North Mainland Notes 25.07.08

Playday at Voxter

The first large scale, free National Playday event will be held in the North Mainland at Voxter on Friday 15th August from 11am-3pm. The outdoor adventure day is being organised by the SIC’s Active Schools and Shetland Pre-School Play Ltd. and is open to all ages from pre-school to primary 7.

Activities will take place around the beach, the burn and the woods at Voxter and children will need to bring appropriate clothing. Throughout the day a range of sport, crafts and outdoor activities will be on offer and primary 7s will need a change of clothing as they go walking and wading up the burn of Valayre.

Transport will be provided from outlying areas in the North Mainland and there will be a park and ride scheme operating from Brae High school, as no private vehicles will be permitted at Voxter.

Pre-school children should be accompanied by an adult. A range of catering will be on sale from COPE at the event, but packed lunches are also recommended. Although the day is free, parents must register their child at Islesburgh on (01595) 692114.

Nort Trow at North Roe

The Nort Trow Exhibition at the North Roe & Lochend Hall will be open tomorrow with a range of workshops and demonstrations from 2pm-4pm. The popular bannock making workshop with Susan Thompson will take place in the kitchen and people should book a place with Susan on (01806) 533340 and leave a message. At the same time, in the main hall, there will be demonstrations of knitting, spinning and kishie making in addition to the static displays.

Interpretation Nort, the group behind the exhibition, would like to say a big thank you to all the folk who helped in any way at the Fethaland Foy. The weather wasn’t particularly kind to the event, but the group was still able to raise around £2,000 for Interpretation Nort funds. Special thanks must go to the youngest member of the IN group who raised over £800 alone by taking part in the sponsored boat row.

Northmavine sheepdog trials

The Northmavine sheepdog trials were held last Saturday at North Roe. The very wet and windy weather did not deter competitors, although they were clad in waterproofs all day.

The sheep – gimmers provided by Jerry Ramsay – behaved impeccably with hardly any competitor failing to pen. However, the shed was not so easy as the sheep were reluctant to be separated.

The judge for the day was Jessie Main from Humbie in East Lothian. Jessie is very experienced as both a judge and shepherdess and she was impressed by the quality of the handling; the sheep being especially good. She also said that she and her friend June Radford, who was the timekeeper for the trials, had thoroughly enjoyed their first visit to Shetland. The female line-up of officials was completed with long-standing clerk, Ruby Brown.

The tea tent provided a welcome opportunity for spectators to shelter from the weather and enjoy the barbeque, homebakes and teas provided by the family and friends of committee members. The committee would like to thank Mrs Wilson who provided the field for the event and everyone who helped prepare and run the event. Despite the weather, high points were achieved in all classes and the results were as follows:

Limit Class
1st Kate Birkett, Orkney – Gift 54 points (out of 60); 2nd Marcus Georgeson, Sand – Cap 53; 3rd Jack Ridland, Wester Skeld – Gyp 48; 4th Jack Ridland, Wester Skeld – Meg 43; 5th Maurice Anderson, Scousburgh – Dug 42.

Open Class
1st Andrew Nicolson, Ollaberry – Fleck 91 points (out of 100); 2nd Jerry Ramsay, Ollaberry – Gwen 90; 3rd Isla Thomason, Fetlar – Lace 89; 4th Andrew Nicolson, Ollaberry – Kate 88; 5th Christopher Williamson, Ollaberry – Cal 85; 6th Chris­topher Williamson, Ollaberry – Dan 83; 7th Andrew Hughson, Brunthamarsland – Bob 82.

Doubles Class
1st Marcus Georgeson, Sand – Bill & Bet 101 points (out of 115); 2nd Andrew Nicolson, Ollaberry – Kate & Fleck 97; 3rd Christopher Williamson, Ollaberry – Todd & Cal 86.

Junior Class
1st Duncan Stove, Brae – Nan 52 points (out of 60); 2nd Daina Murray, North Roe – Tara 23; 3rd Grant Anderson, Ollaberry – Todd 21.

