Tom Morton, Shetland Islands Councillor

Not started your Christmas shopping yet? You'll be sure to find something in Northmavine this weekend! 🍰🎁🎅🎄

Having now spent tens of thousands of pounds on a public consultation indicating that the Shetland Community Benefit Fund’s priorities should essentially be identical to those of Shetland Islands Council, isn’t it time for the SCBF to begin collaborating with the SIC and the Shetland Charitable Trust on policy, strategy and practice? We don’t need another unaccountable ‘little kingdom’ hoarding its power and resources.

Community benefit fund one step closer to financing legacy projects THE FUND administering community benefit payments from the Viking Energy wind farm is hoping to be able to make a number of legacy investments that will make a real difference to life in Shetland. The Shetland Community Benefit Fund (SCBF) has just published a list of guiding...

Defies belief. One of the most beautiful churches and probably the most historically important church (or church site) in Shetland. The ‘mother Kirk’. Matricide by the Church of Scotland when it was flogged a year ago. I’ve conducted funeral services in that (active, council owned) graveyard and will continue to do so. Don’t imagine you could grab a bargain £60K holiday home. No one here wants to see your washing hanging amid the gravestones of loved ones.

Defies belief, sometimes, what the volunteer RNLI crews do for all of us. Lerwick Lifeboat at sea overnight in the midst of Babette to rescue a Danish fishing boat. 18 hours. Please contribute to what is and will always be a charity. Or, as David Hammond once said, if you live where we live, think of it as insurance. Fantastic pictures from Ryan.

Quick word of praise and support for Shetland's beleaguered dental service. I know recruitment is a major problem, but kudos to the dentists, dental therapists, assistants and other staff who are doing a fantastic job under immense pressure. A recent personal issue with disintegrating WOST (West of Scotland Teeth) was addressed immediately with temporary fillings and then fixed permanently within a fortnight. Very grateful.

A Midwife in Africa: From Shetland to Soweto...and back. The further adventures of a Fair isle Nurse A Midwife in Africa: From Shetland to Soweto...and back. The further adventures of a Fair isle Nurse eBook : McAlpine, Mona: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Recruiting one deckhand for a basic boat like the Fair Isle ferry Good Shepherd has proved very difficult (see attached story). Mainly because he or she has to live on one of the most remote Shetland Islands, as the ferry has to be based there - winched onto dry land so it's safe from weather conditions.

Now a ro-ro ferry, also to be based in Fair Isle, is planned, with new harbour works and a cost, subsidised by a Westminster 'Levelling Up' grant of £27m, which could soar, experts say, to nearly a million pounds for each of Fair Isle's 60 residents. To qualify for that £27m, the project has to be completed by April 2026. In one of the most exposed, and isolated parts of the UK. This seems unlikely. The difference between the Leveling Up funding and the final cost would have to be met by Shetland Islands Council.

Only preliminary investigative work has been done on the project. No contracts for construction of the vessel or harbour facilities have been awarded.

The Good Shepherd is old and needs replaced. But does a new ferry have to be based in Fair Isle and crewed by islanders? Does the expertise and workforce for that exist? A multi-use vessel serving not just Fair Isle but other remote Shetland isles, based in and crewed from Lerwick,would require neither a vastly expensive Fair Isle base nor difficult, probably impossible to recruit local crew. It would be far more viable, economically and practically.

Job advertised to work as boat deckhand on UK's most remote island Fair Isle, which is 24 miles from the Shetland Mainland in Scotland, has a population of just 60 people and is known for its fishing and crofting community.

Five hour council meeting. But on Teams, you can multitask: if only my fellow councillors could have smelled the aroma of bacon and black pudding from my oven...

Also, good to have a meeting of the SIC where the online auditor's displayed credentials included a Gibson Les Paul and a Fender Jaguar. Amps next time, Mr Howarth, please! (Screengrab from the publicly available video of said meeting, or part of it). God have mercy on you, it's available here: https://shetland.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/811754

Very sad to hear this. I worked with Gary a lot when I was at The Scotsman. It's his picture (and motorbike) on the front cover of the original Spirit of Adventure

Everyone involved with the Highlands and Islands Press Ball and Media Awards was deeply saddened at the recent passing of Gary Anthony.

