Orkney Image Library

The building seen in front o' the L/B slip was the store for the petrol used to refuel the boat. It still stands as I think it must have been built to blast proof standards!. Petrol was carried in 5 gallon drums up onto the boat to refuel her after a service, this was a heavy job done by the shore crew after recovery of the L/B.
I see there were no fences on Salwick at this time, would this be when some o' your family owned the land Jimmy?

Again, the date could be a lot earlier than my estimate. My uncle Charlie did own Salwick, but feel sure this was taken a long time before that. When did the shed change its colour? I seem to always mind it red......

Charlie did own Selwick Jimmy, but Jock Harrold worked the land, although Charlie might have owned it later. Whils't I lived in Brims( up to 1954) most of the crofts and houses belonged to the Melsetter estate.

I think the Harrolds lived in what I always knew as Senna Mowat's house. I was told by my dad that when his grandparents sold Garson they bought the Glebe for their son Robert Gillespie, the house in Brims for daughter Mary and Jock Harrold and the Watering House for themselves and their youngest son Billy. I'm sure they were all bought outright, no mortgages back then so they must have made a good bit of money from the sale of Garson!

I think the boatshed was painted white during the war, I notice there's no engine shed there either.

I'm pretty sure that the shed was red during the war Keith and there was no engine shed, so far as I can remember.

This is a black and white pic, but I think it was a creamy yellow colour that was on the boatshed then..

I thought the Harrolds lived at Midhouse

There's a shed at the front o the LB shed, mabye there wis a lighting plant in there at sometime? I think after the hydro came they put a big fuel tank in it to refuel the solent. I might be wrong, Anybody ken ?

Yes Stuart, the Harrolds did live at Midhouse, but they farmed Afrigate as well and in the late 40's after Jocky Robertson died, they added the land of Upper Salwick. I cannot remember how the shed was lit before the Hydro came to Brims, but seem to recall people using those large square torches.

There was a small engine/dynamo with charger, just inside the shed door and to the left.
Engineer Bob charged batteries for the neighbours, and the shed lights.

Stewart,one o them Gen sets ended up at whur place. The engine was a "Phelps"with a close coupled 24volt dynamo, the engine was damaged and not repairable so whur folks drove it wae a model D Lister (petrol/parafin) with a couple o V belts. The switch gear and gharging plant was the very best as you would expect of the R N L I.
We used it wae a bank o batteries (Lights at any time, the whole steading and house was "litten" by this means!) up until we got a Lister Start o Matic in the early 60s and in some ways that was not as good, as you had to have the plant running rather than using the large bank o batteries wae the owld 24 volt system.

We had a peedie engine and batteries in 1960 and the free light (wind turbine as they are called nowadays). On a really windy night the light would go so white the bulb would blow. Sure as anything after dad had watched "Victory at Sea" on the 14in Ferranti the picture would start to shrink so then the batteries would have to get charged up in time for my favourite "Maigret" Thank goodness for the 1 1/2 KW Lister that dad got shortly after when the next TV was bought so that we could get Grampian TV, it was AC/DC and the old engine I think I'm right in saying was DC only. Nearly ruined the TV the very first night it arrived trying to get it working until he twigged what was wrong. The good old days!