From our archives

5 years ago

Members of an island book club were stunned when author JK Rowling turned up at their meeting following an offer of tea and cake. The Orkney group met up on Saturday to discuss The Cuckoo’s Calling, the first of Rowling’s crime novels written under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. A tweet about the gathering caught the attention of the Harry Potter writer earlier in the week, who said she might have to “apparate” to the library in Kirkwall.

10 years ago

A host of famous Scots – from the Proclaimers to Ian Rankin – have thrown their weight behind a campaign to save RAF Leuchars. The Residents Action Force for Leuchars unveiled a list of “Famous Fifers” who have stepped up to save the closurethreatened RAF base. Actor Dougray Scott, writers Ian Rankin and Val Mcdermid and film director and producer Richard Jobson are among those on the list.

25 years ago

Scotland’s new local authorities yesterday set council tax rises averaging more than 13%, against a turbulent background of noisy demonstrations and near universal condemnation of Scottish Secretary Michael Forsyth. The increases varied widely across the country, from a mere 2.8% in Orkney to around 27% in West Dunbartonshire. Edinburgh, despite restricting the increase to 10%, remains the highest.