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

Birthday surprise

It has been a very busy month so far, mostly to do with Diane's birthday. the first Saturday in October I was busy organising a surprise birthday party and had to collect a cake especially made by someone in Lerwick then a quick call in Tesco for a few things.

During the afternoon i started to prepare the food ,unknown at the time to Diane. if fact i only told her about an hour before friends started to arrive. A quick change before we greeted guests, most of those invited came over for a great night.

                                                                                               A few of our friends

On Sunday it was always going to be a left over day, the food still tasting good. After numerous Skype conversations we headed out to catch the Aurora which unfortunately had gone past its best but it is always enjoyable to see it (shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk) .

Diane's birthday arrived on Monday and although i was teaching a photography course in Lerwick we had a good afternoon down in the Ness where the weather was extremely good for this time of year.

In the evening we went to the Sumburgh Hotel for a meal, a place we have been coming to for 30 years. An excellent meal as usual and a very crowded eating area with numerous birders coming in for a 'peck' at the food.

                                                                                                 Lerwick

Later in the week it was down to music with the Shetland fiddlers on Wednesday at Islesburgh then the Accordion and fiddle festival Thursday and Friday both late nights but superb music both at Bigton and Gulberwick.

Then last Saturday night we stayed at Sumburgh Hotel as well has having a great meal - thanks to Diane's Sister Wendy and Dave.

In between we spent an afternoon in Lerwick and saw the last Cruise ship for the season - the Marco Polo, its been a good year for visitors. Everyone is looking forward to seeing big reductions in the cost of ferries from Shetland - Aberdeen but this will not happen before 2018 when the contract is up for renewal.

Some will have come as a result of the Shetland Drama series which has just been nominated for a BAFTA and is up for four awards- this will be back on TV next year which will delight the 5.8 million viewers.

A recent study of the Shetland dialect has suggested that this will disappear in the next 30 years, we really love the accent especially the Whalsay one with a fairly remote population. It suggests that since 1970 when the oil boom occurred many English and Scots arrived which started to dilute the local accent. I am sure this is true but without the influx of people many communities would have folded years ago, this would include Papa Stour, Fetlar, Foula and Unst.

We don't normally get power cuts so the one last Sunday night which affected the whole of Shetland was unusual, it was quickly rectified and we had power back on 15 mins later. One thing that has been bad recently is our internet connection which has been very poor, it's still a lot better than some areas, especially out in the west of Shetland.

With so much oil extraction around Shetland it was only a question of time before another oil spill occurred. This time oil escaped from the Clair field about 40 miles west of Eashness , no action was taken as experts said it moved NE away from Shetland with the weather breaking up the oil.

While it may not get washed up on our shores you have to fear for marine life. Lots of whales and Dolphins have been seen around Shetland and some will be in the area of the oil spill, so we might see some whales washed up and seabirds who spend winter out at sea.

www.amazingshetland.co.uk for more Shetland photos.