Salmon farmer helps airbase get ready for take-off as tourist attraction

Salmon farmer Cooke Scotland has donated £1,000 to a charity aiming to preserve a World War II navy airbase in Orkney and turn it into a visitor attraction.

The donation was given to Birsay Heritage Trust, which wants to transform access to, and engagement with, the airbase, called HMS Tern. The Trust also intends the project to create jobs and encourage economic development in the area.

The money from Cooke’s Community Benefit Fund will support a community engagement co-curation event with the project’s architects as part of the design brief, offering the opportunity for community input and co-development throughout.

William Shearer, of the Birsay Heritage Trust, said: “Of the four World War II airfields in Orkney, HMS Tern has the greatest amount of surviving infrastructure and future plans would provide a living memorial to the men and women who served at HMS Tern.

“The Trust is grateful to Cooke Scotland for the donation which has now allowed us to engage with an architect company from Edinburgh who has just started the overall design brief. This will carry us through various design stages and eventually through to submitting the planning application.”

Commissioned in April 1941, HMS Tern operated as part of the Royal Navy’s presence in Orkney while Scapa Flow was the base for the Home Fleet. Although the aircraft based at Tern formed part of the defences of Orkney, the site’s main role was to provide training facilities for the Navy. 

Also, when the Fleet’s aircraft carriers were in harbour, their aircraft would fly ashore rather than stay on board, and the facilities at Tern and other airfields in Orkney were expanded to accommodate the extra squadrons. 

Strong communities

Joel Richardson, vice president of public relations for Canadian-headquartered Cooke, was joined by colleagues from Canada, Australia, and Scotland who visited the airbase.

“Building stronger communities is a top priority for Cooke and we are proud to support local projects which reflect our corporate values as well as those of our teams,” said Richardson.

“It was interesting to see first-hand how restoring the former wartime airfield will benefit the Orkney economy, bringing new jobs and more tourism visitors to the picturesque island. As a family company, it was a pleasure to hand over the donation to Birsay Heritage Trust on behalf of Cooke – as we draw close to Remembrance Day, we must always honour armed forces members who have served and died in the line of duty to protect our freedoms.”