Shetland- 5 year review

Having been living in Shetland for just over 5 years we thought we would review our stay. This was directly after our trip south to Sheffield a few weeks ago,which provided us with a few reminders of what we had left behind.

 Hams o' Roe

Looking back to 1987, on our first visit to Shetland, Diane and I both said we would like to live here if possible. Eventually, everything fell into place in 2014.  It then took us 18 months to sell our house and arrange the move north.

Hams o' Roe

We were fortunate that we had friends in Shetland that helped us find a place to rent as back in 2014 there was nothing advertised with construction workers at Sullom Voe taking all types of accommodation

We looked at many houses around the south mainland and Burra before finally dropping on a house in Sandwick, the place we were very familiar with having spent all our holidays there. It had only just been advertised that day and we put a bid is straight way and it was accepted.

 Hams o' Roe

So four months having arrived in Shetland we had our house and moved in when our furniture arrived which had been in storage back in Sheffield. A few bits got damaged and a few things went missing but generally we got our house in order quickly. Even the cat seemed at home.

 Hams o' Roe

Some people seem to be able to move here without ever having been before but we would suggest that you come up for a trip or two at different times of year to get a feel for the place

So now we look through our living room window and can see the sea, just the job, back in Sheffield we would be 70 miles away.

Some of the reasons we moved to Shetland
 .
The community spirit and sense of belonging is far stronger than down south, the quality of life is lots better, less traffic and better roads, fresh air, less crime, feeling safer, better health care which is important with Diane being disabled. Lots of opportunities to join groups , better job prospects, music in abundance just to name a few.

Grutness

Having been made redundant three times, applied for hundreds of jobs it was great to get the first three jobs I applied for in Shetland. A lot of folk have two or three part time jobs and this works well. I wanted to continue as a Photography Tutor and this was possible with Shetland Adult education (More courses starting September including those for beginners) I moved to people centred jobs, first with the RVS then as an Activity Co- Ordinator working with people with dementia

Scatness

Diane was able to get out more with the Guild and WI, took up knitting again after many years on the back burner and started to play and listen to a lot more music.

WI meal at Scalloway

The wildlife is amazing, we watched Orcas just two mins away from our front door last weekend, Shetland has the largest density of Otters in Europe and has a superb range of breeding and migrant birds to hold your attention throughout the year.

 Black Guillemot

 Common Tern

Instead of photographing for my photo business I was at last able to start photographing for my own interests and Shetland provides thousands of opportunities. I set up 4 Shetland blogs to make full use of my photographs, including this one

Fitfull Head

Back from Sheffield you can get a sense of what you are missing. Family and friends are what we miss the most but use Skype to keep in contact with them and are speaking to them more now then when we lived in Sheffield. We both miss going to see Sheffield Wednesday, Air shows  and Musicals.

We now use Amazon a lot but this is the way many people are doing their shopping. Delivery is very quick for most things and the Postie is very good. You have to change the way you think about your other shopping as it is now a round trip of 26 miles to Lerwick to get food, petrol and money.

Lerwick

You will find the fuel is very expensive, one draw back of living this far north. Bills are nearly three times more than back in Sheffield and you will have your heating on longer. Petrol is more expensive anything between 5-15p more a litre than Aberdeen with fuel poverty around 45% in Shetland.

Orcas at Sandwick

Shetland has a stable population of 23,000 since 1981 which is amazing really . A lot of folk tend to come then leave within 6 months. This may be down to the weather, we were always told that you have to survive your first winter. There may not be a lot of snow but it can get windy, so you might have prepare a lot better than if you were in a city.

Noness

With wide open spaces the wind can cause problems when you are driving but at least we don't have many trees which tend to cause the most damage.

Scatness

Since we have been here we have had winds of 120mph and other days of over 90mph , well above Hurricane level. The long dark nights can also be a problem for many, but there are many groups to join, music to go to and of course the Aurora and Milky way to see in its full glory.

Storm Gertrude Scalloway  (120mph winds)

Aurora at Bigton

Would we go back, No we are very happy in Shetland thanks

More at: 

shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk
shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk

Shetland Aurora Hunter (Facebook)

shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk (Wildlife)

shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk ( Aurora, milky way etc)

ww2preserved.blogspot.co.uk ( Shetland WW2 stories)

and Facebook groups (send a request to join)

Shetland Aurora Hunter

Shetland Clouds.

website: amazingshetland.co.uk

Scatness moody sea

Hope you are enjoying the Shetland BBC1 drama, I think this is a good one. 

Down at Scatness the other day, a good place to go for stormy seas and trying out a new full ND Filter which allows slow exposures

Lots of good birds have visited Shetland in the past few weeks, including the Tengmalm's Owl see more at shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk

Also we have had a few good clear nights when the Aurora has shown , see shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

Don't forget to join us on Facebook

Shetland Aurora Hunter
Shetland Clouds

More to come very soon

Shetland attractions

Well the last Up Helly Aa took place  at Delting in the north mainland recently and the weather was terrible with very strong winds and freezing temperatures . These events never get cancelled due to the weather and the only break was during the war years.

