North Mainland Notes 19.09.08

They gave it a go at Mossbank
SIC’s COMMUNITY Work, Adult Learning and Active Schools joined forces with the North Mainland Learning Centre and Mossbank Hall Committee to deliver a “Gie It A Go Day” at Mossbank Hall on Sunday 14th September. The event provided opportunities for all ages to take part in a variety of activities together. A range of information was also available on local learning opportunities and the Shetland Library “Bookstart” programme.

Folk were proud of their bannocks and delighted to make their contributions to the Great Muckle Gravit. Some were invigorated by the Bi-Aura and fascinated with the weaving. Computing and multi-media caught people’s attention and attracted interest and the children really enjoyed the golf and the crafty activities too. The sing-along at the end of the day with Andy Ross was a great way to round things off. The highlight of the afternoon was a colourful and energetic demonstration of Latin American dance by Paula Milena Barr. Paula will be starting a night class in the Mossbank area shortly. Demonstrators, participants and volunteers all left with a very positive feeling and the comments received reflected this – “Great fun. Tried some things I have not done before.” “Laid back and friendly atmosphere and great range of activities.” “Cool; fab day. Do it every year!”

Inter eela results
It may have been a poor day of weather last Saturday with a strong south-easterly wind, but 23 anglers turned out to take part in the Westside Inter Eela. Boats from Aith, Whiteness/Weisdale, Scalloway, Skeld/Reawick and Walls braved the elements to take part, with only Brae missing from the line-up. Boats left and landed at their own clubs and the fish were plentiful. A total of 755.3lb of fish was landed giving an average landing of 32.8lb per angler. Billy Reid of Scalloway won the specimen fish record prize with a corbin sand eel at 78 per cent of the record weight for the species. Specimen fish, judged against the national record fish list, are generally those that weigh around 70 per cent or two-thirds of the actual record weight for the species.

Aith and Scalloway picked up the most prizes and special mention has to be made of young Cody Jamieson from Aith whose junior basket was only 5.1lb lighter than the men’s heaviest basket from John Anderson, also of Aith. Cody also received the prize for the heaviest fish with an Ollick weighing in at 11.14lb. After the respective weigh-ins the sale of fish raised £100 for the CLAN 1,2,3 appeal. Everyone then gathered at the Rankin Lounge in Aith for the prize giving and a night of music from local artists. Organisers would like to thank everyone who took part and look forward to seeing all the clubs again next year when they hope for a better day of weather!

The results were as follows – Inter Club Shield: Scalloway; men’s heaviest basket: 66.1lb, John Anderson, Aith; women’s heaviest basket: 21lb, Christine Georgeson, Aith; junior’s heaviest basket: 61lb, Cody Jamieson, Aith; heaviest fish: Cody Jamieson, Aith 11.14lb Ollick; best boat: Utopia, Scalloway, 52.7lb; Most species: six species, Billy Reid, Scalloway; specimen fish record: Billy Reid, Scalloway; corbin sand eel 78 per cent.

Sullom Sunday teas
Sunday teas season in Northmavine will be rounded off with teas in the Sullom and Gunnister Hall this Sunday from 3-6pm. In addition there will be a sales table and raffle. Proceeds from the afternoon will go towards hall funds.

Solar Sunday
Recently a number of people in Northmavine took advantage of a “Build your own solar panel” workshop, organised by the Northmavine Community Development Company (NCDC). Kerr MacGregor, an energy expert from Midlothian, made the trip north to facilitate the day and brought all the materials required by participants. Kerr is managing director of MacGregor Solar, having previously founded the Scottish Solar Energy Group and worked as senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at Napier University.

Attendees each made a flat plate solar collector panel which is made using a series of metal “clip fins”, patented by Kerr. These are then painted black which helps to absorb the sun’s energy. Water and antifreeze is fed through pipes attached to the metal clip fins and this picks up the heat from the metal. The metal and pipes are embedded in an insulated box and covered with clear plastic and aluminium edging to keep out any moisture. The collector panel is designed to feed into a conventional low pressure hot water system and requires a pre-heat tank which then feeds into the normal water tank.

People attending the workshop felt that they had got a lot out of the day. It was a practical workshop used to create a useful piece of equipment and this added to the attraction of the class for many of the folk taking part. Current fuel costs mean that heating our homes is becoming ever more expensive and courses such as these can help folk save on heating costs as well as reducing their carbon footprint. Since the course, more interest has been generated in this type of workshop and the NCDC, with the help of community members, hope to hold further courses during the winter. Anyone who would be interested in attending should contact Maree at the NCDC office (01806) 544222.

Fiddle and accordion festival
This year the 21st Shetland Fiddle and Accordion Festival will take place island-wide from 9th-13th October. As part of the festival, concerts with a supper dance will take place at two venues in the North Mainland. On Thursday 9th October there will be a concert and supper dance in the Vidlin hall. The James Coutts Scottish Dance Band will lead the dancing and although band members have been to the festival many times as individuals, this year is the first time they will have played together. A number of local and visiting artistes will also take part, among them Lynne Christie who will be performing at her 16th festival. The Tom Orr Scottish Dance Band will feature in the line-up at the concert and supper dance in Sullom hall on Friday 10th October. The band was formed around six years ago to compete at the National Association’s Musselburgh Festival where they won the top spot. The collection of local and visiting artistes also playing will be joined by accordion player Craig Paton. Craig has already won a hat-trick of solo first places in national competitions at the tender age of 15.

From tomorrow all tickets and club memberships will be available from the festival office in Burns Lane. Tickets left for country venues will be available from local shops from 27th September and cost £12 for adults and £10 for under 16s/OAPs.

Brae out of hours GP cover
From Monday 17th November the Brae Health Centre will join the local out of hours co-operative which currently provides out of hours cover for patients in Bixter, Walls, Scalloway, Lerwick and Levenwick.

A series of meetings has been organised in the North Mainland to explain the new arrangements and answer any queries patients may have. One meeting has already taken place in Brae with a further in the Brae Health Centre on Tuesday from 7-9pm. On Wednesday from 10am-12pm patients can go along to the Voe public hall to find out more about the new system and how it will operate. NHS Shetland is currently organising further dates at venues in Mossbank, Vidlin and Nesting and these will be advertised soon.

Eshaness treasure
The annual treasure hunt, organised by the Eshaness community centre committee, takes place tomorrow night. This year the format will be slightly different with teams being asked to collect a number of items during the two hour hunt and perform a number of activities. Car teams should at the Eshaness community centre for a 6pm start – £2 per adult and £1 per child. Suppers will be on sale in the community centre after the treasure hunt and this will be followed by a social evening.

Maree Hay