July 2025

3rd July – July is going to be a hectic month in Orkney. The county is playing host to the 20th International Island Games. Teams from around the world are arriving to participate. There are 24 Member Islands in the International Island Games Association. They are:

Orkney, Shetland, Saint Helena, Faroe Islands, Ynys Mon, Menorca, Saaremaa, Hitra, Åland, Alderney, Bermuda, Gozo, Greenland, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Froya, Gibraltar, Sark, Gotland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Isle of Wight, Western Isles and Guernsey.

Over two thousand competitors and officials are expected to arrive for the event, stretching Orkney’s limited accommodation to breaking point.

The event will be officially opened by Princess Anne on 12th July.

Hosting the tournament is TV legend and national treasure… yes, it’s Lorraine Kelly.

6th July – Passing through Sandwick this afternoon, we spotted this pair of Shetland ponies dressed in their Sunday best. They do look very smart.

They don’t get many fires in Sandwick, which is probably just as well, as the local fire brigade have let themselves go a bit! Cuthbert, Dibble and Grubb have been disciplined.

9th July – A rare sight in Orkney, a double decker bus, two or three have been brought in to ferry the games participants around the various venues.

They are not ideal for Orkney’s roads and strong winds and the local drivers are receiving training on handling and, hopefully, parking!

10th July – Work is well underway on the construction of the large substation at Finstown, being built to export Orkney’s renewable energy south. The line of the cables passes just outside Stromness as it heads undersea to Dounreay. I wouldn’t like to wire a plug with these.

12th July – Well, the Island Games are officially open. A large crowd packed Bignold Park in Kirkwall to see HRH the PR Princess Anne do all the formal stuff.

She was able to get out and meet some of the competitors, here with some of the team from Åland, a Finnish island whose official language is Swedish, not confusing at all. I assume they all speak fluent Royalese.

We didn’t go over, these photos have been pinched from BBC Radio Orkney, I’m sure they won’t mind.

Stromness Golf Club is co-hosting the golfing with Kirkwall GC and today was the first of two practice days before the matches begin in earnest on Monday.

14th July – Lots of medals being handed out this week. This article from RNLI Stromness.

“Congratulations to Stromness Lifeboat Doctor, Dr Carolyn Sheehan, seen here on board Stromness Lifeboat, being presented with her 20-year service medal by coxswain Norman Brass. Carolyn is “on call” should a doctor be required to go out on a shout. She even has her own seat on the boat – the doctor’s seat – next to where any stretcher case would be carried. Many thanks to Doctor Sheehan for her service.”

Dr Sheehan is H’s doctor at Stromness Surgery, she has taken great care of H and given her a lot of support. She deserves a medal.

17th July – Today was the final of the women’s golf competition. A podium was constructed for the medal ceremony and the presentation was held in front of a small gathering.

In the individual women’s competition, gold went to the Isle of Wight, silver to Åland and the bronze medal is on its way to Bermuda.

In the women’s team event Isle of Wight collected another gold, Gotland won the silver and Orkney collected bronze. That’s Orkney’s first golfing medal in the Island Games’ history.

18th July – Arriving too late for the games, the Flying Dutchman is a former herring boat specialising in tours of the Scottish Islands.

Carrying twenty-four passengers and just four crew, it looks like a nicer alternative to the monster boats that go to Kirkwall.

19th July – Also too late for the games, this Minke whale spent some time feeding in Hoy Sound, before heading off to who knows where.

23rd July – It’s all go in Stromness. We are now into Shopping Week, Stromness’ annual carnival week, now shortened to four days. Began in the 1940s to restart the local economy after the war, it provides a few days of fun and entertainment. First event this year was the “Daft Raft Race”. This year all entrants made it to the finish line, no-one requiring to be rescued.

26th July – Blackenings are a regular feature in Orkney. Normally the victim (bride/groom to be) are paraded through the town in a truck but these women seem to be on a budget.

To be honest, I’m not sure what they’re using. It looks like a farmer is missing an animal feed cart. Probably a good way to avoid the road closures in the centre of the town.

The week culminated today with the parade of floats through the town. Every Orkney parade has to have a few Vikings, it’s the law. The police turn a blind eye to dangerous weapons being waved around.

This year’s theme seemed to be movies and television shows. Film classics such as Jaws, Wizard of Oz and Toy Story were represented, I’m not sure how the 40th anniversary of LiveAid fitted in but that’s farmers for you.

No parade of TV shows would be complete without the Scottish favourite, Still Game, getting a mention. Sandwick Young Farmers doing a great job here.