Diary

I got in a taxi last night and the driver said "I know you. You've been in my taxi before".

And so I had. Last time he was just back from a holiday in Orkney and he'd been so happy he was dreaming of going back to live there.

And now he is. "My wife's divorcing me", he told me, "and I'm going to live there in April."

His plan is to live on North Ronaldsay and and work as a full time dry stone dyker on repairing the wall.

North Ronaldsay is the most northern of the Orkney Islands. It's a tiny island, surrounded by a wall that was built in the 19th century to keep the seaweed eating sheep off the cultivated fields.

He loves dyking, he says. It gives him the most intense satisfaction. There's no hard feelings between him and his wife, in fact he's grateful to her, because she's given him the impetus to change his life and to fulfil his dream.

And he's right, of course. Even though with sea levels rising, the chances are his work will be overwhelmed by the tides...

He sounded and looked so happy when he came round to open the door at my destination. "See you in Orkney", I said.

And I hope I do.