I have been there a few times over the years cos my grandmother that isn't from the Welsh island Anglesey is from one of the Orkney islands (and just in case anyone needs more info to access my account, my mother's maiden name was Jones), though, I'm ashamed to admit, I don't actually know which of them was her birthplace and where she grew up. I have a strong feeling that it wasn't the Main Island though. I remember that when she was really old we went up to visit her in Manchester and she started telling a rambling sort of story which at first I thought (and probably Dad did too to be fair) was just senile gibberish but which slowly started to make sense, and I think the gist of it was that, as a schoolgirl playing with a friend one of them fell through the earth into what turned out to be an unknown (at the time) ancient settlement along the lines of skara brae. But I suppose that there are a fair few of those scattered over the archipelago so that doesn't narrow it down that much. Also it may have been that she went to school on a different island to the one that she actually lived on if that were too small to have its own school.
Anyway, point is, we should have loads of stuff to do in Orkney cos I've been there a few times and mum and dad have been there more, and I think some cousins and uncles and aunts etc from Manchester might come along too and probably we even got some distant second cousins three times removed or something still living in the islands who will invite us round for a piss-up, or, if we're lucky, an Orkney High Tea - ie Orkney is covered, but what we don't know about is the non-Orkney bits of Scotland. Seems we sort of know a guy involved with Clyde-Built Radio so already looks like a guest spot there is on the cards, but it would be fucking ace if we could play in a little club in either Glasgow or Edinburgh or both.
