James Irvine, editor of HMS Hampshire: A Century on Myths and Mysteries Unravelled, has recently been in touch with Jock Cumloquoy, great nephew of Jessie Cumloquoy, the Birsay Postmistress in 1916.  She had  seen a large warship was in distress and went to the Post Office to be ready to send a telegram from the territorial soldiers on lookout duty to the authorities in Kirkwall and Stromness. 

Jock has kindly forwarded this remarkable portrait of his great aunt. Jessie had the first message transmitted before Hampshire had sunk!

(For a more detailed account, see p.17 of the book.) 

The Orkney Heritage Society's publication HMS Hampshire: a Century of Myths and Mysteries Unravelled was nominated for the Maritime Foundation's Mountbatten Maritime Award for Best Literary Contribution.

This year marks the twenty-second year of the Maritime Media Awards, launched by the Maritime Foundation to honour journalists, authors and others whose work in the media has served to create greater public understanding of maritime issues, and of Britain’s manifold dependence on the sea.

HMS Hampshire: a Century of Myths and Mysteries Unravelled is available for sale via our Bookshop

The tickets for the Orkney Heritage Society's annual trip to Eynhallow will go on sale exclusively from our website on 1st June 2017.

The Archaeology Institute are running another Archaeological Building Survey workshop in Kirkwall next week on  Fri 19th and Sat 20th May (10am – 3pm): courtyard to rear of 10-12 Victoria Street

This continues on from their work at Parliament Square in April and the town centre excavations, surveys and gardens digs last year in the Kirkwall THI Archaeology Programme. There will be basic training in building survey techniques, hands on mapping, photography and a trip to the archives.

They will be working in the court yard to the rear of Finns former shop (10-12 Victoria Street), opposite RBS bank. Access is through the gate to the right of Spence’s Newsagents. The day will include training in scale drawing, photography, written records and how to look at buildings archaeologically. The building contains large amounts of reused medieval stone.

https://archaeologyorkney.com/2017/03/03/geophysics-and-building-survey-for-kirkwall-thi-archaeology-programme-2017/

They will also be recording the Old Castle on Main Street the following weekend (26-27 May, with some laser scanning the day after on the 28^th)

Contact studyarchaeology@uhi.ac.uk  to book a place.

The Orkney Heritage Society is pleased to announce that the annual trip to Eynhallow will take place on Tuesday 4th July, with Wednesday 5th July as a backup date in case of weather or tidal disruptions. 

Tickets shall be on sale shortly. For further info click here.