Im moving to Orkney, 1st time small holder - Gimme that knowledge

[Boysground]

Sounds Idilic, congratulations to you both.

you'll need an Orkney Longliner or Fastliner to complete the set up.....

As @ollie989898 said, a Youtube channel or even worth putting a call into one of the TV types to see if they want to do a documentary.

Lux holiday cottages based on a "digital detox "

Bon Chance.

Simple comfortable dog friendly holiday cottage and Mrs Bg and I will be there. Especially if there’s a chance of seeing the Northern Lights

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[mac]

So which isle are you moving to in Orkney then?

 

[Dynamite_Matt]

So which isle are you moving to in Orkney then?

Sanday

 

[Dynamite_Matt]

Brilliant. Clearly you've both got the work ethic in shovels full.
The YouTube idea is a good one, I probably watch more you tube than telly nowadays.
I sure that you'll succeed, but good luck!
I often wish that I had followed your route rather than the "Big Ag" route.

Thank you, lets just hope i've not knackered myself out on the building route, I did try to give her all the heavy jobs.

Sounds Idilic, congratulations to you both.

you'll need an Orkney Longliner or Fastliner to complete the set up.....

As @ollie989898 said, a Youtube channel or even worth putting a call into one of the TV types to see if they want to do a documentary.

Lux holiday cottages based on a "digital detox "

Bon Chance.

Had to google the boats, unsure of my relationship with the sea yet. 30 mins from the south coast now cant remember the last time I went to many damn tourists. Will be 10 mins walk out of our field and not a sole in sight. Must confess the ferry back was slightly unsteady.
Lux holiday cottage is definetly the way were thinking, for the friends/family that do make the trek to see us we wanna make worth it not a whole lot for a wandering tourist to do up there.

I spent a few days there about ten years ago. Recall the Gin clear water in Kirkwall harbour while looking at wave turbines being assembled, serious lack of trees, very breezy, great accommodation and food, the Highland Park Distillery tour, after which the memory faded somewhat. Not forgetting the 'rollercoaster flight' back to Edinburgh..

Much prefer the flights to the ferry. Food was brilliant. Im gonna miss trees but we might just manage a few small fruit trees.

 

[steveR]

Polycrub | Storm Strength from Shetlandhttps://www.polycrub.co.uk

Far better than a tunnel, in a windy place.

Interesting.... sent this to my Sister in Galway, another breezy location...

 

[IH 414]

Good Morning folks,

Long-time lurker, one of those that only posts when they want something! So here I am to try to benefit from the years of knowledge available on these boards, ideas i've not thought of, focus the mind and maybe make some contacts, i figured im going to be using these boards for advice and have been, it only polite I introduce myself.

So in brief me & my partner have been slogging away in the southwest working fulltime jobs and renovating houses on the side always with the aim of ending up at a small holding before 40, well we have made it! just im 39. I grew up on farms and have fair farming knowledge but no real practical expearience (plant expearience, diggers mainly on our sites) my family was always into building so alongside my full-time job at merchants we have always built. My partner's work is not related to building or farming but she is the best labourer I've ever worked with from tiling, carpentry, paving, shifting blocks, driving dumpers, etc. With the exception of electrics, gas & plastering we are capable of most tasks and am always willing to learn.

Covid initially caused us grief mainly due to it making it not profitable for us to renovate anymore and our initial target area for a holding was Wales (in between my family in the south west and hers in Yorkshire) and we've all seen what prices have done there in the last two years, but the silver lining was it forced us to look elsewhere and pushed a "now or never" attitude we fell in love with an island in Orkney and have purchased just over 20 acres surrounding a 3 bed house with a nice selection of stone barns and sheds the land is mostly grass with a reedy/marshy strip but appears productive seeing pictures through the year with cattle, sheep and hay/silage making.
This all happened very quickly in the space of a month it went from booking a viewing trip up to a closing date being set before we could view and after a few video calls our offer was selected and im ecstatic to say it was selected not just with money in mind, We made it clear we are coming to work and want to reinstate the holding so believe we beat some retirees and holiday folk. We've been up once, plan another trip or two before the move.

So now we are in the "sh!t its real stage", We have to sell our bungalow down here (pay back family) finish up our jobs, small extension for mother, organise and go in January (best of the weather) with a pickup, livestock trailer & dog
We will be mortgage free have a couple of years living expenses put to one side which should leave us with 50-100k to make a start with. Our initial plans being to create a cabin/holiday let primarily for family & friends (the house will not be renovated for a while so we want somewhere nice for those that make the effort to see us to stay in but can also provide a little income definitely don't want to many tourists though, reinstate the veg gardens with a couple poly tunnels and just take it easy and integrate for the 1st year, The lands currently rented out (unofficially I believe) but that suits us and expect we'd slowly take the land back field by field when we have a use and until then he can use them hopefully with my help. When we start thinking animals we were initially thinking pigs and dairy goats, pigs might be out need to look into the abattoir abit more and goats well they seem high maintainance to me and what will we do with the males? When we were up there everybody was just saying beef to us which im keen on after some tuition from a local, Orkney cattle look to be tanks compared to our soft southern cattle! We do need to generate income but may well do some work on the island to integrate as much as anything, we aren't greedy we'll only need basic income to survive a d intend to keep it below tax thresholds.

