| Description | Tape 1 Side A DAVID FRANCIS SINCLAIR born 27 April 1935 at the Smithy, Flotta, Orkney. Only child. Details re Smithy, Pentland Firth at time of birth. Recalls warships coming into Scarpa Flow. Background to own names. Reference to another David Sinclair. Names of grandparents. Father one of eleven, mother one of two. Two relatives died of diphtheria. Paternal grandfather a fisherman/crofter, a character. Example of his firmness. Maternal grandfather a crofter named Sutherland, grandmother a Nicholson. Details re maternal family. Recalls long-lived, pipe-smoking uncle. One ancestor a blacksmith, another a boatbuilder. Family on Flotta since long ago. Father worked on inter-island mailboat. Hard life. Mentions work involved in salvaging of German fleet, father's wages. He had rheumatism. He later worked croft, in Smithy. Describes father's character, his sense of dress. He played fiddle, piano accordion at dances. Sons of fiddlers went for piano accordion. Lot of music in family. Uncle George Sinclair was Pipe Major in Gordon Highlanders, worked in Nestle factory, Middlesex. Another uncle played melodeon, mother played piano, sang. Details re mother, her role in family discipline, work on croft, in shop. Mentions Flotta egg industry. Describes childhood But 'n Ben home. No fences between neighbours then. Recalls Flotta landscape, free-range sheep farming, population. Recalls four shops on Flotta. Details re four districts, cosmopolitan identity of Flotta people. Mentions servicemen coming during wars. Reference to mainland Orkney. Didn't start school till age 6, never caught up. Recalls tyrant of a teacher with rubber-soled shoes. Mentions service camps, alcohol, number of servicemen in Orkney. Went to Stromness secondary school, hated it. Explains. Boarded in Stromness.
Tape 1 Side B Didn't enjoy school because of being so long away from home, size of school. Stuck secondary school in Stromness for 2 years. Did quite well at first, results slipped. Details re boarding accommodation with religious old ladies. Mentions religious maternal grandmother. Own present attitude. Finished education at Flotta. Was close to family. Took over shop from grandfather aged 15. Mentions grandfather's deafness. Recalls an accident demonstrating his benign personality. He wrote firm letters to Food Office during war, spoke his mind. Recalls local doctors, one a woman. Recalls wartime bombing in Flotta because of fleet in Scarpa Flow. Recalls sinking of Royal Oak, survivors in house. Belief then that it was sabotage. Describes shop. Worked there till 1961 when it burned to ground. Recalls local characters, e.g. George Barnett who sailed round Horn under canvas, his death; Andy Thompson who went to Australia, won lottery and came back, threw a party, one day went away and never came back; John Flett, postman, blacksmith, gassed in World War I. Flotta a boys' paradise during war with services cinema etc. After war community centre set up. Details re social life. Politics: grandfather Tory, parents Liberal. Comments on Jo Grimmond's popularity. Recalls his visits. Details re shop work with grandfather. Was a heavy smoker, cigarettes very accessible. Reference to National Service. Stopped smoking after heart attack. Approach to sales: small profit, big turnover. Details re meeting with wife, marriage. Recalls her relatives drowning. Details re wife's family from South Ronaldsay. Reference to archaeology. Details re children. Recalls shop fire 1961, likely cause. Mentions wartime drive for waste paper.
Tape 2 Side A Recalls shops and services that were available on Flotta in earlier years. When own shop burned down set up in spare room. Explains insurance situation. 1961 got job in Coop, Caithness. Reference to Dounreay. Effect of fire on children. 1962 returned to Flotta where population had dropped. 1965 bought present property, shop, postal business. Details re purchase, nature of business. Comments on facilities available for mentally handicapped son. Details re situation. Did mail run for whole island, also worked on farm. Details re postal hours, shopping patterns since then. Recalls first awareness of oil industry. Details re Lyness tank farm which serviced naval base, possibility of using it for the industry. Recalls arrival of survey ship, speculation re possible location of pipeline. Summer 1973 first oil men, from Occidental, arrived on Flotta, made offers for land. Reaction of locals. Reference to Shetland situation. Newspaper rags-to-riches, treasure island stories. Details re interviews with media. Background to long-time involvement with Community Council. After Occidental appointed a PR person from Stromness, things improved. Mentions Alistair Dunnett. Attitude of islanders to the industry. Reference to daughter Phyllis, one of two objectors. Explains own support. Planning permission granted 1974. Details re first industry developments, consequences of un-minuted local meetings, anticipated population growth. Recalls chicken-and-egg situation re housing, construction of council houses and community facilities, 'them and us' result. Growth in population, introduction of caravan settlements. Empty houses after construction people left. Most arguments in early period were with local authority rather than with oil company. Explains. Details re construction period, horrendous impact on roads, island life; steps taken.
