Gardemeles Museum: June 2021

Sperm Whale Tooth

5" long

found at Roo at the site of an old whale beaching

from Newbigging, Sanmday

Dock Leaves

rumex obtusifolius

pressed

from the fields around Stove

Crocheted Poodles

4" high, wool, ribbon, buttons

possibly made to decorate bottle tops

donated from a poodle collection

Clouds of White Flowers

cerastium tomentosum

Midsummer

from Stove

Caudial Vertebrae

Caudial vertebrae of Whale

from near the tail

8" across, weighing 5 kilos each

found at Crudy, Sanday

from the sea

Rope End

6" long, nylon rope bound with insulating tape

from the sea

Whale Stone

Bronze Age, 6" across

found on Cata Sanda

from Newbigging, Sanday

Oasis

used for arranging flowers

8" across, plastic coated brass wire, perished green rubber

found at Stove

Wooden Plug

Plug and Chain

hardwood, rusty steel, 5" high

found in John Scott's workshop at Stove

China Basket

3" across

found in Helen Scott's bedroom at Stove

with Smiling Jenny from her woodland

Humpback Scallop Shells

Chlamis Distorta

the largest 1.5" long

from the sea

frequently found on Orkney Shores

Lustrous Bottle

11'' high, embossed with patterned neck round GARDEN round the side

R.Garden Ltd. Kirkwall on base

from the sea

R Garden Ltd. operated in Kirkwall on Mainland Orkney from the late C19th until the mid C20th. As well as a lemonade factory in the town they ran a fleet of Floating Shops that traded around the Isles and the North of Scotland.

Leaping Fish

C20th, brass, 3" across

once decorated the side of the skiff, Thora

from Westbank, Sanday

At the end of her days at sea the boat, like many others, ended up pulled to the shore to disintegrate over the year; played in by the local children then used for firewood as she eventually fell apart.

Thora

handmade leather boat name 12" long

mid C20th, once nailed to the fishing skiff, Thora

from Westbank, Sanday

Brass Plaque

5" square with hand stamped lettering

from Westbank, Sanday

The plaque was attached to the small boat Thora which in 1945 had been rowed across the North Sea with a Norwegian family on board before being sold on and used as a fishing boat on Sanday for the rest of her life. Thora was her Orkney given name.

The reverse side of plaque

"S" LINE

BUZZER REPEATER POSITIONS

from the sea

Starling Eggs

broken by emerging hatchlings

found on the ground at Stove

Hundreds of starlings live at Stove in the ruinous outbuildings. The blue eggs can be easily seen by the parent birds in the dark and secret holes where they build their nests.