Factbites
 Where results make sense
About us   |   Why use us?   |   Reviews   |   PR   |   Contact us  

Topic: Orkney Islands


Related Topics

In the News (Sun 22 Nov 09)

  
  Orkney Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Orkney is also a former county, and a Lieutenancy area, and the Orkney constituency of the Scottish Parliament.
Nearly all of the islands possess lochs (lakes), and The Loch of Harray and The Loch of Stenness on "The Mainland" attain noteworthy proportions.
The toponymy of the Orkneys is wholly Norse, and the Norse tongue, at last extinguished by the constant influx of settlers from Scotland, lingered until the end of the 18th century.
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Orkney_Islands   (2880 words)

  
 South Orkney Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The South Orkney Islands are a group of islands in the Southern Ocean.
Interestingly, the South Orkney Islands are located at roughly the same latitude south as the Orkney Islands are north (60°S vs 59°N), although it is not known if this was a factor behind the naming of the islands.
Laurie Island is the easternmost of the islands.
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/South_Orkney_Islands   (586 words)

  
 Orkney Islands   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
The Pentland Firth separates Orkney from the mainland of The firth is 6.75 miles (11 km) between Brough Ness on the island of Ronaldsay and Duncansbay Head in Caithness.
In 1468 Orkney and Shetland were pledged by I of Denmark and Norway for the of the dowry of his daughter Margaret to James III of Scotland and as the money was never their connection with the crown of Scotland been perpetual.
The topography of the Orkneys is wholly Norse the Norse tongue at last extinguished by constant influx of settlers from Scotland lingered the end of the 18th century.
www.freeglossary.com /Orkney_Islands   (2099 words)

  
 VisitOrkney - the official Orkney tourism website   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
Orkney is an archipelago of 70 or so islands and skerries, of which 17 are currently inhabited.
The Islands cover an area of 974 square kilometres, of which more than half is taken up by the Mainland, which is the group’s largest island.The islands are about 85 km from north to south and 37 km from east to west.
The islands are low-lying, gently sloping and richly fertile with the exception of the island of Hoy, which is high and rugged.
www.visitorkney.com   (326 words)

  
 Orkney Islands at opensource encyclopedia   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
Orkney lies between 58° 41' and 59° 24' North, and 2° 22' and 3° 26' West, measures 50 miles from Northeast to Southwest and 29 miles from East to West, and covers 240,476 acres or 3755 square miles.
Such implements as have survived are of the rudest description, and include querns or stone handmills for grinding corn, stone whorls and bone combs employed in primitive forms of woollen manufacture, and specimens of simple pottery ware.
In 1468 Orkney and Shetland were pledged by Christian I of Denmark for the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland, and as the money was never paid, their connection with the crown of Scotland has been perpetual.
www.wiki.tatet.com /Orkney_Islands.html   (2311 words)

  
 Orkneyjar - Funerary Customs and the Traditions of Death
In Orkney, the relationship between the dead and the living was ambivalent, varying from minor concern to mortal terror.
This might seem contrary to the anxieties surrounding birth and marriage, when the trows were the main objects of terror, but in truth I believe them to be the same.
With this driving fear of the unknown, and when surrounded by the dead of countless centuries, it was inevitable that the old Orcadians not only took steps to protect themselves, but also tried to foresee, and perhaps stall, the return of death to their households.
www.orkneyjar.com /tradition/death   (814 words)

  
 GENUKI: Orkney
The islands lie between the North Sea to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and cover an area of 376 square miles.
Orkney Family History Researchers are engaged in researching the histories of families in every parish and island in Orkney.
Orkney Today is the county's first new weekly newspaper in 42 years, and was launched in October 2003.
www.genuki.org.uk:8080 /big/sct/OKI   (4151 words)

  
 USATODAY.com - Extraordinary Orkney: Step back in time at Scotland's tip   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
The Orkney Islands are at once remote and mysterious, yet sophisticated — transformed by the economic boom that followed the discovery of oil in the North Sea.
Nowadays, Orkney is a sophisticated place, supported by money from oil companies, loved by artists and adventurers, filled with craft shops and coffee houses — though the flier in one cafe inviting people to come in for a coffee "to escape the bustle of Kirkwall," may be something of an exaggeration.
Kirkwall is the capital and biggest town on the Orkney island group, famed for the red-and-yellow-sandstone St. Magnus Cathedral.
www.usatoday.com /travel/destinations/2005-10-17-orkney_x.htm   (1005 words)

