Isles Views 31.10.08

More action at Cullivoe pier

THE LATEST business to move to the Cullivoe pier is Green Island, a salmon farming firm based in Vidlin.

The salmon business is in the process of erecting a workstation on the north side of the pier where it will be packing salmon ready for transportation to either Lerwick or Scalloway by truck. Green Island plans to start shipping operations from Cullivoe in November. A well boat will be used to take salmon from farms situated in the North Isles and possibly from as far away as Vidlin to Cullivoe, where the fish will be killed and then transported by truck to the Mainland.

There will be at least two truck loads leaving Cullivoe each day and it is hoped that by August next year 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes of fish will have been transported.

Angus Johnson of Green Island said: “Cullivoe is very good and has all the facilities required for this operation.”

Mr Johnson added that while this was not the cheapest option it was by far the most versatile. There will be two new jobs created on the shore side and four new jobs on the well boat – there will have to be a double crew. The well boat will be permanently stationed at the Cullivoe pier.

The pier is now a very busy place. It is the home port for the whitefish boat Guardian Angell as well as several other smaller boats and with bad weather is used by a great many fishing boats for shelter.

This development adds to C & A Thomson’s mussel packing station, R S Henderson’s ice plant and the whitefish landing and berthing which are already in operation at the pier. This is a welcome new development for North Yell and will have a positive knock-on effect for local businesses.

International storytelling festival

The 19th International Storytelling Festival kicked off in the Netherbow Theatre in Edinburgh last Friday night and this year features storytellers from Scotland’s northern reaches.

Lawrence Tulloch, who usually writes this column, was one of the 40 or so storytellers invited to take part. He was joined by many names familiar to Shetland storytelling audiences, including Tom Muir from Orkney, Bob Pegg from Strathpeffer and Stanley Robertson from Aberdeen.

This year the emphasis was on the Northlands and Sagalands and featured many Scandinavian stories. One of the features of the festival was the Alan Bruford Memorial Lecture, this year given by Dr Terry Gunnell from the University of Iceland.

Dr Bruford was a well known visitor to the North Isles in the 1970s when he recorded folk tales for the School of Scottish Studies from people like Jeemsie Laurenson from Fetlar and Tom Tulloch from North Yell.

The 10-day festival, with 50 events, finishes on Sunday with a festival finale at the Scottish Storytelling Centre featuring most of the storytellers, singers and musicians who have participated.

Tea at Burravoe

St Colman’s Church in Burravoe is having afternoon teas in the Burravoe Hall tomorrow starting at 3pm.

There will be demonstrations of knitting and spinning, sales stalls and raffles. Donations and home bakes would be much appreciated. Everyone is welcome to come along and have a natter with friends over a cuppa and a cake.

Power cuts

Since August folk in the north of Shetland have been experiencing an increase in the number of power failures, lasting from only a few minutes to much longer periods.

Scottish and Southern Energy has explained that an auxiliary transformer at Gutcher caused some of the faults. This type of transformer is normally extremely reliable and Scottish and Southern hopes that this particular fault will not occur again. However, transient faults are likely to occur and as we are at the mercy of the elements, windblown debris can cause problems, as can bird strikes, which have been blamed for at least four of the power cuts.

If anyone knows of any stretch of line where birds regularly collide with the conductors, Scottish and Southern would like to be informed so that flight deflectors can be installed to help the birds see the wires and thus take action to avoid a collision – and of course a power cut for the customer.

The number of power failures is very annoying and several folk have had problems with fuses blowing resulting in freezers defrosting. Since we are all so dependent on electricity now it is so frustrating to have to reset electronic clocks etc. after each power cut.

Westsandwick bonfire night

Westsandwick Hall is having a bonfire night party for the bairns tonight starting at 7pm.

There will be a bonfire, fireworks, food and home bakes.

For the bigger bairns the ever-popular Alan Tulloch and friends will be playing in the evening and there will be a raffle.

Everyone is very welcome to come along and should there be any problems due to bad weather there will be an announcement on Radio Shetland.

Peerie fun workshops

Sarah Hoseason continues to offer a range of workshops at various venues throughout Shetland.

The latest offerings, which she calls “Peerie Fun Workshops”, will be at Whiteness and Weisdale Hall on Saturday 15th November. She’ll be demonstrating bonded fibres, a technique using paste and netting to trap and stick fibres. The end result can then be used for a variety of crafts like scrap booking, wall hangings and card making.

On the same day she will do a class entitled “Using Mixed Medium”. This workshop involves drawing with bleach, painting with icing sugar, crafting a scraperboard and making PVA decorations. This workshop is particularly suited to those working with children.

Earlier, at Mid Yell Junior High School on 6th November, Sarah will do bonded fibres; on the 10th November there will be ceramic tile creating; the 13th November will see Shabouri, a method of Japanese tie-dying where you will learn two different techniques on two scarves; and on the 17th November she is using mixed medium.

All the workshops are reasonably priced and only last a couple of hours in some cases. If anyone is interested Sarah can be contacted on (01957) 702341 or e-mailed at filska2000@yahoo.com

Margaret Tulloch