North Mainland Notes 11.07.08

A fayre success

BRAE High school held a very successful summer fayre last Thursday which was officially opened by head teacher Robert Grant.

Despite the poor weather there was an excellent turnout of family and friends. A good range of stalls proved enticing for all and, together with a positive response to the raffle, the sum raised was £2,130.66.

Thanks is extended to all who attended: to local businesses Brae Garage, Brae Hotel, Busta House Hotel and Snipz hairdressers for the kind donations towards the raffle prizes; the parent council for their donations; and all pupils and staff of the school who worked together to make it a fun day for all.

The proceeds go towards the school fund which is used to benefit all pupils in the school. The next summer fayre will be in July 2010.

Busy year for toddlers

Brae Toddler Group had a party last Thursday to mark the end of another busy and enjoyable year.

This year the group has had visits from various artists through the Arts Play scheme. The bairns had great fun with James Johnson and his giant trampoline and went on visits to the Brae fire station and the Trondra Farm.

The group, which meet on Thursdays in Brae Youth Centre, is now closed for the summer holidays and is due to reopen from 10am-12pm on Thursday, 21st August.

Trow-spotting at da Bjorgs

The Nort Trow summer exhibition in the North Roe and Lochend hall, organised by Interpretation Nort, is proving a popular attraction with locals and visitors alike.

In addition to the natural and cultural interpretation on display, local crafts are selling well and the availability of light refreshments is being welcomed by people.

As well as the static display, Interpretation Nort is hosting a number of bannock-making workshops over the summer and a series of guided walks.

A guided trow spotting walk is planned for tomorrow. The walk will include a story teller and a packed lunch and costs £20 per person. Walkers should be moderately fit and come prepared with suitable clothing and footwear. To book or for more details telephone Maureen on (01806) 544217

Website worker wanted

It is now almost two years since Northmavine launched its community website www.northmavine.com and it has proved quite a success with over 42,000 visitors to the site.

The site also has a friendly forum with well over 100 members and some superb examples of photography from many of the forum members.

The main aim of the site is to benefit the community and let others experience the quality of life it has to offer. A range of information is available including business services, community information, facilities, tourist information and much more to help promote the area both internally and externally.

The website design and much of the content is thanks to Fiona Cope of Hillswick, who is also responsible for updating the information on the website and adding new stories and features. She is in the process of setting up a craft shop at her house in Hillswick, which she hopes to open next summer, and in addition has also taken over http://www.designedinshetland.co.uk, a website dedicated to the sale of craft products made in Shetland.

All the extra work generated in setting up an e-commerce business and getting the shop up and running means that Fiona has decided to step down from her duties to the Northmavine website. The directors of the NCDC would like to record their thanks to her for creating and updating such an excellent site.

If anyone is interesting in taking on the small updating contract please contact the NCDC office for further details. Phone (01806) 544222 or e-mail maree@northmavine.com

Voe Show entries

It is now less than a month until the first female president of the Voe & District Agricultural Society, Helena Johnson, presides over her first Voe Show.

The show will be held on Saturday 2nd August and there is still just enough time to get entry forms into committee members, the deadline being Monday at 5pm. So hopefully a lot of people will enter for the first time.

Splinters success

The Splinters drama group would like to thank parents, relatives and the community for supporting the fund-raising day at the end of May. The sum raised was £748 and this will help towards running costs for the coming autumn/winter session leading up to the annual pantomime Snow White.

After success at both the Scottish Community Drama Association’s district festival and the Shetland County Drama Festival, it was rewarding for the script writer, Mike Newbold, to receive feedback on the quality of his writing.

This year two new pieces were written specifically for the group by Mike: Confused, written for the youth group, and Wide Innocent Eyes, written for a group of ex-Splinters members, were both commended in the new plays section of Scottish Community Drama Association and forwarded to the Geoffrey Whitworth playwrights competition.

Wide Innocent Eyes, which won the “non dialect” new piece at the Shetland County Drama Festival, was awarded a commended place in the final judging of the Geoffrey Whitworth award. This competition is UK wide. For many years now Mike has been quietly turning out scripts of outstanding quality for Splinters’ productions and it’s great to see his work receiving recognition.

Quick guide to Northmavine

The Northmavine Tourism Group, a sub-group of the Northmavine Community Development Company (NCDC), has been working hard during the winter.

As part of the recommendations to promote Northmavine, outlined in the 2007 Northmavine Tourism Action Plan, the group has developed a visitor guide for the area.

A Visitors’ Quick Guide to Northmavine is an A5, 36-page guide outlining 72 sites or places in Northmavine. The booklet contains six sections, including each of the five areas: Sullom, Hillswick, Eshaness, Ollaberry and North Roe, along with Ronas Hill.

Each section has outline maps, information and photographs on 12 sites or places within each specific area. A list of contact details for local businesses and facilities is included at the back of the booklet.

From visitor feedback, the tourism group knew these would be useful for visitors and the group has also produced a free insert with details of bus timetables, business/facility opening hours and what’s on in Northmavine.

The group worked well to pull together the text and pictures and special thanks should be extended to Davy Cooper for much of the text and the design work. The result is a super little pocket guide with superb photos and lots of interesting information.

A Visitors’ Quick Guide to Northmavine is priced at £4.50 and is on sale at Brae Garage, Ollaberry Shop, Braewick Cafe and the Tourist Information Office in Lerwick. Copies are also available from the NCDC office at Greenbrae, South Collafirth, Ollaberry.

Maree Hay