  
 Orkney Islands Lighthouses
The Orkney Islands lie north of the mainland of Scotland, separated from the mainland by the narrow waters of Pentland Firth.
The islands are accessible by air and by ferries from Aberdeen; they can also be reached by a shorter ferry ride from Scrabster on the mainland side of Pentland Firth.
Helliar Holm is an island in Shapinsay Sound between Shapinsay Island and Orkney Mainland, on the north side of the Mainland.
www.unc.edu /~rowlett/lighthouse/ork.htm   (2240 words)

  
 Orkney Islands. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05
The Orkneys are one of Scotland’s richest farming regions.
In 1231, the islands passed to the Scottish earls of Angus on the death of the last Viking earl.
It became a possession of the Scottish crown in 1472 in trust for the undelivered dowry of Margaret of Norway on her marriage to James III (1469), but the Norse occupation left marked Scandinavian traces; islanders spoke Norn (a form of Norse) until the 18th cent.
www.bartleby.com /65/or/OrkneyI.html   (326 words)

  
 More Orkney news from The Orcadian Online
Among the £116,938 worth of projects was £25,000 to the Orkney Fishermen’s Society Ltd for the purchase of additional processing equipment and £14,000 to Roving Eye Enterprises of Orphir for the upgrade of their underwater “remotely operated vehicle”.
At a special meeting on Tuesday afternoon, islands councillors agreed that "saturation has been reached" and recommended that no further applications for tourist accommodation on the Mainland, outwith approved building areas, will be allowed.
Islands councillors have voted in favour of consulting with the public on proposed traffic improvements in Kirkwall.
www.orcadian.co.uk /morenews.htm   (2110 words)

  
 Orkneyjar - The Heritage of the Orkney Islands
Orkney's bogs hold the key to the islands' prehistoric past - A Hull university student hopes her investigation will answer some questions about the islands’ prehistoric past - in particular, what happened to Orkney’s population from the Bronze Age onwards.
The island of Hoy is said to be have once been the site of a magical battle.
The burning of seaweed to make kelp was carried out in Orkney from the early 18th century until the early years of the 19th, at which time the industry went into decline.
www.orkneyjar.com   (662 words)

  
 The Orkney Islands
Treating the buildings of Orkney as `architecture with inherent meaning' he argues that early architecture functioned as `simple and closed containers' against taboo, giving way to `complex and open "temples"' that actively engaged with the cosmos.
To the north of Scotland, across the racing tides of the Pentland Firth, the fertile Orkney Islands contrast verdantly with the wilds of Caithness and the Scottish Highlands.
Along with the southern isles and the Mainland of Orkney there are a dozen or so inhabited islands and scores of rocky islets that are homes to seals, birds and isolated flocks of sheep.
www.island-guide.com /uk/orkney-islands.htm   (721 words)

  
 Orkney Main Page on Undiscovered Scotland
Orkney is a group of 67 islands lying off the north coast of Caithness.
After centuries of Norwegian rule, Orkney was annexed as part of Scotland by James III in 1468 after its rents had been pledged as security against a dowry that was not paid.
The main southern island is Hoy, the most hilly and least developed island in the group with its largest settlement at Longhope.
www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk /areaorkn   (929 words)

  
 Orkney Travel & Sightseeing - The Internet Guide to Scotland
Orkney was an important strategic site for the British navy during both World Wars and the Germans scuttled their fleet here in 1919.
Orkney Ferries Ltd sail to Rousay, Egilsay, Wyre, Shapinsay, Hoy, Graemsay, Flotta, Eday, Stronsay, Sanday, Westray, North Ronaldsay and Papa Westray.
If you are sightseeing around the islands, then an indispensable tool is the Tourist Map to Orkney and Shetland which pinpoints well over 100 important places to see and has a gazetteer with a short description of each.
www.scotland-inverness.co.uk /orkney.htm   (4049 words)

  
 scottish orkney islands
I was to learn in my stay at Orkney that I needed to go with the flow of the accent in order to 'decipher' the words spoken by the Orcadians.
Orkney is the single place in Europe with the highest concentration of prehistoric sites - over one thousand have been identified - and the best Neolithic village, Skara Brae, is situated just eight miles north of Stromness.
The name 'Hoy' means 'High Island' from the old Norse 'Haey' and the isle's hilly landscape in the north is indeed more "Highlands" in character, in contrast with the low-lying fertile south which is more typical of Orkney.
www.freewebs.com /onghy3/travels3_scotland2_orkney.html   (1781 words)