Championship Class

1st Jerry Ramsay, Ollaberry – Gwen 88 points (out of 100); 2nd Andrew Nicolson, Ollaberry – Fleck 87; 3rd Andrew Hughson, Brunthamarsland – Bob 86; 4th Christopher Williamson, Ollaberry – Cal 82; 5th Isla Thomason, Fetlar – Lace 75.

Best Local Competitor – Jerry Ramsay, Ollaberry – Gwen
Best Shed – Kate Birkett, Orkney – Tessa
Best Pen – James Nicolson, Scalloway – Nell
Best Lift and Fetch – Andrew Nicolson, Ollaberry – Fleck
Best Outrun – Jack Ridland, Wester Skeld – Jill
Best Drive – Andrew Hughson, Brunthamarsland – Bob
Best Shetland Bred Dog – Jerry Ramsay, Ollaberry – Gwen
Best Local Competitor in Limit Class only – Robbie Anderson, Ollaberry
Dog or Dogs Under Best Command – Kate Birkett, Orkney – Tessa
Best Junior Competitor with own dog – Duncan Stove, Brae – Nan
Best Newcomer – Daina Murray, North Roe
Best Lady Competitor – Isla Thomason, Fetlar – Lace
Most Unfortunate Run – Christopher Williamson, Ollaberry – Todd
Quietest Competitor – Isla Thomason, Fetlar – Lace

Dog’s day for Daina
At 10 years old Daina Murray was the youngest competitor in the Northmavine Sheepdog Trials on Saturday. This was the first time Daina had entered the trials and she and her dog, Tara, came away excellent results, winning the prize for the best newcomer and second prize in the junior class. The windy weather proved a slight disadvantage for Daina as Tara found it difficult to hear Daina’s voice commands from a distance on the outrun. Although Daina has been helping on the family croft at Isbister for some time, she has only recently started working sheep with Tara and should be congratulated on achieving so much in such a short space of time.

CLAN coffee
Last Sunday the Eshaness Community Centre held a coffee afternoon in aid of CLAN House. A total of £327.65 was raised and the committee would like to thank everyone who came along to support the event. Also a huge thanks you to all who baked and helped in any way to make the afternoon a success.

Eshaness eela
The Eshaness Eela Competition will be held on Saturday 26th July – weather permitting of course. The competition will begin at 3pm and fisher folk should weigh in at Eshaness Community Centre at 7pm. A fish auction and fishy feast will follow, so come along for your supper. To enter, phone (01806) 503709.

Ollaberry teas
Those famous Sunday Teas will be available at Ollaberry hall on Sunday from 3pm-6pm. All funds raised will be in aid of the Ollaberry Kirk and a sales table and raffle will also help add to the fund raising effort.

Chinese in Hillswick
If you fancy something a bit different from the traditional Sunday roast, call along the Hillswick Hall on Sunday from 4pm-9pm for a takeaway. One of the local Chinese establishments is travelling around various community halls in Shetland cooking up food, so there’s no need to drive to Lerwick for a takeaway meal on Sunday night.

Nort Trow gairden
Although the weather last Sunday was wet and windy, the sponsored walk and roadside redd up scheduled to raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and the Nort Trow Gairden, went ahead. The route was reversed to take advantage of the wind direction so walkers and cyclists started the nine-mile journey at the community garden in North Roe and finished at the Hillswick junction. Well over 20 members of the community took part and the group hope to have raised around £3,000. Some £2,000 will be donated to MND and the remainder will be used for the garden. Nort Trow Gairden group would like to say a big thank you to everyone who walked, cycled or provided pit stops. Special thanks to all the generous folk who donated sponsor money to help raise such a magnificent amount. A big “well done” to all the bairns who took part and completed the distance in record time.

Crofthouse garden
Plans to recreate the Shetland Crofthouse garden on view at Chelsea are advancing and this week four local stone builders – Tom Jamieson, Neil Work, Adam Brown and Ian Roberts – started building the croft house façade. The garden group will begin planting the site on completion of the stonework.

Wild West weekend
Those Big Bannock boys and girls are gathering together the ingredients for this years’ culinary masterpiece and a weekend of high jinks in North Roe. This year the theme is the “Wild West”, so saddle up and head for the North Roe & Lochend saloon on Saturday 16th August. Yeehaaaa!

Maree Hay