It's very remote

As you can see from the map, Orkney can be seen as being at the centre of northern Europe. The outer 1200km circle centred on Orkney almost exactly passes through Paris, Berlin, Stockholm and Reykjavik.
The map is in a book called Orkney written by Ronald Miller from Stromness, who was professor of Geography at Glasgow University.
 To illustrate how perceptions differ geographically, he told the story of an Orkney farmer who visited his son in London.
"On his return to Orkney, his cronies demanded a report and were regaled with stories of the wonders of London. The old man, however, reminded his hearers that London suffered from one grave disadvantage. It was very remote."
When Ronald Miller was awarded his PhD in the 1950s, it was reported in the local paper that he had become a doctor of geography. My mother read this report to an elderly neighbour and when Mum dropped in the next day, he was still mulling it over, "Geography...geography...That's no' a disease."