Orkney Image Library

I, Barbara (Jolly) Watt am the contributor of the above postcard. I was actually wondering if anyone could tell me where in stromness the photo was taken and also I was interested in what company owned the bus? is there a car park now where the trees are or am I at the wrong end?

Is this not John Street opposite the Surgery. The big building on the right is called the Speedings.The garden is still there.
Bus operator ... Wisharts?

Looks like a Wisharts bus. The garden is still there just in front of the Stromness Surgery which was wisharts garage.

I would say that its the garden of Davy Watt, its still there and its not a car park. i would guess the bus is at Wisharts garage on John Street. The photo is taken from the Ferry road.

The photo has been taken from what is now Ferry Road, and the garden is right opposite the RORO ferry marshalling area. The bus will most likely belong to Wisharts, as it is parked outside where their garage was. The Stromness Doctors Surgery now sits on that site.

Thank you all for helping me. I'll have a look see when I come "home" in July/August. It's funny, as my hubby is called Davy Watt too!

This would have been taken before the Ferry Road was there. Maybe near to where Gowans lemonade factory used to be

Would anyone know if the Gowan's lemonade factory had anything to do with the Falconers who manufactured aerated water in the 1920s.

Just out of shot, to the right and part of the building shown is the house where my great grandfather Alexander Stewart Banks lived towards the end of his life. He was the blacksmith in Stromness. The blacksmith shop was 4 Northend Road and was, I guess, situated approximately where the petrol station now is. He is buried in Warbeth Cemetary with his wife Janet Mackay and "son who died in infancy". I am researching family history and would be glad of any further info.

In the 60s & 70s the "Smithy" you refer to was run by Jimmy Moar doing mainly tractor & marine engine repairs. He later had the North End Petrol pumps and a Workshop and house at the old Gasworks site, where his widow lives to this day.
This was South of the RSPB Office where Mrs Firth has her B&B - a new building by Billy Brown in the 1980s.

Hello, this picture keeps popping up. Can anyone tell me if there are still "Gowans" in the area? My family is married into them and I am looking for connections. Again, Wilma in Vancouver.

BTW, this is a wonderful site; I rarely miss a day.

Does anyone have a picture of the St Ola between the dates 1940 and 1945 as my father worked on it then, also i am trying to get a picture of the crew as well at that time. I was born in 8 north end road stromness

A slight ammendment to the info on the "smithy" - My grandfather, John Park, operated a smithy at the White Horse Inn ( I understand this was on the concrete area where Brass's used cars now stand). It could well be that he took it over from Alex S Banks, as the address would tie in. My grandfather moved his business to a "smithy" in the back garden of his home at 8 Northend Road. The "smithy" actually stood on wooden stilts above the foreshore and next to an old war time barge that he (and others) used to haul their dinghys up on. The horse had to be walked down a large flight of steps to get to the "smithy". In my memory, Jimmy Moar operated an engineers workshop in the building first north after No 8

Thanks for comments of 10/05/2009.
I was under the impression that the smithy was sited at possibly number 4 or 5 Northend Road. I have seen a ledger at the library that shows the rental for house & blacksmiths at this address. However, we are clearly talking about the same area.

Where Brass's cars stand used to be Bob Guthrie's furniture showroom. The second house back towards the town has a pit under the floor. I should know as I was under the floor putting a phone in and almost fell into it crawling backwards in the dark. SCARY

Great picture.
Am i correct in thinking the house on the left is 85 john Street? If so this is where my grandparents lived until the early 80's.

Regarding the slight ammendment of the info "smithy", has anyone have pictures of the war time barges that used to be there, at North End Road?

Would you have any photos of the old barge with rowing boat intact.

Love to see photos of house at old gasworks in Stromness from 1950's time