of Saturday morning, with a special opening to allow fans of the boy wizard to get their hands on a copy of the new book.

At 12.01am, the doors of the Albert Street bookshop opened and the first copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince went on sale to a gathered crowd of fans.

At the launch of the previously book, 500 people queued outside the bookshop and the title sold out almost immediately. At the time it was estimated that one person in every 16 in Orkney had bought the book within a week of its launch.

Bryony Muir in the lead having been handed the baton by Mags Macrae, who ran the first leg.

Orkney’s women’s 4x400 metre relay team went from despair to ecstasy on Friday, when they won a bronze medal on the final day of the Island Games.

Finishing the race in fourth position, it was only minutes later that officials announced that Isle of Man, who finished third, had been disqualified, giving the county’s women the bronze, Orkney’s tenth games medal.

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The Scapa Flow Container Transhipment Port Steering Group has agreed to look at ways it can develop the Scapa Flow project itself. This follows the expiry of the Memorandum of Understanding between Orkney Islands Council and International Container Hubs Ltd.

The group, a partnership between the OIC, Orkney Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, agreed that the Flotta project would offer considerable economic advantages to the container shipping industry. It also agreed to promote the project more effectively within the industry.

The Group will meet again within the next month to consider detailed reports on the new approach, with a view to securing full backing from partner bodies in early September.

A 33-year-old male was arrested on Thursday night after a disturbance in the Auld Motorhoose, Kirkwall, at 10.40pm.

A report has been sent to the procurator fiscal.

Gold winner Joanna Walker crossed the finishing line,

Orkney’s half marathon runner Joanna Walker eased her way to gold on Friday morning, winning the county’s ninth medal.

Running positively from the start, Joanna, 27, who wins Orkney’s second island games gold, crossed the finishing line minutes ahead of her nearest challenger.

Completing the difficult route in a time of 1 hour 25 mins and 31 secs, she beat Lisa Fox, of Jersey, 1 hour 27 mins 47 secs, and Nikki Neal, of Alderney, 1 hour 27 mins 58 secs.

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Table tennis player Catherine Symons won the bronze medal in the women’s individual tournament on Friday morning.

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Silver medal winner Neil Gray holds the flag up for Orkney

Orkney’s island games competitors had taken the medal tally to seven by Thursday evening..

Athlete Neil Gray won silver in the 400m, and the county’s archers achieved more success, this time taking the bronze in the team head to head recurve event.

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Dr Tim Wright

Kirkwall GP, Dr Tim Wright, spent his last day in practce on Friday, after serving more than 30 years in Orkney.

After initially planning to stay for just two years, he is now retiring in Orkney.

He estimates that around 6,000 people have come under his care since he started work on September 1, 1974.

He said: "If I didn't like them, I wouldn't be here. I like Orkney. I like the people I've worked with. I like the people who have been patients. And I like to feel I've fitted in. I'd like to feel I've contributed something along the way."

Police are looking for information about a flat bed wooden trolley which was taken from Kirkwall Community Centre on Wednesday morning.

The trolley was seen outside the library a while later but has not been seen since then.

Police would like anyone with information about it or who has seen the trolley to contact Kirkwall Police Station on 01856 872441 or return the trolley to the community centre.

Orkney’s volleyball contingent had two reasons to celebrate on Wednesday night, when both the men’s and women’s teams beat inter-county rivals Shetland, in play-off matches held in the Clickimin Centre.

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Orkney youngster Steven Rendall turned in an impressive round of 71 on the second day of the island games golf tournament on Wednesday.

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Orkney and Shetland MP Alistair Carmichael has hit out at news that the Crown Estate achieved record profit levels in the last year.

Mr Carmichael said: "Aquaculture in other countries does not have to pay additional taxes to their Governments in this way. This hampers the ability of our industry to compete on a level playing field with international competitors. It is another burden that our industry has to bear.

"The Government has the power to limit harmful Crown Estate charges on our salmon and shellfish farmers and to reduce rents on piers and marinas. However, while the Estate keeps making record profits every year, they appear quite happy to sit back and let the money roll in."

Squash youngster Adam Bews beat Ian Stout in an all Orkney affair this afternoon to finish 11th overall in the singles play-off.

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Prince Andrew is met by Orkney's Lord Lieutenant, George Marwick at Kirkwall Airport this morning

The Duke of York, HRH Prince Andrew, visited Orkney on Wednesday.

The prince last touched down in the county in August, 1990, when he played a round of golf at the Orkney Golf Club.

On Wednesday, in his capacity as a special representative for international trade and investment, Prince Andrew visited the Flotta Oil Terminal, Ortak Jewellery and the Highland Park Distillery.

