Shopping Week Photos

For various reasons - mainly because we were busy issuing books - we failed in our mission to bring you live updates from Shopping Week, and for this we can only offer our sincerest apologies. To make up in some small way for this omission we shall instead share some photos from the Saturday night parade. Enjoy :-)

Stromness Shopping Week

There will be anxious checking of the weather forecast this weekend as Stromness gets ready to celebrate the 65th Stromness Shopping Week which begins on Sunday 21st July.

As last year we'll try to give you a taste of the week's events through the blog. This year as well as the usual favourite events there will be a 65th Birthday Party on Friday 26th July. Copies of the Shopping Week programme with details of all events and competitions are on sale from local shops.

In the midst of all the excitement don't forget to pop in and visit us at the library - we've even got books to help you plan and make your fancy dress costume for Saturday night's parade!

Orkney Polar Bears

The route of the 10K Fun Run went past the library so we thought you might like to see some of the athletes in action:

We also popped out quickly to watch the start of the Holms Swim, with the intrepid swimmers plunging into the water from the back of the MV Graemsay and heading back to the Pier. You'll have to use your imagination as the camera on our phone couldn't cope with the distance!





We believe that amongst those taking part were members of the Orkney Polar Bear Club, those hardy souls who meet every week throughout the year to swim in Orkney waters.

For those of you inspired by the thought of wild swimming the Orkney Polar Bears have a Facebook Page, and in the meantime you can come along to the library and borrow our copy of Wild Swim by Kate Rew for tips on outdoor swimming and a guide to the best places to swim outdoors in Britain, or visit the Outdoor Swimming Society Website.

Now all you need is your swimming costume!

Farewell to Stromness Shopping Week

Well the sun has shone, ice cream has been eaten, crabs caught, and doughnuts devoured - all the ingredients of a successful Stromness Shopping Week! Tomorrow is the final day of festivities, culminating in the fancy dress parade through the street to the Market Green ,where the prizes will be presented by the Shopping Week Queen.

But before the riot of colour, costumes, and caustic satire of the floats and fancy dress there is a day of heroic sporting activities to take part in (or in our case enjoy as a spectator). At 10.30 am there is the Holms Race when intrepid swimmers will brave the icy water, and the attentions of the remaining crabs from Wednesday's Crabbing Championship, to swim from the Holms back to the Pier. Then at 11am the Ferry Inn 10K Fun Run starts from the Pier Head, following a route around the town.

Trophies for the Holms Swim and 10K Fun Run, along with those won at Friday's Swimming Gala, will be presented by the Shopping Week Queen at 12.30 followed by the first ever outdoor competition for "Orkney's latest watersport craze" Canoe Bat Polo. Gosh we feel exhausted just thinking about all that activity!

We hope everyone enjoys themselves and the sun manages to hang around for the parade, or at least the rain which has made an appearance in previous years, stays away. As always we will be staying up way past our bedtime to watch the fireworks at 10:45pm, before saying farewell to another happy, fun-filled Shopping Week!

photo by Cecil Garson



Crabbing Championship - the result!

Thanks to Radio Orkney's Facebook page we can tell you that the inaugural Scottish Crabbing Championships held this morning were a great success with forty youngsters tacking part.  The winner with 5 crabs was Kieran Wilson and here he is receiving his trophy.

photo from Radio Orkney Facebook page, more here



Kieran looks pretty please with the result, as he should, but we're not so sure about the crabs:

Crab 1: "This isn't what I had in mind when you said we were taking part in Shopping Week" 
Crab 2: "Don't blame me, I thought we were entered in the Doughnut Eating contest!"

Crabbing

We hope you are enjoying Stromness Shopping Week so far, there has even been some sun - enough to tempt us along to the Pier Head for our annual shot on the bouncy castle and 99 ice cream cone; we have learnt our lesson about the order in which these events should happen!

But there is more excitement to come before the week is over. We are particularly looking forward to the Crabbing Competition, which is a new event for 2012, as it reminds us of our childhood attempts to catch crabs at Ness, which usually ended with the crab letting go of the bait before we could land it. We are sure the competitors will be much more successful at tomorrow's (Wednesday 18th) competition, which starts at 11am  at the OFS Ponds on the Pier.  It is open to children under 16 and there will be prizes for the greatest number of crabs caught and the largest crab caught during the competition.

