Colourful days in Shetland

We have now gone past the shortest day when Shetland gets only 5 hours daylight. The weather has been good recently and even today its very still

Clumlie

Sumburgh Head from Clumlie

Early morning over Mousa

Scalloway in the winter sun

St Ninian's Isle

St Ninian's isle

Looking south west to Fair Isle

Looking north to Bressay and Noss

Jarlshof

From Jarlshof to Sumburgh Hotel

Looking South to Sumburgh Head as the sun goes down

Merry Christmas to all our readers

Remembrance Sunday in Shetland

I doubt that a single person will have got past the last weekend without remembering that it was a 100 years since the end of World War 1

Shetland had one of the highest losses of life in WW1, 1 in 38 compared to the Scottish average of 1:45

Even though the men had left for war, the Shetland women were busy knitting items to send to the front, more than 15,496 items were sent and after the war many letters of thanks were received.

Its interesting to find that Shetland also contributed 300,000 eggs to the `Egg collection for the war wounded', in total 32 Million eggs were sent from Britain to the wounded in France and Belgium.

In August 1917 the Shetland folk took to the hills to collect sphagnum moss, 2,500 bags collect and sent to be used surgical dressings as it had antiseptic qualities. The following year 3,000 bags were sent to the front.

At the end of the war 630 Shetland men had lost their lives out of the 3,600 who served in the forces with nearly 10 million men dead during in the conflict.

Like the whole of the UK various events took place, we went to the Festival of Remembrance at Clickimin where the above information came from.

It was very well attended and organised and then the following day we went over to St Ninian's isle where `Pages of the Sea' had been organised along with many others around the UK

Nearly 800 people attended with many folk taking part on the beach creating images of fallen soldiers, later to be washed out by the sea.

New Arrivals

You don't have to go far in Shetland without coming across lambs. Although many have still to be born, lots of fields have lambs jumping around trying to keep warm. It's has been very cold this last week with snow in parts , not a kind introduction to Shetland life.

Lets hope its a better season for the crofters as last year lambs only sold for £5 or less. A poor return when you consider the price of 4 lamb chops in Tesco - £7. Last year the Italian market which bought a lot of lamb suddenly changed to buying lambs from China.

Last weekend it was Da Voar Redd up, an annual event when a large proportion of the Shetland population turns out to collect rubbish from beach and ditches. Not a nice job when the weather is poor but vital for wildlife as birds and whales digest a lot of plastic and end up dying. A lot of this is blown onto our shoreline, thrown over the side from ships.

Each year brings a few surprises, this time a note in a bottle and a hand grenade uncovered by storms, left from the Second World War. The bomb disposal unit could not come to Shetland for several days so the area has been cordoned off.

We had a great meal at the Fisheries College in Scalloway last Saturday night, a Fish banquet was arranged to raise funds for the Fisherman's Mission. A great success and very tasty too

The Folk Festival has just finished, another superb event which has brought people to Shetland from many foreign countries. One we spoke to, was on the way up from Aberdeen on the ferry when it hit a rough patch and a lump of sea smashed through a few windows. Not the best of starts but she made it the following day after repairs to the ferry

The above photo taken from St Ninian's isle looking back to Bigton, the light is superb throughout the year.

Its still cold and windy but many people are already out looking for Killer Whales with a few pods giving superb views to a few. I saw one pod pass through Lerwick , a bit far away on the Bressay side but still well worth seeing (More at shetlandsfp.blogspot.co.uk)

Aurora season has just finished now we are getting lighter nights, you can still see many photos on Facebook at Shetland Aurora Hunter - just send me a request to join