Richard Clubley

RICHARD CLUBLEY lived in Derbyshire, which is not the most convenient place to stay if you love Scottish islands so, in 2017, he moved to Orkney with his wife, Berverly. They built a house in Orphir on Mainland with views over Scapa Flow. Although the phrase is a cliché, it was ‘a dream come true’.

Richard has found Scottish islands endlessly fascinating since his very first one – Arran – at the age of eight. He has visited around 70 of them to date and they form the content of his first book Scotland’s Islands – A Special Kind of Freedom, published by Luath Press in 2014.

As a schoolteacher Richard took several parties of children to uninhabited islands to share the unique experiences with a new generation. He knows of one or two from those early trips in the 1980s that are still hooked on island hopping.

Richard is a regular contributor to Scottish Islands Explorer magazine and the online magazine Orkney.com. Writing this book and moving to Orkney do not presage an end to the infatuation but rather less flirting and a deeper love.