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Summer in Shetland

Three months in Hillswick….. and more

There are no trees…..

May 13, 2022May 13, 2022 Leave a comment

Three weeks after we returned to Droitwich after three months in Shetland in 2017 this is what we posted: Our sky has shrunk, we are hemmed in by trees and houses, edgy about the multiple cars on driveways and roads, the local water is contained in a man-made channel, the air feels warm… Read more… Continue reading There are no trees…..

We’re back …..five years on

May 13, 2022 Leave a comment

After five years which brought us our Golden Wedding Anniversary, three months in Australia, another series of Shetland, Brexit, Covid, Boris Johnson and so much more, we are back in Shetland for a mini ‘Summer in Shetland’. This time we are staying in an old crofthouse in Heylor, a community which straggles along the edges… Continue reading We’re back …..five years on

Storm on the island

October 17, 2017October 18, 2017 Leave a comment

A Shetland friend, Susan Bowie, shared this Seamus Heaney poem yesterday as Storm Ophelia approached the UK… To all my friends across the sea sheltering from the howling beast We are prepared: we build our houses squat, Sink walls in rock and roof them with good slate. This wizened earth has never troubled us With… Continue reading Storm on the island

Three weeks later…… some thoughts

Three weeks later…… some thoughts

September 20, 2017 Leave a comment

Our sky has shrunk, we are hemmed in by trees and houses, edgy about the multiple cars on driveways and roads, the local water is contained in a man-made channel, the air feels warm…… For now we are reduced to the ordinariness (and extra-ordinariness) of everyday life. Droitwich has the same population as Shetland but… Continue reading Three weeks later…… some thoughts

Some of the best

Some of the best

September 12, 2017September 12, 2017 Leave a comment

After three months away it takes a while to sort out life here in Droitwich as well as reflecting on and sorting through all the experiences we had whilst we were away in Shetland – so expect some more on the blog in due course as we work our way through. In the meantime …..Malcolm… Continue reading Some of the best

Shetland living – living Shetland (3)

Shetland living – living Shetland (3)

August 15, 2017August 15, 2017 Leave a comment

Of course oil fields are not bottomless pits of black gold and some of the North Sea oil fields are now reaching the end of their economic lives. For an island that has built much of its current economy and community life on the promises of the 1970s there must be concern about the future.… Continue reading Shetland living – living Shetland (3)

Shetland living – living Shetland (2)

Shetland living – living Shetland (2)

August 14, 2017August 14, 2017 Leave a comment

From the fifteenth to the twentieth century the most northerly tip of the Shetland mainland, Fethaland – just a couple of miles north of North Roe – became a summer home for hundreds of deep sea fishermen and fish processors, including some women. They lived in basic stone lodges, roofed each summer, and worked  from… Continue reading Shetland living – living Shetland (2)

Shetland living – living Shetland (1)

Shetland living – living Shetland (1)

August 13, 2017 Leave a comment

As many tourists do we arrived in Shetland with an interest in history, in my past, in my parents’ experiences when they came here 70 years ago – and even further back than that – how had  life in Shetland developed over the centuries? How did the Methodist church take root here? How did people… Continue reading Shetland living – living Shetland (1)

Born before the NHS

Born before the NHS

August 2, 2017 Leave a comment

My mother gave birth to me just a few weeks before the NHS was  born in July 1948. When the NHS was ‘celebrating’ its 60th birthday in 2008 the Shetland Times ran an article on the early days of the NHS in Shetland – you can find the full article here 60 years of the NHS… Continue reading Born before the NHS

PS – some Methodist connections!

PS – some Methodist connections!

August 1, 2017 3 Comments

A postscript to the previous blog – perhaps because Methodist ministers are itinerant and because churches are grouped into circuits and districts – or perhaps because they are rather sociable people, it seems that whenever we visit a Methodist church we find some connection, some personal link with the place or the people there. There… Continue reading PS – some Methodist connections!

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About

Over the summer of 2017 we will be leaving our home in Droitwich and living for three months in a small hamlet, Hillswick, in the north of the main island of Shetland. From May to August we will be sharing our experiences, reflections, and photographs here.
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