Sanday, Orkney
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Sanday is one of the inhabited islands in the Orkney Islands, off the north coast of mainland Scotland.
Sanday, so called because of its sandy beaches ("sand island") is thought to have been mostly underwater at some periods of prehistory and is thought at one time to have consisted of several smaller islands which joined together when the sea level decreased. The island has large sand dunes where seals and otters can be found. Inland it is fertile and agricultural.
The main centres of population on Sanday are Lady Village and Kettletoft. Sanday can be reached by ro-ro ferries or plane from Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland. Cultural activities revolve around the school.
Attractions on the island include the Quoyness chambered cairn, dating from the 3rd millennium BC. Sanday also boasts the most northerly passenger railway in the United Kingdom, Sanday Light Railway.
Birthplace of Walter Traill Dennison (1826 - 1894), Orcadian folklorist, and of William Towrie Cutt (1898 - 1981), author.
Scar House was once home to Lt.-Col. George Faulknor Francis Horwood (1838-1897), Deputy-Lieutenant of Orkney (and youngest son of Edward Horwood, of Weston Turville, Buckinghamshire).
The West Manse (formerly the Free Church Manse) was for over half a century the home of the Rev. Matthew Armour (1820-1903), Sanday’s radical Free Kirk Minister.
During World War II, the Royal Air Force built a Chain Home radar station at Whale Head on Sanday.
Sanday's notable inhabitants currently include Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, composer and the Master of the Queen's Music, David Harvey (footballer) and Stephen Clackson.
The Orcadian man of letters and educator, John D Mackay taught at Sanday Central School from 1946 to 1970.
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