  
 Orkney Islands (United Kingdom)
The flag of the Orkneys was in fact a joint suggestion by the late Allan Macartney (1941-98), who later became the Member of the European Parliament for the Highlands and Islands, and myself.
The differences in detail between the Orkney lion and that of Norway are questioned, but this is entirely routine in instances where different heraldic authorities deal with what is essentially the same device.
Although the Orkney lion is drawn differently, has a different crown, has a blue tongue and blue claws and holds an axe where the colouring is different in detail, it is still a gold lion, rampant and crowned, on red, holding an axe - in other words, still the lion of Norway.
www.fotw.net /flags/gb-ork.html   (1110 words)

  
 Daily Orkney News from The Orcadian Online
The brigade was alerted after smoke was sighted and thought to be coming from the generator room of the sole property on the island, which is one of two in the bay.
Orkney Heritage Society's annual trip to Eynhallow is scheduled to take place on Monday evening.
The annual tour of the now-uninhabited island allows visitors to see a range of historical sites, such as a standing stone, stone age houses and the kirk, as well as view the island's wildlife.
www.orcadian.co.uk   (820 words)

  
 Orkney Islands Cats Protection, caring for cats in Orkney, Scotland. We rescue and rehome unwanted and stray cats and ...
Orkney Island cat rescue and protection, neutering, spaying and cat care.
Orkney Islands Cats Protection aims to rescue and rehome cats, as well as raise awareness about the importance of neutering and spaying.
Orkney Islands Cats Protection is looking for cat loving people who are willing to foster cats, as we have more coming in than we can handle.
www.orkneycats.co.uk   (810 words)

  
 Ortak Jewellery: The Orkney Islands
Orkney consists of a group of over 70 islands and skerries of which about twenty are presently inhabited.
Farmers were well established in Orkney 6000 years ago and archaelogy points to these people being accomplished stonemasons, craftsmen and seafarers who created sophisticated accommodations for themselves and elaborate monuments for their dead.
Orkney's climate is remarkably equable for its latitude.
www.ortak.co.uk /orkney.html   (605 words)

  
 Orkney Islands Travel Directory
The Smithfield Hotel is a family run Orkney Hotel, established in 1861, is in the heart of the West Mainland, within easy reach of all Orkney’s main attractions.
The Orkney Islands have such a lot to offer the visitor in both history and its nature.
Orkney Self Catering is in Finstown, close to Orkney’s ancient Neolithic heartland and mid-way between Kirkwall and Stromness.
www.britainexpress.com /scotland/sites/orkney.htm   (1547 words)

  
 A Climbers guide to Orkney   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
In general the climbing in Orkney is on sandstone sea cliffs as there are no inland crags.
This part of the site is the beginnings of a guide to Orkney with routes in several lesser known cliffs on both the Mainland (of Orkney) and the outer isles.
Orkney Climbing Club: A group of Orkney based climbers.
www.orkney-seastacks.co.uk   (217 words)

  
 South Orkney Islands
Four major islands (Coronation, Signy, Powell, and Laurie Islands), several minor ones with offlying islets and rocks of sedimentary origin in the Southern Ocean.
The South Orkney Islands lie in the Scotia Sea about 600 km northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula, 1440 km southeast of Tierra del Fuego or 800 km south of the Antarctic convergence.
They were discovered by American and British sealers in 1821 and have since served as a base for Scotch, French, and Argentine sealing and scientific expeditions.
www.ndsu.edu /subantarctic/southorkney.htm   (133 words)

  
 Orkney Islands   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
Orkney lies between 58° 41' and 59° 24' North, and 2° 22' and 3° 26' West, measures 50 miles (80 km) from Northeast to Southwest and 29 miles (47 km) from East to West, and covers 3755 square miles (973 km²).
In November 2004, this license expired, but it is hoped by many in the isles that the service will return: it looks possible that the station will resume broadcasting in spring 2005.
Such implements as have survived are of the rudest description, and include quern-stones for grinding materials including corn, stone whorls and bone combs employed in primitive forms of woollen manufacture, and specimens of simple pottery ware.
www.info-pedia.net /about/orkney_islands   (2389 words)

  
 Scapa Flow diving holidays and sightseeing cruises in Orkney — Orkney Islands Charters.
Orkney Islands Charters is a small family run business which provides luxury Diving Holidays in Scapa Flow and around the Orkney Islands.
The skipper / owner of the vessel has put together this package through previous experience working on other dive boats and has identified through listening to the diving parties what they are looking for to make the perfect holiday.
But the areas that we explore aren’t the only element of the Orkney Islands Charters package where we do things differently.
www.orkneyislandscharters.co.uk   (232 words)

Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)

Factbites
  About us   |   Why use us?   |   Reviews   |   Press   |   Contact us  
Copyright © 2005-2007 www.factbites.com Usage implies agreement with terms.