Who
My name is Simon Treasure and I live at the Hall of Heddle, Orkney, with my Jack Russell dog, Poppy. I was born in 1960 and I first visited Orkney as a sallow youth in 1977. The family has had a house here since that time, firstly on Sanday and then at Heddle. I moved here for good from London in 2000. My only regrets are that I didn’t do so sooner, and the absence of good Indian food.
Originally the house was purchased by my Mum, Valerie, in 1992, as a summer retreat. She chose the location very well, as the Hall is ideally situated in the centre of the Island, close to the Orcadian equivalent of the hurly burly but still in deep, and exquisite countryside.
I became the Laird of our Domain in 2004 and have been kept quite busy since then with the rebuilding and conversion of the Byre at Heddle and the impending rebuilding and restoration of East Heddle, which is the adjacent croft I bought in 2002 from Davy Wilson.
Davy was a wonderful if hard drinking neighbour who died just after Christmas 2004 aged 73. He was born and bred on these farms and the restoration of East Heddle will always have him in mind, if sometimes with curses attached. My business, Orkneycrofts.com started trading this year (2008).
My other main occupation is looking after and improving the land here as Naturalised Garden, Wildlife Sanctuary and Nature Reserve. I am a Gardener by choice, and delight in the scope of possibilities offered, if sometimes overwhelmed by the tasks on the to do list
Together we have about 11 acres of land. We may buy back more acres as time goes on, if we can, as the original farms at various times owned most of the surrounding land, possibly up to 600 acres. Sadly, the recent daft changes to the EC CAP make this unlikely. Land ownership is now more important than stock, and to gain the biggest all important subsidies farmers will not sell land. Oh yes, I am also a Numenorean.
