I’VE been living in Orkney for just over a year and one of the first things that comes to mind when I think about these islands – aside from the Old Man of Hoy or Skara Brae! – is farming.
Agriculture is huge in Orkney, the vast majority of the land is farmed. In the summer, or any time of the year really, you will see field upon field of livestock and crops. In fact, one in 10 working people in Orkney are employed in the agricultural sector, one of the highest rates in Scotland.
Farming has been big business here for thousands of years. It’s a key reason why the Vikings settled here – why would you try and compete with other Viking warriors for the relatively small arable areas between the rugged coasts and mountains of Norway if you had the opportunity to farm lands in Orkney which would sustain you and your family many times over?
And long before that, the Neolithic people who called Orkney their home farmed animals, grew crops, and had the ocean around them to catch fresh marine life. Having such an abundance of resources would have given them the free time – and energy – to build the great stone circles, tombs and monuments which likely once made Orkney a cultural capital of Britain.
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For millennia, farming has given a livelihood to the people who live here and what has been grown from the soils and reared in the fields has sustained the populations, whether it was the Neolithic people, the Picts, the Vikings or now the Scots.
Last month, I went along to a few of the local agricultural shows – there is even a public holiday in Orkney for people to attend the Dounby Show.
The big one, though, is the County Show held in Kirkwall. Incredibly, the numbers that attend add up to more than half the overall population of Orkney, and it’s an event you will hear people talking about many weeks in advance.
It’s where the winners of all the respective shows across the archipelago – Dounby, East Mainland, Sanday, Shapinsay and St Margaret’s Hope – come together to see who wins in Orkney overall.
But it’s more than that. It’s where people from all walks of life meet to socialise and enjoy the showcasing of Orkney’s agricultural sector, as well as the food and drink available.
There are many people who grew up here and moved away who will come back in the summer period, and going along to the County Show is a chance to catch up with old friends and bring back those nostalgic memories of seeing the show as a wee lass or lad.
Orcadians are extremely proud of where they come from – so much so that many won’t even really think of themselves as Scottish.
Mainland Scotland is only a few short miles south across the Pentland Firth but because from most parts of Orkney I can’t see it and know I can’t drive to it, it can feel very far away. It makes Orkney feel like it is the world and makes me have a greater connection to it.
I’ve found myself buying Orkney milk from the local supermarket because it goes towards local farmers; when I visit the smaller islands in Orkney I will make a point of spending money in the local shops or cafes there because I know it helps the isles’ economy – and I’ve even found myself at times picking up litter in local parks because I want to preserve and protect the place for myself and others to enjoy.
People who live here are generally very nice, very friendly folk who are extremely outgoing. Recently, I was walking down the road to the ferry terminal in Flotta and three separate passing car drivers stopped to offer me a lift.
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It may come from an island culture, where people have had to learn to band together, to be resilient and rely on their communities to get through difficult times caused by the weather and not having the ability to easily travel to the next county like people in mainland Scotland would take for granted.
Walking around the agricultural shows, you see that togetherness in action, and that sense of Orkney pride. Orcadians are there championing their food and drink sector, but they’re also, perhaps unknowingly, championing what makes Orkney such a special place to live: its community.
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