Gary was a gifted photographer, a highly-rated and much-loved colleague and a warm-hearted and respected man.

He had a great ability to produce an eye-catching image, illustrated in the portfolios he entered in the annual Highlands and Islands Media Awards.

His talent shone though, first as a young photographer in 1991 and then becoming only the second photographer to lift the coveted Journalist of the Year award in 2014.

Gary was a great supporter of the press ball and the media awards and proved an inspiration to younger photographers with his measured and wise guidance.

Journalism in the Highlands and Islands has lost a very dear colleague.

Our condolences to Gary’s family and friends.

"Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

• P. B. Shelley Complete work of poetry and prose
( https://amzn.to/40Xgoo9 )

Heard today that a local butcher has stopped making pies and a baker their legendary 'fancies', simply due to lack of staff. One Lerwick supermarket allegedly has 30 vacancies. Rural shops are struggling to recruit.

Shetland is a tiny, overheated economy with prices of basic foodstuffs and fuel spiralling, demand for staff from high-paying employers outpricing businesses who can't match those wages, and those who can't work facing escalating poverty.

But never mind. Once the tunnels are built and the spaceport is launching rockets, all will be well...

Many thanks to Rearo for so efficiently dealing with demand for bottled gas following the collapse of Zetgas.

Rearo can't collect the Zetgas cylinders. That's up to Zetgas.

Get in touch if you have any issues.

If you're crew on a fishing boat, or even putting down a few creels for selling crabs and lobsters, you need to get a medical and fill in the correct form. Even if you're not a member of the Shetland Fishermen's Association, they will help. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwVfhBuItdl/?igshid=NzZhOTFlYzFmZQ==

All fishermen require to have a medical by 30 November 2023. Here’s how to access a medical in Shetland if you cannot get one at your local health centre. #mca #ml5 #eng1 @nhs_shetland #fishermen @thebeatcroft #shetland

"First they came for our swimming lessons, and we did nothing. Then they closed our leisure centres, and we did nothing. Finally, they came for Barbie and our performances by Abba Tribute acts, and we thought...wait a minute..."

Arts agency introduces voluntary redundancy scheme in bid to reduce costs The organisation has identified that it needs to make total savings of more than £300k

This is dreadful. Poorly thought out and very serious implications for our (especially inshore) fisheries. Not only fishermen, but all seagoing employment. And not just about BMI. Shetland Fishermen could suffer greatly. And ferries, and salmon farmers.

Hundreds of Scots fisherman face losing jobs as new rules brand them too fat UK Government laws mean sailors could be banned from their own trawlers if they don't have a body mass index (BMI) of under 35.

There will be a short memorial service for Colin Arnot in Hillswick at noon on Wednesday 2 August, during which Colin's ashes will be scattered. It will take place at the Manse end of the Aest Ayre (shingle beach by the Weaving Shed/Booth) in Hillswick. Afterwards friends are invited by Colin's family to gather at the St Magnus Bay Hotel for soup and sandwiches.

Not a council task, but very much about Shetland and all who sail in her. I'll be hosting the live online video and audio coverage of the Tall Ships Races presence in , Wednesday to Saturday. Listen and watch here:

Tall Ships Races Lerwick 2023 | Scotland’s Only 2023 Host Port As Scotland’s host port for Tall Ships 2023, Shetland is looking forward to the return of The Tall Ships Races at Lerwick Harbour, expected to visit between 26 to 29 July 2023.

10 years since the epochal rock festival . Who can forget The Great Clearing of the Sheep Pirls? Lots of video still online including the incredible band Stallions of the Highway...

Stallions of the Highway Live at Glusstonberry 2013 Shetland Recorded live at Glusstonberry in Shetland - 20th & 21st July 2013 by 60 NORTH TV

Just putting this here for reference, regarding the Fair Isle ferry project, and following today's rightly cautious approval by Shetland Islands Council of the way it's being tackled.