                                                             The Galley ready for buring number two

The south mainland Up Helly Aa seems to have the best weather of all the fire festivals this year.

Events like these and the very successful BBC1 drama - `Shetland' has certainly drawn people to the islands. This year will see about 92,000 cruise liner passengers set foot on the islands, around twice the amount that came last year. These will be brought on a record number of cruise ships, but next year will be even better with 109 cruise liners due bringing 107,000 passengers.

                                                                                          Quendale Beach

Recently the  RAF radar, built at Saxa Vord was officially opened and one of the first visitor a few days later was a Russian fighter which flew down the north isles and was seen by a number of early risers.

I doubt whether any Eurofighters from Lossiemouth would have been able to intercept the plane as it would be have been far away when they arrived in Shetland.

                                                                                     Old buildings at Quendale

Russian bombers and fighter are becoming more frequently encountered around Shetland so its no wonder that Radar was installed in Unst.

                                                                                         Ireland (in Shetland)

Unst is also a possible launching area for UK satellites but we still have to wait and see whether this will be the chosen location.

                                                                     Ireland looking south to St Ninian's

I have been giving talks to the WI groups recently and its always to see so many people interested in Wildlife or the Night sky. I was also interviewed by the Shetland Life magazine who wanted an article on the various aspects of photography in Shetland, I talked about the Night Sky which is a favourite subject for my photography courses.

The next one fully booked again with a number of folk on the waiting list. My facebook group, Shetland Aurora Hunter continues to grow and it is now just under 2,000 members, not bad for 16 months. If you want to see some very rare Aurora `Steve' photos then go to shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk

                                                                  Superb Aurora see above for more

For anyone in Sheffield, I will be giving a talk on `Amazing Shetland' at St Augustine Church Brocco Bank on Tuesday 26 June at 7.30 (I can send you details just contact me for further information)

Less space for Shetland travellers

We received our islander travel vouchers early this year and booked straight away for our trip later in the year to Sheffield. Demand for places are expected to be high after the government announced a reduction in fares for passengers and cars but not cabins.

In addition to this the cargo which used to be shipped south by a separate ship will now go on the ferry making less space available. So if you are coming to Shetland book early.

The weather this winter has been the worse in the last 20 years, plenty of ice about and more snow than we have witnessed since we moved here nearly 4 years ago. The wind has been stronger as well with a few Hurricanes and sever gales to contend with.

This winter has seen more visitors coming to Shetland than normal, with some coming to see the Up Helly aa festivals and combining this with the occasional Aurora sighting, although we are approaching a solar minimum (see shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk ) and Shetland Aurora Hunter on facebook for more information

The BBC drama ` Shetland' started on Tuesday 13 February and everyone that we know has been talking about it, having drawn over 4million viewers its proving very popular, Coronation Street only draws about 5.5 Million visitors.

Many Norwegians came here last summer to see the house that ` Jimmy Perez' is living in and as they knew that part of this series was based in Norway.

Part of this series is  also based a short distance from where we live, this time in Fladdibister a few miles north.

We like winter, the skies and seas  are dramatic the weather embracing. Often you can walk a beach without seeing anyone and places like Jarlshof or Scatness empty apart from the odd person studying for their tourist guide badge.

Our car broke down the last weekend and we called the breakdown service (Lucky we manage to get a phone signal), we know every organisation uses Jim's garage so having used them once before we were in good hands. We got the car going (Flat battery) and the following day we went to the Kia garage but they had to order a new battery and as yet we are still waiting for the replacement.

According to a few people we know in the car trade, they often fit reconditioned batteries rather than new, so no wonder they only last a few years. One friend has had two batteries in four years so it doesn't give you much confidence, and its not confined to just a couple of car dealerships.

If you are moving to Shetland its worth making sure you are on Vodaphone, they seem to have the best coverage, unfortunately, our problems didn't stop at a broken down car, i also lost our phone.

Our power costs have increased this year despite moving provider, with no mains gas its either down to electric, oil or solid fuel. The standing charge is double what we paid for electric in Sheffield. Another cost that is going up is the rates, an increase of 3% and it seems that petrol will continue to rise as well, currently at £1.26 per litre. So don't forget to take all these extra costs into account.

There are many compensations with lots to see, great wildlife and scenery, superb night skies, lots of music nights either to play at our just go and listen and of course lots of 8 o 'clocks (Cakes etc).

Winter is also a time i give most of my talks and in a couple of weeks i will be giving talks to the WI in Bixter (West mainland) and Sandwick, both on birds/ Wildlife and then we will be given a talk on Shetland at St Augustine's church in Sheffield on the 26 June- all welcome.

I am hoping to have my Canvas prints back up for sale at Hoswick Visitors centre next week after they have finished painting the rooms. Also tomorrow i will be giving an interview to Shetland Life on why Shetland is so good for photography and how to improve your camera skills.