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The Sunday Times
February 3, 2008

Lucas Hollweg: the virtues of North Ronaldsay lamb

MEAT AND GREET

Warning: vegetarians might want to look away. I’ve been having rather a meaty time of late. I only have to think about North Ronaldsay lamb and I start salivating. The native sheep of Orkney’s most northerly island are confined to the seashore by a stone wall, so they survive almost entirely on seaweed. This gives intensely savoury, dark, gamey meat – I devoured two chops before I even got them to the table.........

Run by Rose Grimond, Orkney Rose sells Orkney fish and meat to Londoners and London restaurants. The business represents 16 local producers. By uniting their distribution channels, Orkney Rose provides these small businesses with the infrastructure to reach the London market.

Jolly's kippers are something of a legend in Orkney, with the herring caught in the clean waters off Orkney, smoked on slow fires of oak chips and turned into plump, firm-fleshed kippers for grilling or lightly steaming.

Orkney Rose offers the kippers on a supply and demand basis, vacuum-packed individually or in bulk.

 

Tourists will find it easier to visit some of Scotland's most remote areas after a deal struck between a regional airline and a low-cost carrier, it was claimed.

A new franchise agreement between Loganair and Flybe will mean that connecting flights from cities across Europe to airports throughout the Highlands and Islands can be booked at the same time.

Loganair claim the deal, which comes into effect in October 2008, will make it easier for tourists to get to the communities it serves including Shetland, Orkney, Wick, Stornoway, Benbecula, Barra, Tiree, Islay and Campbeltown.

Jeana Leslie and Siobhan Miller have been crowned winners of the 10th BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award.

The duo claimed the title at the end of a night of music at The Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London where once again six of the UK's most promising young folk acts performed for the chance to win a host of prizes and kick start their careers.

 The prize for the winners includes a session for Mike Harding's Radio 2 show and slots at three of the UK's most important festivals – Cambridge Folk Festival, Fairport's Cropredy Convention and Towersey Village Festival.

Jeana Leslie and Siobhan Miller are third year students on the BA Scottish Music course at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Jeana is 19 and comes from Orkney, Siobhan is 20 and is from Penicuik.

For the Radio 2 Young Folk Award final Siobhan sang and Jeana played piano, fiddle and sang. The duo were presented with their award by singer, songwriter and musician Seth Lakeman, who collected two awards himself at this year's award ceremony.

Boots PLC has plans to launch a range of products using essential oil extracted from bog myrtle as one of the main ingredients. However, to achieve this aim, there needs to be a ready supply of bog myrtle. Luckily for Boots, two institutions have provided grants to research how to cultivate the plant on a commercial basis. The companies, the Agronomy Institute on Orkney, part of the University of the Highlands, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) grants will be to the tune of £94,000 and £201,000 respectively.

The trial products made by Boots were said to have been a success with consumers. Boots new line of products will refer to bog myrtle as Sweet Gale which is expected to better appeal to consumers.