The new Fair Isle ferry and terminals is currently mooted to cost a maximum of around 30 million pounds, with the Westminster Government supplying 27 million. To get that, however, the project must be completed by March 2026. There was a lot of prevarication today about "negotiations" with the Department of Transport should difficult weather conditions - to which Fair Isle is no stranger - lead to delays.

What could happen, of course, is that the deadline isn't met, a Labour Government scraps or just backpedals on the whole Levelling Up scheme (which has always seemed to me like electoral bribery or an attempt to give Holyrood a kicking) and Shetland Islands Council has to meet the entire cost. Having entered what will probably be a hardball contract with a potentially litigious contractor, and one not even reached by open tendering.

And it could all go horribly wrong. One big wind at the wrong time is all it would take.

In 1989, a single storm during construction work destroyed the Gills Bay linkspan, part of the planned short sea crossing of the Pentland Firth from Orkney to Caithness. This was being built and was to be operated by Orkney Ferries, part of Orkney Islands Council. The resultant financial crisis almost bankrupted Orkney and led it into a disastrous period of financial near-meltdown.

Councillor Stephen L:eask said at today's meeting that we should beware the Fair Isle project becoming "our HS2". I worry about an example much closer to home.

A warning from history, then:

Work halted on terminals for new ferry ISLAND councillors in Orkney yesterday agreed on an immediate halt to

This will affect many households and businesses. Best start making your resupply arrangements now.

UPDATE: the committee (which has delegated authority) voted to abandon swimming lessons at secondary level, continue them for primaries 1-4, "target" lessons in primary 5-7 and "embed open water survival" in lessons. This last, spur of the moment addition is completely uncosted and unresearched. My amendment, to leave things as they were - which, incidentally, was supported by a majority of respondents to a survey on the issue - was defeated 7 votes to 4. A misleading and I'm afraid ridiculous assertion that the new measures would "ensure no-one left school unable to swim" will I fear come back to haunt those daft or desperate enough to be convinced by it.*

Swimming lesson proposal would see classes stop for secondary one and two COUNCILLORS are being asked to remove swimming lessons for children in secondary one and two - but keep classes for most in primary. It comes after a review was carried out into swimming lesson provision to see if savings could be made. It has proved a somewhat contentious...

Apolitical song.

Please Confiscate My Camper Van A song from the upcoming Motorhome concept album. Audio and text

Enormous thanks to all roads. water, electricity, shop, ferries and medical staff, as well as the folk who have been ensuring that vulnerable neighbours are OK. Also coastguards and the earthmoving equipment owners who have been clearing roads on their own initiative.

EMERGENCY COUNCIL CONTACT NUMBERS

“As the wintry weather looks set to continue for the next day or so, we’re asking that people support each other in the community, and continue to look out for any vulnerable neighbours and family members.

“However, if you have a need for urgent support, please contact our Duty Social Work service on 01595 744468 (during office hours) or 01595 695611 (out of hours) – our staff will do what they can to link you to the help you need within your community.”

...aaaand...we're back!

The Passing Place, 5 March 2023: Shetland, sheep, tomatoes, religion and politics. by The Passing Place with Tom Morton and Drew Ratter Tom Morton and Drew Ratter return, and this time they mean it. Half an hour of chat from the northernmost reaches of the UK, this time covering sheep, tomatoes, sheep, other vegetables, religion and politics (with special reference to the SNP leadership election) consultancy culture, essential reads...

Dispecta est tomatoes! Peppers, fruit, veg and the best fish in Europe, all at our tiny community shop in , . Oh, and the fine folk at Hensington Palace had 400 eggs laid this morning.

For everyone in Shetland who missed da mirrie dancers due to cloud…

It's that time of year again! Transform any photo into a social media sensation with one of our Aurora Borealis crayon kits.
Yours for £29.99 or half a dozen tomatoes.