GALLERY AT GALILEE

This picture of Sanday, is Sanday! All over the island beautiful sandy beaches stretch in all directions as far as the eye can see. This one at the Bay of Sowerdie plays host to hundreds of seals in mating season. A true sight to behold and sound to hear!

These large jagged fragments of rock rise up through the sea at low tide, giving seals and birds somewhere to sit or perch. Between them, rock pools offer safe haven for crabs and other marine life until the sea reclaims them again as the tides turn.

Ominous and dark storm clouds roll across the sky and rain droplets begin to fall, but nothing can overt the gaze from the majesty of the sea in all her emerald green, aqua and turquoise glory.

Sunset starts to chase away the last minutes of daylight over the dunes and beach at the Bay of Sowerdie. The beautiful colours are even more breathtaking in person. This picture encapsulates Sanday perfectly.

Viewed through a lichen covered wall on an overcast afternoon. With its unique vertical stripes, Start Point looms over abandoned buildings once inhabited by the lightkeepers and their families, before automation rendered them obsolete.

This barn and drying kiln give a glimpse of life at the lighthouse keepers croft before automation. After harvesting the corn, the kiln was used to remove moisture prior to storage and to harden cereals to facilitate threshing and milling.

The only Scottish lighthouse with vertical stripes, Start Point dominates the skyline at the North End of Sanday. Before automation a Principal Lightkeeper and his family would have lived here, almost self-sufficient and kept cows and sheep.

What can you see in this picture? Elephant skin, the intricate pattern of lines on a hand, the letter ‘A’, or just a random stone? These giant fractured slabs of rock in a myriad of colours and shapes can be found all over Sanday.

These large jagged fragments of rock rise up through the sea at low tide, giving seals and birds somewhere to sit or perch. Between them, rock pools offer safe haven for crabs and other marine life until the sea reclaims them as the tides turn.