The royal visit concluded with an afternoon visit to the Sea Cadets' headquarters at Scapa.

Kirkwall police were called at 1.30am, after water was found flowing from an empty premises above the Peedie Hostel on Ayre Road.

A mother-of-three can finally start building her house, after islands councillors granted planning permission on Tuesday.

Saffron MacIvor bought a plot of land from the OIC at Soulisquoy Place, Kirkwall, for £25,000. But it was revealed later that the authority had installed the drainage system at the wrong height.

Permission was granted on the condition that Mrs MacIvor reduces the floor level by 50mm and moves an overlooking window.

Orkney celebrated yet another medal at the Shetland Island Games on Tuesday night when athlete 16-year-old David Miller won the bronze in an exciting climax to the 800 metre final.

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Engineers were called to Kirkwall's Junction Road again on Tuesday night after the water main burst again - the second time this week.

Scottish Water were alerted at 11.30pm and attended the scene. The main has now been left open to relieve the water pressure in the aging pipe.

A Scottish Water spokesman confirmed that engineers are to install a pressure tank on the line, which will temporarily equalise pressure, so that the fracture can be repaired.

Orkney Craftsmen's Guild's annual exhibition and craft sale has begun in Kirkwall Community Centre.

The event runs until August 6, from 10am to 4pm, every day except Sundays.

Orkney hit the medal target for the third and fourth time on Tuesday when the archers claimed team and individual silvers at Lerwick's Clickimin Centre.

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Orkney's mobile dentist service is to be axed - the victim of new decontamination rules that will see the service end in September.

Instead, island dental patients will have to attend Mainland clinics in either Stromness or Kirkwall.

Orkney's chief administrative dental officer, Moya Nelson, explained: "One example of the new rules is that decontamination of instruments cannot be done in the same room during clinical procedures."

"Our mobile service cannot meet these new standards and while various solutions have been explored, none of them are suitable for Orkney¹s geography and transport infrastructure."

For more information contact the King Street Dental Clinic on 01856 875348.

The move, revealed this week, is part of a £350,000 redevelopment project that will see the creation of a minimum of three dental surgeries.

"That is a measure of our optimism and our commitment to Orkney and our patients," said Skye-based specialist Dr John Murray, one of a group of dentists from across Scotland who recently took over the Scapa Dental Centre.

A delighted Helen Cromarty after winning the gold medal in the women's shot putt.

Shot putter Helen Cromarty claimed gold for Orkney at the island games in Shetland on Monday night - smashing her own personal best and setting a new county record in the process.

She was never headed after putting in a throw of 10.70 metres in the opening round - but the fireworks really started with her third throw.

Cheered on by a large and vocal group of fellow Orkney athletes and supporters, she threw 11.76 metres, bettering her own personal best best 28 centimetres.

No-one got within a metre of her throw, the Isle of Man's Louise Kneen claiming the silver.

The latest burst, adjacent to James Croy's shop, was reported at 3.40am on Tuesday morning. Orkney Direct and Scottish Water were informed and a water board engineer attended shortly after.

The pavement outside the shop has risen up due to the force of the escaping water.

Scottish Water has confirmed that the continuing problems with the water main will mean that its replacement will be "reprioritised".

David Sinclair Currie of Summerdale Drive, Kirkwall, is accused of assaulting the woman at a house in Kirkwall by pushing her, repeatedly striking her on the head and body, seizing hold of her by the throat and compressing it, all to her injury on Saturday.

He is also charged with a breach of the peace at the time.

The case was continued without plea until July 26 and Currie was released on bail.

They would like to trace a man who was seen to use a piece of wood to smash a window in the Murray Arms.

Anyone with information should call 872241.

A man was transferred to Balfour hospital on Sunday after sustaining a head injury on Suleskerry - an uninhabited island about 37 miles west of the Orkney Mainland.

The Stromness lifeboat was launched around 9.30am after a call-out from the Halton charter-boat, 25 miles west of Orkney.

The man, who had been ringing birds on Suleskerry, was landed at Stromness at noon and transferred to an ambulance by a coastguard rescue team.

Robert Wilson, Derek Firth and Victor Smith with their medals.

Orkney's sharp shooters claimed the county's first medal at the island games in Shetland.

Victor Smith, Derek Firth and Robert Wilson claimed bronze in the English Sporting Men's team event, with a score of 147.

In a closely fought contest, Ynys Mon won the gold with 150, and the Isle of Wight silver with 149. Derek Smith was also the top gun of the event, with a score of 86 out of 100.

Victor said that although the team was delighted to win a bronze medal, they may have finished higher had the firing pin on his gun not broken, forcing him to shoot for part of the event with a borrowed weapon.

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