Tape 2 Side B 1974 construction period (cont'd). Dust from quarry, effect on roads. Local authority blamed for not controlling development. Disquiet at prospect of Irish workers coming but no problems. Occidental had only 2 employees on island, rest contractors working for JMJ, Turriff Taylor Turner, Motherwell Bridge etc. Alan Harris was PR man, organised barbecues etc to win hearts and minds. Discrimination between Kirkwall and local people. Recalls being ignored by visiting ministers. Was member of Community Council. Attitude of local authority to Flotta people. Describes mess, disturbance from development. Recalls Duncan Spiers, '007', security man. Upside was entertainment for the 'bears'. Details re workers' routines, cashing cheques at mobile Post Office, sending money home. Mentions allocation of accommodation, women living in caravans. c1200 workers, some lived in Stromness. Local fishing boats hired as ferries. Recalls workers making big liquor purchases from 'Whisky' Matt Robertson's shop. Recalls social life. Little trouble. Occasional police presence. Compares invasion of workers with wartime experience. Recalls 1973 ratepayers' strike following non-replacement of doctor. Details re subsequent medical coverage. Mentions earlier example of Flotta crofters' assertiveness. Pattern to attitude of central council towards Flotta. Oil good for Orkney, not always for Flotta. Details re school, other facilities. Mentions container port possibility. Changes to pattern of shop activities, growth of post office during oil industry boom. Details re petrol pump, new storage arrangements. Contractors looked after roads. Details re plans for Phase 2 of construction for Claymore tanks etc, improvements to roads, airstrip as result of local objections re works. Reference to Ian Clark, Shetland. Recalls inauguration of Flotta terminal, Armand Hammer, Tony Benn.
Tape 3 Side A Inauguration of Flotta Terminal (cont'd). Drove Armand Hammer, wife to ceremony. Impression of them, Hammer's power. Details re ceremony. Presented to him and Tony Benn. Describes food, drink. Reference to Hamnavoe Band. Impression of Tony Benn. Reference to Jo Grimmond. Benn met with union organisers - reaction to this. Recalls joining union when working for Post Office. 1971 strike brought mixed blessings. Recalls change to decimal system. Recent change to metric weights and measures lasted 10 days, switched back. Life got better after oil but missed excitement of building phase. Mentions deaths of parents. Father had kept busy working with oil drums, electricity generator. Mother had kept on shop at smithy. Explains farming changes on Flotta since oil came. No change to prices. Little permanent integration of workers. After construction phase, continued running shop, helped by daughter Phyllis. Recalls times on Community Council, became Chairman. Phyllis now chairman, wife Marina also on Council. Recalls visit by George McNeill, Oxy (Occidental) Regional Manager, requesting largescale supplies for camp. Feelings now re opportunity lost. Reference to Taylor Plan caterers, Turriff Taylor Turner Consortium, Grand Met. Caterers supplied 6000 chocolate biscuits per day. Details. Reason for not being able to take on big contracts. Had good, bad financial experiences. Mentions other companies going bankrupt. Recalls local enterprises, e.g. market gardening, knitting. Average islander didn't get anything from oil. Recalls Flotta's great day, opening of oil terminal, cheque for island community centre, electricity for everyone. Details re community centre, mistake made re ownership, consequences for Burns Night, public use. People of Flotta sold down the Flow. Describes continuing pollution, noise.
Tape 3 Side B One of most moving moments on Flotta was after Piper Alpha disaster 1988, work on removing bodies from recovered accommodation module, sound of helicopters. Was local registrar, dealt with certification of cause of death. Comments on disaster, likely causes of death. No tanker came in for a year after that. Little impact on Flotta, own business. Explains. Had 7 good years to 1981. Current situation, links with terminal - daughter, son-in-law work there. Future plans.
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