Industrial heritage is not only the remains of working activity like buildings, machinery and landscape features, such as kelp pits, but also photographs of working life and people, observations and stories written by islanders and visitors, official records and book-keeping.
Across the North Isles of Orkney, industrial heritage includes working activities such as farming, fishing, quarrying, kelping and peat digging.
In also includes the remains of the buildings, structures and equipment; the transporting of materials for processing or manufacture and finished items to markets.
Little formal recording has been undertaken on industrial sites and landscapes in Orkney, with much of it overlooked.
Working activities can be continuous such as agriculture, seasonal (e.g. herring fishing) or a single event, such as the construction of a lighthouse. They can involve a few individuals, a number of families or the whole island community.