We are realists we know this will be our biggest project to date and our initial main aim is to integrate so we are not going to arrive and start this and that, just ease into it see the lay of the land. Alot will depend on how our bungalow sells down here fingers crossed its good then im allowed to think of a excavator if I'm really lucky a tractor, mower, etc. but I have plenty of other things to think about, what are haulage costs? do I drive a trailer up with our stuff? can my timber suppliers drop up there for me? Should the small holding be registered as a business? Pickups just gone bang need a new one, so so much to do.

I know there's at least a couple of regular posters from Orkney didn't want to take liberties and tag them in.

I would appreciate your comments.

U should check transport costs via Aberdeen as well as Scrabster and Gills Bay. Northwards, streamline, macadie and reeve all offer a service to Orkney. Also u will find delivery to mainland only and a surcharge to Orkney. Anywhere north of Inverness can be extra so a delivery to say northwards in Abd or Ins may be an option. Good luck with the move

 

[Gong Farmer]

Plenty on Youtube that have already started this sort of adventure, I expect you've already found them. Mossy Bottom is in Ireland but sounds a similar sort of venture. He's very realistic about it all.

 

[Crex]

It is a small holding/farm you have bought, and not a croft @Dynamite_Matt ?

 

[Dynamite_Matt]

It is a small holding/farm you have bought, and not a croft @Dynamite_Matt ?

Yes a registered small holding not a croft. Unsure if that is transfered or I apply a new, but im sure the solicitor will get to that bit. It is entitled for payments and grants they've already said but that didn't factor into our choice to buy it.

 

[Wolds Beef]

Good small herd of Pedigree Lincoln Red's on Sanday. So there should be some quality beef about.
WB

 

[Highland Mule]

Good small herd of Pedigree Lincoln Red's on Sanday. So there should be some quality beef about.
WB

Two ferries and a good few miles to the nearest abattoir at Dingwall though - not ideal.

 

[roscoe erf]

its wet windy and cold

 

[Dynamite_Matt]

Two ferries and a good few miles to the nearest abattoir at Dingwall though - not ideal.

Thats a real shame, I have to confess I thought Kirkwall was taken over by some butchers but I see im looking at old articles now. A long way if we got to the stage of wanting a few slaughtered.
Is the call for mobile abattoirs being acted on?

 

[Highland Mule]

Is the call for mobile abattoirs being acted on?

Not that I am aware.

 

[steveR]

Simple comfortable dog friendly holiday cottage and Mrs Bg and I will be there. Especially if there’s a chance of seeing the Northern Lights

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a few days late I believe, there was supposed to have been a solar storm on the 27/28th September that would generate a good show....

 

[Boysground]

a few days late I believe, there was supposed to have been a solar storm on the 27/28th September that would generate a good show....

Ive seen some cracking photos in the last few days. It’s one thing I really want to see.

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[steveR]

Ive seen some cracking photos in the last few days. It’s one thing I really want to see.

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for you then...

Seen them 2-3 times here in Shropshire and the one time was late after getting back from teh pub and I wondered what the heck I was seeing. Amazing.

 

[jamesy]

Good luck with your move up here, it’s not such a bad place. No abattoir any more here. Couple of good agri supply stores more tractor/machinery dealers than you can shake a stick at! First class seed merchant, excellent auction mart. 2 or 3 builders merchany’s. In many ways it’s more remote living in the highlands of Scotland than it is in Orkney although Sanday is another 1.5hr ferry journey. Some Isles folk keep a car on the Orkney mainland and make use of the excellent inter island air service which will be reasonably cheap for an island resident.

The best advice I can give to anyone moving up here though is this: Don’t be a twit.

 

[jamesy]

Ive seen some cracking photos in the last few days. It’s one thing I really want to see.

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Guests at one of our self catering properties took this the other night.

 

[Dynamite_Matt]

Good luck with your move up here, it’s not such a bad place. No abattoir any more here. Couple of good agri supply stores more tractor/machinery dealers than you can shake a stick at! First class seed merchant, excellent auction mart. 2 or 3 builders merchany’s. In many ways it’s more remote living in the highlands of Scotland than it is in Orkney although Sanday is another 1.5hr ferry journey. Some Isles folk keep a car on the Orkney mainland and make use of the excellent inter island air service which will be reasonably cheap for an island resident.

The best advice I can give to anyone moving up here though is this: Don’t be a twit.

That looks stunning, we just missed it came back down south Wednesday. I really look forward to our chance to see, all being well with sale of our house should be ready to go in January, not the best weather wise maybe.

Real shame about the abattoir, I must confess in my initial research to just a quick google and seeing the council run shutting and the consortium taking over shame it didnt last. Im surprised there isn't the demand. Do you know of any other options other than Dingwall? Cant quite see the missus marching out and despatching one of her pet cows.

Thanks for the sound advice.