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Stagecoach is sponsoring the Orkney Agricultural Society by proving a free shuttle bus to and from the County Show, as part of a park and ride service from Orkney Auction Mart.

The free shuttle service is running throughout the day, starting with the first bus leaving the Mart at 8.30am. The last bus will leave the show at 5pm.

Stagecoach will be operating additional services on Dounby Show day - running: Kirkwall – Dounby; Dounby – Stromness; Stromness – Dounby; Dounby – Kirkwall.

The Stagecoach fleet offers low floor, easy access buses.

The thought of experiencing island life drew the Central Belt’s Rosalind Rendall to accept a teaching post at Westray Junior High School in 2009.

Despite only intending to stay for a couple of years, “Rozi” as she is known affectionately, met and married a local man and this will be her 14th academic year when the school returns after the summer holidays.

There are many reasons why Rozi has chosen to make Westray her home – and life at the school, which is the heart of the community – is one of them.

Orkney’s “Queen o’ the Isles” – Westray – is a very special community and the Council is seeking an equally special person to lead the island’s school.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Head Teacher at the Junior High School, which caters for 87 pupils, aged from 3-16, in Westray - one of Orkney’s North Isles.

Westray is a thriving, forward-thinking community but, equally the near 600 residents are proud of their history and heritage.

A 10km surveillance zone put in place following the discovery of a highly pathogenic strain of Avian Influenza (H5N1) at a premises in Birsay has now been lifted.

The declaration was made on the advice of Scotland’s chief veterinary officer and signed by Rural Affairs and Islands Secretary Mairi Gougeon on July 6 to try and prevent any further spread of disease.

If you’re visiting beaches and other popular countryside locations in the next few weeks, you might spot a change in the bins.

The waste team are trialling ones that are better suited for the types of litter put in them – meaning they have smaller openings in the lid to allow for the disposal of litter and dog waste only.

Large bins currently provided at these sites are often used inappropriately, filled with household waste, bulky items or commercial waste meaning that they don’t have space for litter and dog waste.

Folk in Hoy welcomed a special visitor today  - HRH The Duke of Rothesay.

If you are planning an evening at the cinema, a meal out or just visiting family and friends, there’s a new late night bus service leaving Kirkwall and serving East Mainland, West Mainland and Kirkwall & Orphir on Friday and Saturdays until March 2023.

The trial, which began on 1 July 2022, is being run at no extra cost to the Council with funding from the Scottish Government’s Smarter Choices Smarter Places scheme, with buses operated by Stagecoach.

A reminder for anyone interested in community transport that the Council’s consultation on flexible, ‘on-demand’ bus services closes on 7 August.

Flexible on demand bus services or ‘demand responsive transport (DRT)’ services typically operate in local areas where there are few or no conventional bus services.

Orkney Islands Council is reminding local families and young people that anyone aged under 22 is eligible to travel for free on buses in Orkney - and right across Scotland - if they have an up-to-date National Entitlement Card or Young Scot Card with the free travel included on their card.

The Scottish Government recently launched a new website www.freebus.scot  to help guide young people and their families through the process of applying for the free travel.