Shetland past

Spring is progressing fast, the nights are so light you can read a book outside at midnight, nearly `Simmer Dim'

Lots of old derelict  crofts can be found around Shetland and there is always something of interest inside. Many people now preferring to build new houses.

This one is at Quendale. There is now about 23,000 people living in Shetland but at this time of year many visitors arrive and most struggle to find accommodation. Its a bit of surprise to many to find 4 hotels up for sale while a brand new one, the Brevik Hotel may end up being knocked down and a replaced by a 91 bedroom hotel owned by the Premier Inn.

A recent report shows that 53% of Shetlanders live in fuel poverty, with 22% in extreme fuel poverty. Electricity is a lot dearer in Shetland and bills continue to rise to pay for the new Wind Farms. Most Shetlanders don't want these turbines all over Shetland and the decision as to whether they will go here will be made very soon.

We applied for a grant for insulation but they couldn't install underfloor insulation as the gap was too small and because we already had 100mm of loft insulation they couldn't put any more in. You have to make your house as warm as possible and these old croft with there massive stone walls are very difficult to insulate

The other night we attended a very good concert at the Garrison theatre, Shetland for Wirds'`. This was founded in 2004 to encourage the use of written and spoke dialect as a valued and essential part of the Shetland heritage.

The concert included poems, song, film a play and music  the Shetland way. I just love hearing the Whalsay dialect so make sure if you visit you make time to go an experience this speech.  At one time the teachers were made to rid Shetland dialect from the schools in favour of the English language and now with over 1/2 the Shetland population from `outside' then its vital that the Shetland Dialect and their ways are preserved.

Please take a look at my other blogs and website

http://www.amazingshetland.co.uk
http://shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk
http://shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk
http://ww2preserved.blogspot.co.uk

#shetland,#Garrisontheatre, #Shetlanddialect,#Whalsay, #Shetlandheritage, #amazingshetland, #windfarms, #Simmerdim