Orkney Image Library

I too worked for Peter 1967 to 1970 fond memories
especially stock taking days in the booze store
what a laugh it was

that's where my dad was born - the MacInneses lived in that store with 9 kids!

Thats interesting Morag, when would that have been?

dad was born there 1922 . His father worked for the Pole Star. Not sure when they came to Orkney, but can find out from my sis!

Morag as far as I can remember, was only 4 at the time, my dad took over the shop and store in 1948. Shut the shop in 1984 and sold the store sometime in the 90s.

Gosh! we learn something new every day, I wonder how they got the name Jacobs building.

really nice to remember this!
Yes these date are aboot right

Just been in touch with Mum who reckons Peter bought shop and house in 1947 from her stepdad Murdo MacKenzie who ran it as a fish shop.

My maternal grandparents, Ned and Isabella Sutherland, lived in Jacob's Buildings in the early 1940s. My brother Ken was born there in September 1940.

MY Great uncle Peter I remember as a good hearted kind man very like my gran Peggy he liked a laugh

Does anybody know who the young girl in a wheelchair was living in the house and shop prior to it being Drever and Boyes? My Mum and her cousins spent their summer holidays with their Aunts, Jean and Maggie Moar next door in the 1930's and she spoke about a young girl who was wheeled outside in good weather but in bad weather her wheelchair was placed by a hatch in the house which opened into the shop.

I was born in that house (No. 38 Dundas Street) in 1948 but was never told of a disabled wee girl who lived there in the 1930s. My mother and father probably never knew this story either as they only moved there in 1947.
But, regarding the hatch at which this girl was placed in her chair and which opened into the shop, this hatch was in the cellar underneath the floor of the shop and it had a set of 6 ladder - like wooden steps leading from it down into the cellar. This cellar was cold and damp and on a slightly raised level to that of the ground floor of the house so she would have had to have been lifted over the initial stoop at the door to get into the cellar and then sit at the bottom of these steps in her wheelchair and look up into the shop with a very limited view of its' interior. Somehow, I can't imagine her being put there on rainy days and I think she would simply have been kept in the main living room in the warmth.
I do however remember Maggie Moar who lived in the house below us at No 40. She was a kind lady.

your dad was a fine Stromness character

Thank you Morag. He surely was.

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me find my bridesmaid from 36 years ago! Her name is/ was Morag Robertsen and she lived at 3 Melvin place Stromness. I moved around a lot and lost touch with her and would dearly love to find her again. I hope someone can help. Thank you.

Hello there Carrie. Long time no speak. Morag Robertson here. A kind friend sent me your post. I do hope we can catch up.

Hi Carrie, I've passed your details onto Morag and she has emailed you.

Thank you so much Steven, I just can't believe it. Morag has been in touch and I am still in shock. One day we hope to come to Orkney and we can all celebrate. Thank you Orkney image library.

That's great Carrie, delighted to have been of assistance.

Thank you Morag. He surely was.

Peter and family were near neighbours when we lived in Edinburgh.

That would have been in the 1940s as they got married there in 1941 and stayed in Restalrig Avenue finally coming north in 1947.

That's right Allan. I stayed at 104 Restalrig Avenue and we moved north in 1948. Hope you are well, haven't seen you for many a long day. How are Brian and Pam?

Is this the Neil Johnstone with whom I was at school and is the brother of Thorfinn Johnstone or am I way off the mark here?

No Allan, must be another Neil.