Competitors are also encouraged to wear crab and lobster themed fancy dress, for which there will also be prizes. It will be interesting to see if anyone manages to claim the £50 prize offered by Orkney Fishermen's Society for the first lobster caught on a handline during the competition. Lines, nets, bait and buckets will be available, although competitors may bring their own bait - for those of you who have a secret recipe for attracting crabs!

The organisers are taking no chances that the crabs will fail to make an appearance, as we note in the competition information that "OFS will be releasing several hundred kilos of green crabs into the basin on the morning of the competition".

For those of you too old to enter the competition but inspired to try your hand at crabbing we have several cookery books with instructions for cooking crabs and lobsters should you be successful!

image from http://www.orkneycrab.co.uk/gallery.php

Stromness Shopping Week 2012

We may still be waiting for the summer weather to start but the yearly calendar of events is moving ever onwards. Next week sees the high point of many Stromness bairns' summer, as the 64th Stromness Shopping Week gets under way. For any still unaquainted with the phenomenon which is Shopping Week you can find a history of the event, which began in 1949, on the Shopping Week website.

With a packed programme of events for all ages the Shopping Week committee have worked tirelessly to make this year's event as much of a success as ever, if only they could organise the sun to shine it would be perfect! But whatever the weather we're sure folk will enter into the spirit of proceedings, with old favourites such as the pavement artist competition, doughnut eating contest and fancy-dress parade joined by a pram race and rag and bone race amongst other new or returning events.



Pavement artists

 This year's Shopping Week Queen is Alanna Swanney from Birsay, with attendants Katrina Bevan from Stenness and Annabella Penny from Harray, pageboys George Argo and David Laughton, and flower girl Taylor Phillips, all from Stromness. They'll all be hoping the sun shines for the queen's crowning at the official opening ceremony on Monday 16th July at 11am.



Shopping Week Queen 2012 and her attendants



Shopping Week Queen and attendants 2011

 So come to Stromness next week and enjoy the Shopping Week festivities, and on your way along the street why not pop into the library for a book, a read of the papers, free wifi, or even just a chat? Whether the sun shines or not you're guaranteed a warm welcome.

Orkney feasts

With memories of the Tall Ships and Shopping Week slowly fading and more than a week before the Dounby Show  there is time to catch our breath and consider the other pleasures of summer.

The weather may be somewhat temperamental but even if barbecues end up indoors, and picnics involve woolly hats and waterproofs, this is the time to enjoy Orkney produce at its best. Whether you need inspiration, are looking for new ways to cook old favourites, or are in search of the definitive recipe for bere bannocks or clootie dumpling then our selection of Orkney cook books is bound to have what you're looking for.

In our quest to promote the importance of public libraries we are not above bribing you with food - we have been known to tempt unsuspecting passers-by into the library on the promise of a certain staff member's famous meringues!

We would love to hear your favorite recipes using local produce - we might even have a shot at making them and share the results with you if they are suitably mouthwatering.

Stromness Shopping Week & fishernet

After the excitement of the Tall Ships visit, the 63rd annual Stromness Shopping Week is now in full swing. With lots of events, attractions and activities to keep the whole family amused all we need to make the week complete is the sun to keep shining - or at least the rain to stay away!

Should you find yourself exhausted after watching the Round the Town Race, or needing a moment of calm after the tension of the Doughnut Eating Contest, or suffering from eye strain trying to spot the Odd Man Out in all the shop windows, then do pop in by the Library for a rest from the festivities and a chance to catch our special display as part of the fishernet project.

Put together by Stromness-based environmental consultants, Aquatera, the Stromness fishernet event began with the arrival of the Tall Ships and continues throughout Shopping Week, with an exhibition based at the College of Maritime Studies (Navigation School), Stromness and a programme of events including trips in an Orkney yole, story telling and a Fishing Heritage Walk around the town.

Also available is the Stromness fishing heritage trail leaflet which provides a walking guide to the buildings, piers and places with links to fishing heritage along the street in Stromness. These leaflets are available at the library where you will also find a display with information on Orkney's traditional boat designs, seafaring folklore and legends and a selection of books about fishing and the sea.