North Mainland Notes 22.05.09

Hillswick crofters’ ball

As the lambing draws to a close, crofters in the North Mainland can treat themselves to a well deserved night out at the crofters’ ball in the Hillswick hall next Friday night.

The evening will begin with food at 7.30pm, followed by music, song, poetry and rounded off with a dance.

Tickets are available from any committee member or Laureen on (01806) 503246. They will also be on sale tonight at the Golden Kitchen takeaway evening in the Hillswick hall from 4pm to 9pm.

Explosive north trail

Any visitor to Shetland or local person with a geological bent is always amazed by the geodiversity Shetland has to offer. A range of rocks and landscapes that would take the visitor a week to visit on mainland Scotland, can be accessed in a few hours in Shetland.

In a bid to help highlight the diverse landscape and encourage more visitors to experience what Shetland has to offer, Shetland is hoping to become a Geopark and join a network of over 30 Geoparks throughout Europe.

In order to join the Geopark network, areas must protect, interpret and promote the geology and landscapes for the benefit of the community, with a view to encouraging sustainable tourism.

In conjunction with Geoparks throughout Europe, Shetland will hold a number of events to mark European Geoparks Week, which begins on 23rd May. In Northmavine this will mean the launch of an exciting new self-guided trai – Shetland’s Volcano – which begins at Mavis Grind and includes an explosive tour around Eshaness.

The launch will take place on Wednesday at 11am in the Braewick Cafe at Eshaness and the organisers would love to see as many folk as possible at this event. It is suitable for anyone, but people working with tourists in Shetland may find it particularly useful to come along and find out what it’s all about.

Light refreshments will be provided by Geoparks Shetland (including teas, coffees and geological treats).

Visitors will receive a copy of the trail leaflet to take away in order to explore for themselves. People will be available from 11am to 2pm at the cafe to answer any questions and there will also be a chance to get hands on with a range of rock specimens.

Information about further events can be found at www.geoparkshetland.org.uk.

Visitors without access to transport may also be interested to note that Allen Fraser of Shetland Geotours will be offering his Northmavine/Eshaness Tour next Wednesday, departing Lerwick at 9.30am. To book, contact Shetland Tourist Centre on (01595) 693434 or email info@shetlandgeology.com

Mirrie dancers site tour

Mirrie Dancers is an ambitious, new creative venture that invites people of all ages from across the isles to join two artists and help temporarily transform places using light.

This exciting project was conceived by artists Nayan Kulkarni and Roxane Permar and commissioned by Shetland Arts.

It is the first time that light will be used as a major art form in Shetland. The artists began developing the project with Shetland Arts in early 2008, and they expect to complete fund-raising next month.

To complete the development process, the team is inviting anyone who has an interest in the project to take part in selecting sites for a series of temporary illuminations that will form a “Celebration of Light” throughout Shetland starting this autumn and finishing in March 2010.

On Saturday, 6th June you can join the artists in a bus tour of Northmavine followed by food and discussion to help choose sites for the Celebration of Light. During the day the group will make a short list of sites and also nominate a Northmavine representative to join the selection panel to make the final selection of sites throughout Shetland. The Northmavine tour departs from the Hillswick hall.

Sunday, 7th June is a chance for people from Delting, Lunnasting, Voe, Nesting and Whalsay to scout for sites in their areas. Again, food and discussion of the sites will follow. This tour departs from Vidlin hall.

The Mirrie Dancers team are inviting anyone to join them on the tour, whatever your age or special interests. Even if you can’t join them on the bus tour, you are very welcome to join them later in the day to contribute to the discussion and selection process.

To declare your interest in the Northmavine or North Mainland Site-Selection Session, book a place on the tour or find out more about the project, contact Roxane Permar on (01595) 859 202 or email roxane.permar@btinternet.com

Teas and plants at Sullom

The annual plant sale and teas organised by the North Mainland Gardening Club last year was such a success that the venue at Muckle Roe overflowed with folk all day and the single track road could not cope with the volume of traffic.

The organisers decided to switch venues this year and so they held the bulb show, which usually takes place at Sullom, in the Muckle Roe hall, and have moved the plant sale and teas event to Sullom.

The plant sale and teas takes place on Sunday from 3pm to 6pm and there will be an excellent selection of bedding plants, plants, shrubs, indoor plants as well as some vegetables.

Everything is potted and rooted and started life here in Shetland as a seed, so there is a good chance that the plants will continue to flourish and grow.

Sunday teas will be provided by the Sullom hall committee, with the proceeds of the teas being put towards the hall refurbishment scheme. The main beneficiaries from the plant sale will be the Nort Trow Community Garden in North Roe and the CLAN 1,2,3 appeal.

Helpers needed for marina

After an unenviable volume of work undertaken by volunteers involved in the Delting Marina project, and some excellent input from contractors including staff at FLJ and those daring truck drivers who helped construct the breakwater, the Delting Marina will be officially opened on Saturday, 27th June.

The organisers hope to provide a full day of events and activities which will include a barbecue and live music. Such a day requires a lot of input from volunteers and the committee would welcome as many helping hands as they can muster. Anyone who is interested in volunteering should go along to the Delting Boating Club on Thursday at 8pm to discuss the launch day events.

Sponsored walk for CLAN

The annual fancy dress sponsored walk from Muckle Roe to Delting Boating Club, a distance of almost five miles, will take place tomorrow night with over 100 walkers signed up to take part.

Buses, operated by Johnson Transport, will leave Delting Boating Club at 5.30pm to ensure that all walkers reach the start line in Muckle Roe for the 6pm start. All sponsorship monies from the walk will be donated to the CLAN 1,2,3 appael.

Back at Delting Boating Club, a hearty night of entertainment will take place. The organisers hope that, as in previous years, local musicians will bring along instruments to get folk up on the dance floor and stop the spaegie setting in. Live sets will also be interspersed with disco music and a barbecue will be available to help nourish hungry walkers.

The main organisers, Alice and Louise Ratter, are delighted and overwhelmed by the response of local businesses to their requests for raffle prizes and donations of food and charcoal for the barbecue.

The money raised at the boating club will be donated to local cancer charities such as Cancer Shetland, so with the fantastic number of donations received, the lasses have ensured that any money raised goes directly to the charities rather than having to be used for expenses. Here’s hoping they have also organised a great night of wadder, as they seem to have taken care of everything else.

Alice and Louise are keen to hand the money from the walk over to CLAN as soon as possible and would ask that all sponsor money is handed in to either of them by the end of May.

North Haven sales day

Staff at North Haven organised an impromptu sale of bric-a-brac at the centre last month.

Rosie and Barbara raided their garages and lofts and raised over £130 in just over an hour for the CLAN appeal.

On Sunday from 2pm to 4pm North Haven is having a second bric-a-brac and home bakes fund-raiser for CLAN and the organisers hope this event will be just as successful. Tea and coffee will be available throughout the afternoon. All donations would be gratefully received on Sunday morning.

Maree Hay