Russians come for a look at Shetland

Shetland is the most northerly point in the UK and has always been a strategic place for any military activity, During WW2 (see ww2preserved.blogspot.co.uk) Shetland was invaded by over 20,000 British servicemen. On Unst, a new radar site was built and became operational recently and its already picked up a number of Russian planes

The latest threat came yesterday when 6 Russian Bombers set off flying over Scandinavia and down the coast of Scotland. Both British and French fighters intercepted the planes ,  three TU-160 supersonic bombers and three TU-95 propeller driven bombers. This is the norm now, the Russians testing the UK defences on a regular basis.

The Drongs

Hillswick

Lots of interesting rock features at Hillswick

While Shetland missed the worst of Storm Ali it did get up the 75mph in places with a roof ripped off at Sellaness and a flying trampoline caught up in pylons in Lerwick

The rain has been falling the last few days and the reservoir at Sandy Loch, Lerwick now filling up after a warning a few days before to be careful using water. Shetland had its driest summer since 1984

It was good to get out and see a different view of the Drongs, just a 40 min walk from Hillswick

While everything looked great in the sun news came out this week that Shetland had been hit by at least two Tsunamis in the last 10,000 years

The 9th Shetland Wool week starts this weekend and at least 600 people are due to attend from various parts of the world. Its a big attraction and growing each year, not far behind this is the Accordion & Fiddle festival. We have always attended this since moving to Shetland and it showcases a great variety of music, mostly from Shetland but also Norway, Scotland and Ireland.

Vantage point Shetland

The weather has just changed, now we have lots of windy, rainy days. The lochs are filling up and the gardens refreshed. This time of year is great for clouds, some dramatic with many patterns forming. On the way back from Lerwick on Tuesday i had to stop in the middle of the road as a storm raged with torrential rain and hail, thunder and lightening

I got out the other day in some good light and went to the turbines just outside Lerwick. The views were superb especially looking down towards Tingwall and the church

Tingwall valley looking north

Tingwall manse

Asta golf course and club house, just can just see the standing stone as well

One thing you notice being so close to the turbines is the noise, the swishing sound gets on your nerves very quickly so i feel sorry for anyone living close to them.

Not happy to hear of a 18% increase in electricity prices. With no gas its nearly all electric heating in Shetland and part of the reason is that companies such as SSE are investing lots of money into wind farms. Another factor to consider if moving to Shetland is that our standing charges for electric is double that of the mainland.

Its not just electric going up, petrol is now £1.39 per litre and climbing so that will affect anything that is transported to Shetland.

On Tuesday i ran a photography course for Mind your Head and mental health charity. It went well with 20 people attending and a number of folk looking to book other photography courses with me. The astrophotography course starting in November has only one place left, book direct with Shetland Adult Education.

Looking towards Dales Voe. Good news coming in that it has been chosen as the favoured site for an ultra deep-water base. This will see a large number of decommissioning projects coming to Shetland . The Ninian platform will be dismantled at the Dales site in 2020 this follows a £12m investment in extending the quay.

Tingwall airport

Dales Voe

Looking north to Cunningsburgh