C U Soon!

Time for me to have a break. I'll be back though!

Come December, with batteries recharged, I shall commence my Shetland journey and share my experiences once again. Until then, take care, stay safe, and lots of hugs from me to youxxx

Sunday jaunt to Northmavine Part 3

I have wanted to visit Oily Muggie for some time.

I missed out visiting during its summer opening hours (May - September). However, luckily Fiona, the owner, decided to open her shop prior to Christmas, weekends only. We can all indulge in some pre-Christmas retail therapy, and I did!!

We have been in contact with eachother via email and it was so nice to finally meet her and have a good old chin-wag.

Fabulous, high quality Shetland arts and crafts adorn every nook and cranny.

Oily Muggie really is a must-visit if you want to see/buy local creative talent, in addition to designers from the mainland.

In the summer you can visit the hens, picnic in the garden and take in the scenic views.

We were there for a couple of hours, chatting away, drinking tea and eating yummy home-baked shortbread. Oily Muggie is about more than just shopping, it offers a warm welcome - Fiona will tell you lots about the area, the artists and anything else you need to know about Shetland!

It's a one-stop shop for all your gifts - you're sure to find something suitable for everyone.

It was a great ending to our Sunday jaunt to Northmavine, and it won't be long before I'm back again. Thanks to Fiona for fantastic and memorable customer service, and of course for the sugary delights. What more could a girl wish for?!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

http://www.oilymuggie.co.uk/

Want to buy online, you can! http://www.designedinshetland.co.uk/

Email: sales@designedinshetland.co.uk

Tel: 01806 503363

Open daily May - September 10- 5 pm

Location - Findlins House, Hillswick, Shetland ZE2 9RW

Psst! OILY MUGGIE (A NICKNAME GIVEN TO A NATIVE OF NORTHMAVINE)

Sunday jaunt to Northmavine Part 2

Hillswick village has much to see and do. Future articles will contain more information. But for now just a snippet of what Hillswick has to offer.

After a walk on the beach, I came across these beautiful sculptures -

decorative hand-forged ironwork.

The sculptures are designed by Esme, daughter of Bruce Wilcock - a retired Blacksmith. He teaches short courses in this ancient art, and is situated in Hillswick. More information can be accessed via his website - http://www.brucewilcockforgings.com/

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Esme's work can be purchased from Oily Muggie http://www.designedinshetland.co.uk/

Sunday jaunt to Northmavine Part 1

Back to Northmavine, my favourite area with absolutely stunning scenery. Fabulous walks - Eshaness, Ronas Hill (Shetland's highest hill), to name but a few.... Interesting geology, friendly folk, gorgeous crafts - there's something for everyone...

It's a wild and rugged area with a very special feeling. We crossed the 100-yard isthmus, which joins Northmavine to the rest of the island. Up until the 1950s fishermen carried boats across Mavis Grind as a shortcut between fishing grounds. Photograph above shows the Atlantic (right) and the North Sea (left) separated by the isthmus.

Amazing day, sunshine, little wind, and much laughter!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

click here and here for other articles re: Northmavine

Northmavine website - http://www.northmavine.com/

Walking book for area- 'Walking the Coastline of Shetland No. 4 - Northmavine' - