The Orkney Image Library
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Date estimated
Picture added on 28 September 2006
I used to go to Stronsay when I was peedie. We stayed at Mrs Stouts, just right next to the bakery near the pier. Lovely rolls for breakfast. We used to love going to see the old upturned boat house as we called it. Once we got a look inside and saw some fantastic cacti. We were given cuttings and mum still has some to this day. 45 years later! My sister returned last year but I think the boathouse was in a bad way.
Added by Barbara on 01 March 2007
This picture was taken in 1960, not 1920.
[It had been dated 1920 until Eoin pointed this out- Steven.]
[It had been dated 1920 until Eoin pointed this out- Steven.]
Added by Eoin Carter on 11 July 2007
I thought Eoin would have been a boy in 1920 !!
Added by Craig Taylor on 12 July 2007
This boat was "built" by my great uncle, Jim Chalmers. His son tells me that it was made from a lifeboat salvaged from the "Athena". Yes, it is in a pretty poor state now. We saw it last summer but at that time I didn't realize it had been a family creation!
Added by Carolyn Watson-Crisp on 07 July 2008
This was a lifeboat off the Athenia which was torpedoed on the first day of the Second World War. It found it's way to Stronsay via Shapinsay, and was used for a while as a "Tang Boat" collecting seaweed around the shores of Stronsay and surrounding islands. Jim Chalmers or "Pyo" as he was known turned her upside down and made her into a "Bottie Hoose". Pyo was a great man on the accordion and wrote the music for the "Stronsay Waltz".
Added by Bill Miller on 27 February 2009
Elizabeth Swanney (Lizzie Jean) was my great aunt. Her brother David was my grandad. We used to visit in the summer through the 60s & 70s when we were kids. Great times! I remember the boat was outside Mrs Logie's, just beyond Lizzie Jean's house (was a restaurant last time I visited) and the "long sheds".
Added by Lindsay Smith on 23 April 2009
Jim Chalmers was my grandfather and the 'Pyo' who inverted the boat and made it into a wash house. He and his wife, Ella, spent many happy years in Stronsay with their young family.Their daughter, Connie, was my mother. They moved to Mackay, Queensland, Australia but Stronsay always had a big place in their hearts.
Added by Edith Pace (nee Chalmers) on 30 August 2009
Who owns it now?
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Added by Val Miller on 25 January 2011
Stronsay
The other female is Elizabeth Swanney.
The boys are Andrew Swanney (Drewie), Eoin Carter & Bruce Swanney