I first came to Papay in 2013 on a pilgrimage North to see for myself where the the now Great Auk had once lived, the culmination of an obsession with black and white birds. Since then I have become immersed in the island, and particularly the birdlife within my role as the Papay Ranger.
My main job as the ranger is to lead guided day tours of the island. These tours take in the archaeological, cultural and natural history of the island. The tours have been a great success with numbers increasing year on year. We have visitors from all over the world, from all different backgrounds and ages. The tour has to be tailored and delivered in a different manner every time, to meet individual needs and interests.
This is why I think that they have been such a success. I treat all visitors as individuals and do my best to insure that by the end of the day they take away an experience from the island that will live long in the memory. I approach the tours as an artist, and my research into the island means my tours are very rich in fable and folklore, with the language of the island, island characters, and the way in which the islanders have co-existed with the birds and other fauna of the island.
Admiring the view from Fowl Craig, a haven for seabirds in the summer, and one of the highlights of the Papay Tour.
The oldest standing house in Northern Europe, this Neolithic farmstead is a testament to the attraction of Papay for settlement for the last 5,000 years.
Looking North, just above the site of the killing of the last British breeding Great Auk on Papay. In winter the craig is quiet, but the seas and the wind certainly make up for that.
In my role as Papay Ranger i take visitors over to the Holm of Papay. I have a Powerboat skippers license and guide approx 200 visitors over to the Holm every summer.
Taking visitors ashore on the Holm of Papay, a magnet for Neolithic archaeologists and bird lovers alike.
The star of the Papay Peedie Tour, Puffins line Fowl Craig from May until the end of July. The island comes to life in the summer as we welcome back the seabirds.
A 12th century chapel built on the remains of an Iron age settlement, a familiar story on Papay, and a great aspect of the island to introduce to visitors on the Papay Tour.
I have published a dialect book for the island of Papa Westray. in collaboration with both young and older islanders I compiled and published what remains of the unique local dialect. This project was commissioned by the Papay Community Association. The language of the island (Doondie Dialect) has a strong Norse influence, and is a wonderful rich reminder of the origins of the folk of the island.
The booklet contains sections detailing specific Doondie words, bird names and sea related names. It also details specific place names from around the island, including a coastal map with dialect names for features along the shore.
Published book with fold out coasline map and limited edition postcard.
The fold out map I designed which details the coastline features of Papay and their local dialect names.
The Papay Birds page from the Doondie Dialect Book,
The ØY Festival is an annual three-day festival of islands, held every November at The Kelp Store on Papa Westray, one of the northern islands of the Orkney archipelago. The festival is directed and curated by myself and artist Saoirse Higgins. The festival is supported by the Orkney Islands Council Culture Fund, the Papa Westray Community Council and the Papay Development Trust.
“Illuminated by the light of the moon and under natures gaze, islands have taken their own evolutionary path, developing individual visions of culture and ecol- ogy. These island systems of language, folklore, ecology, architecture, craft and making are a beacon to us all. Island identity serves as a testament to human ingenuity and resourcefulness”. Ford 2016
The ØY festival celebrates this and seeks to innovate by collaborating creatively on such notions of island identity.
ØY Festival 2016 - Island Magnetism
ØY Festival 2017 - Islandicus
ØY Festival 2018 - Space Station ØY
ØY Festival 2020 - to be announced.
Poster for the 2017 ØY Festival - Islandicus.
These golden records were given out to dancers at the festival. Taking the idea of the Golden records from the Voyager Space Probe missions, I designed these specifically for the festival. Made with 7”singles, designed to be worned around the neck while dancing, also including star maps for further voyages if necessary.
In 2016 I managed the design and implementation of the refurbishment of The Kelp Store Arts and Heritage Centre on Papay. This included the design and production of past and present audio/visual interpretation and archive materials. I collaborated with the traditional craftsman and boat builder Ian Richardson, using local materials and skills to design and build bespoke island archive units, which are the main focus of the centre. The Kelp Store is both sensitive to local methods and traditions whilst looking forward to the future of the island. It is a physical space built for and sensitive to a range of creative engagement opportunities. It has quickly become a hub for the arts on Papay, home to the ØY Festival, and the place for creativity on the island.
Interior of the main room at The Kelp Store, showing mobile archive cabinets I designed specifically for the space.
The Archaeology Archive Cabinet. Detailing aspects of the rich archaeological histry of the island. Archive Boxes within containing dig reports form all major sites and audio of folklore surrounding St Tredwells Chapel. Library of publications and a sample of water from St Tredwells Loch, with accompanying eye bath.
Detail of the Papay Archive storage units. I designed these to visually echo the exisitng postal pigeon holes in the Papay Post Office. The islands archive is based on house names, I used this idea as the starting point for the direction of this design.
Interior of second room of The Kelp Store, designed to work as a meeting room, workshop and dining area for events and the Papay Peedie Tpurs.
When developed with the right approach social media can be a very powerful tool for promotion. It has the power to create new connections and take ideas and a sense of the context and place out to a wider global audience. In my position as the Ranger on Papa Westray I have used social media as a tool to develop a strong network of followers that has brought real and tangible results for the island. It has brought an increase in awareness and visitors to the island, whilst also benefiting the economy and sustainability of the island. I created the Facebook in my first week as the ranger, it has 2300 followers now and along with the 1500 followers on my instagram page create a valuable resource for attracting visitors and potentially people to live long term on the island.
I currently work across several platforms-Facebook, Instagram and Twitter - taking a broad ranging viewpoint of the island, that takes in my interests in birds, archaeology, island identity, folklore, landscape and community.
Papay is an island of birds, an island where birds mark the calendar. For me this makes the island special and is the main reason I find and photograph them.
The Winter is a time of wildfowl, Great Northern Divers from Iceland spend their winters here and white winged gulls from the North appear around the coasts. Summer is the breeding season with large populations of seabirds and waders, busy making the most of the extended day light. Either side of the Summer it is migration time, in May birds pass through the island headng north to breed. Then in Sepember they begin their journey back to warmer climes, using Papay as a stepping stone on their long distance travels.
Capturing the variety and often the rarity of Papay’s birds can be a challenge, the weather can often intervene, and for an island with little or no trees birds can always find somewhere to hide.
Here is a short piece I wrote for the Orkney.Com Island Visitor Brochure for 2019, where I have been chosen as a local expert for the isles.
"My definition of an island is a land encircled by water, where life and time is defined by the birds encountered there. Here the Auks herald the summer, Golden Plover bring the Autumn with them from the far north, and the Great northern divers are happy to call our islands home for the winter. Then on the first foggy day in the frst week of May, the Arctic terns are back, and the island year of birds begins again". Ford 2019
