Scalloway Ancient Capital of Shetland

Its getting to be the windy month  with several Force 8 's passing through. Our new individual wheelie bins, which are tied to the fence even got blown over on Monday. Driving become difficult and a lot of people don't even go out 

Scalloway is a lot quieter than Lerwick with a population of about 1,000. Its a place where trees do well, growing in many sheltered gardens

Its an interesting place and offers many photo opportunities if you look 

Its the small things that make a good photo

Fishing such an important industry in Scalloway

The coloured houses just remind me of  Mull and it has the same feel to it.

Outdoor concerts?

We have been to the Accordion and Fiddle Festival this month and as always enjoyed the event although there seemed to be less people attending this year. I would like to see more local people play rather than bringing up Scottish musicians

Always good to see cats around and this  one came over for a photo. 

The castle, next to the very popular museum is a great place to visit. Although Earl Patrick was not a popular person and a number of people died building it. It was an ammunition dump for the Shetland Bus in WW2. This is only one of two Castles in Shetland, the other can be found at Muness in Unst.

You can book now for the above Photography course due to start in January

Unst

Unst is the most northerly place in Britain and it takes a bit of an effort to get there. Once you have travelled north to Toft in the mainland you have a 20 min ferry trip to Yell, then 25 mins across Yell to pick up another 10min ferry to Unst

The world famous bus shelter at Baltasound is worth a look, the theme changes each year and it has its own website. The theme this year was all about the possible satellite launch site at Saxavord, would be great to have it in Shetland.

                                                   A world war 2 lifeboat at Skaw and the most northerly house in the UK

Looking back to the new RAF radar base at Saxavord, just after this was turned on a Russian jet flew the length of Shetland, just to test out the response

                                    The other Skeggie, we used to go to the one down on the east coast of England

                                                                                           Longboat outside the Viking longhouse

                                                             Viking long hut now completed at Haroldswick

                                     A great welcome, Unst offers something different to the other islands in Shetland

                                                                        Back down in Lerwick for a coffee at Mareel

Second Christmas day in Shetland

We survived Storm Barbara and Conor together with a few severe Gales, but several houses close by sustained damage mostly slates off but next doors also had there shed roof ripped off and some landed in the middle of the road

Looking at the houses across the field a couple have lost several slates and these have ended up in our garden and next doors. Several years ago the Hurricanes got so bad that some slates flew through windows and embedded themselves in the living room walls. Thank goodness no one was injured, that shows the power of the wind

Some people also lost power for four / five hours on Christmas day including our friends who ended up cooking Christmas dinner for 18 more or less in the microwave (They had a generator that managed the TV and lights)

Our cancelled Christmas eve meal at Sumburgh took place on New Years eve and we ended up with far better fireworks than London or Edinburgh as an Aurora display took place, many people watched this on Shetland webcam 3

We only managed to get out once in perfect weather then it was back to gales again, you have to make the most of any decent weather. We decided to walk along the coast just south of Sumburgh hotel, one we have not done for a long time (Hence photos)

The Julian Calender which is used by the people of Foula enabled us to celebrate a second Christmas day today, our cat Furbie was well impressed as he had more Chicken. In Unst a while ago, Baltasound and Uyeasound both had different Christmas's and they are only 5 miles apart

Next week we start Up Helly Aa, the first will take place in Scalloway on 13 January with the big one in Lerwick Tuesday 31 January (worth watching on www.shetland.org) , There will not be any postponement due to the weather

see more photos at www.amazingshetland.co.uk

and join our new facebook group Shetland Aurora Hunter - just send me a request to join

Odd Visitors to Shetland

With two Russian Bombers escorted away from British airspace near Shetland, it  came as no surprise that the Russian planned to sail a fleet of seven heavily armed warships close to Britain on the way to Syria.

It planned to practice bombing off the coast of northern Scotland and come within a mile of the UK limit as they journeyed through the English Channel

So HMS Richmond turned up in Lerwick ready to take action if required. Although to confuse the Russian according to the Royal Navy website it was still berthed in Portsmouth not actually in Shetland.

On a lighter note

It was interesting to hear about the North Isles awards, here is the criteria:

1. Unsung hero
2. Best Beard in the North Isles
3. Cheeriest Crofter
4. Funniest Person
5. Friendliest Islander
6. Most Caring
7. Best wearer of a Boilersuit
8. Nicest Ferry person
9. Best smile

This is for those living in Unst, Yell and Fetlar.

I love lamb, especially Shetland lamb and we normally get it direct from the local farmer. In the Shetland Times this week it came a bit of surprise to find that prices have tumbled to as little as 50 p per animal. Most going for £5 per animal but some small lambs 0.50 p.

This is making the native Shetland lamb flock unsustainable. How much are you paying for 4 lamb chops at the supermarket ? bet it is more than £5.

Better news on the Shetland fish front with news that Shetland landed more fish than England, Wales and Ireland combined. Over 72, 000 tonnes of fish and shellfish worth £61 million were landed here in 2015.

This represent over a 1/4 of all fish landed in Scotland. Interestingly the EU catch (including UK) landed 450,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish worth around £300 million all caught within Shetland waters. Hopefully leaving the EU will generate a massive boost to the Shetland fishing industry creating more jobs- that's providing the government doesn't barter it away.

We have now moved into a cold period after a brilliant October. Cold winds from the north in the last few days have resulted in the heating going up. We don't have too many options in Shetland, no gas so electricity at a higher cost than England has to heat our homes.

We hope that the new Quantum and other storage heaters are better than the Air- Air heating which was a disaster, hardly providing enough heating in winter. We have left these in for light summer use. The smell of peat is now in the air although its not an option for us.

To see more photos please go to www.amazingshetland.co.uk

Next week , 7 November I will be giving an illustrated talk to the WI Boddam Group on Sheffield & Peak District and on the 17 November an illustrated talk on Night Lights to the RVS social group at Hoswick.