You turn to take in the landscape… This magnificent place, where the natural features are as spectacular as the Neolithic discoveries, lies between two lochs surrounded by a natural amphitheatre.
Category: #SE18Characters
The City and the Stars (3) – The City on the NessThe City and the Stars (3) – The City on the Ness
A ten-minute journey from Stromness, on Orkney, lies an ‘isthmus’ which recent excavations have shown to contain one of the richest archeological concentrations in the world… It is nothing less
The City and the Stars (2) – Skara Brae’s Ancient HousesThe City and the Stars (2) – Skara Brae’s Ancient Houses
Skara Brae’s modern story began in 1850 when a violent sea-storm tore off the layers of grass, sand and soil that had covered what appeared to be two ancient and
The City and the Stars (1) – Skara BraeThe City and the Stars (1) – Skara Brae
With the Pictish Trail weekend a long car journey and a boat ride behind us, we had awakened in Stromness to the early morning of an overcast Orkney day –
Jewels in the Claw (8)Jewels in the Claw (8)
Continued from Part Seven. He – the man with the packing cases – picks up his empty tea cup and begins to walk towards the small table near the entrance
Jewels in the Claw (7)Jewels in the Claw (7)
Continued from Part Six. The tea cup is empty, but he continues to hold it – lost, happily, in his reveries on the edge of what was the stage, the
Jewels in the Claw (6)Jewels in the Claw (6)
Continued from Part Five. Sipping the tea, his hands clasp around the warm cup. The gesture reminds him of the way she took her husband’s arm, at the end of that
Jewels in the Claw (5)Jewels in the Claw (5)
Continued from Part Four. Kind hands pass him a hot tea. He sits on the edge of what was the Royal Court, sipping and watching the ghosts… Many kind faces
Jewels in the Claw (4)Jewels in the Claw (4)
Continued from Part Three. The line of packing cases is nearly complete. The man looks down at the three chairs in the East, one white, one purple and one red.
Jewels in the Claw (III)Jewels in the Claw (III)
Continued from Part Two The man with the packing case pauses as he passes the place that was the East, the place from which the Queen began her direction of
Jewels in the Claw (1)Jewels in the Claw (1)
There is a moment when he stops, puts down his packing box, and looks at what remains of the Court Floor. It is the last vestige of a creative journey
Esoteric ShipbuildingEsoteric Shipbuilding
It was a ‘stream of consciousness moment’; one of those that acts like a time machine. The flash of memories cut right back to my childhood – seven or eight
The Edge of Order: Frances WalsinghamThe Edge of Order: Frances Walsingham
It had been simple, back then, when all eyes shone with approval; when she was the young bride of the Queen’s Champion, Sir Philip Sidney. This daughter of the ‘Sworn’,
The Dragon of Elizabeth’s Seas.The Dragon of Elizabeth’s Seas.
It is the beginning of May, 1587, and a man known locally as The Dragon is headed for Cadiz on Spain’s Atlantic coast. His mission is not peaceful. The act
She of the VoiceShe of the Voice
“Ra-bi-ya, Ra-bi-ya…’ As she surveys the black and white squares of the court before her, the song echoes in her head, a beloved memory of time spent, long ago, with
A Woman of Power and SubstanceA Woman of Power and Substance
It is the winter of 1584. The well-dressed woman watches as her fourth husband storms out of the dining hall at their present home, Tutbury Castle, in Staffordshire. In the
The Deadly Edge of Love (part 2)The Deadly Edge of Love (part 2)
(Continued from Part One of The Deadly Edge of Love) It’s the morning of 18th November, 1558. Robert Dudley is witnessing a miracle. In her dying months, Queen Mary, Elizabeth’s
The Deadly Edge of Love (part 1)The Deadly Edge of Love (part 1)
They were both young, though he was a year older; beyond childhood but not yet adults, not in the way that their lives would soon force them to be… They
An Arthur for Elizabeth?An Arthur for Elizabeth?
Philip Sidney was born, in 1554, into prosperity and with connections. He was the eldest son of Sir Henry Sidney and Lady Mary Dudley – making him a relative of
The Adventurer’s Hidden MagicThe Adventurer’s Hidden Magic
“Strike man, strike!” Those were the last words of Sir Walter Raleigh, spoken to an executioner who was taking his time, at the end of one of the most colourful