Welcome to stronsay arts and crafts
A shop for islanders and island visitors
A member of the Orkney Tourism Group.
Summer 2009: April 7th - September 30th.
10.00 - 18.00 every day except Monday.
Winter 2009 / 2010: October 1st - March 31st.
10.00 - 18.00 . Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
We are still in the process of developing our online shop. Out of hours or online purchase enquiries are welcome as we can accept Paypal and or cheques.
Please email us here for further information.
Stronsay is one of the most beautiful North Isles of Orkney, a good ninety-minute ferry ride from the Mainland, or a short flight.
The island is about 7 miles long and 6 miles wide at its greatest extent but with sweeping sandy bays and some dramatic cliffs it can appear like islands joined by spits of land.
No more than 250ft high at its highest this stunning green, sometimes windswept, landscape is the kind that attracts wild geese and newcomers, supports three wind turbines and sturdy farming families but only a very few trees because these need the shelter of walls or buildings in order to survive.
There are over 350 residents, not all of them farming folk but many keeping important services running through part-time employment.
There is a hotel, a hostel and café, several B&Bs and an Arts and Crafts shop that provides an outlet for many island craft activities.
For islanders and island visitors enjoying the quality of life on Stronsay there is also the security of a G.P. and nurses, the services of two good general stores, an efficient haulage business, a Post Office, a church and chapel.
Clifton has an air of slightly faded grandeur, a large house with railings around the front garden with a rather impractical north facing bay window looking towards the sea. It’s not the usual Orkney style of house, but it is fairly typical of the big houses in Whitehall village that were built around the natural harbour with some of the wealth from the herring fishing industry. The first resident, in 1911, was William Smith Inkster, Clerk of Works for the West Pier that was built almost directly opposite the house.
From 1979 until 1988, Thomas Anderson Shearer and Barbara Shearer owned the house. Thomas Shearer was a renowned weaver and used the part of the building now to be a Craft shop as his weaving shop. His life and work was featured in More Old Orkney Trades edited by Sheila Spence – published by The Orkney Press (1996)
So crafts are not new to Clifton – it has a good pedigree.
More information about Stronsay can be found here using Wikipedia, the free encylopedia.
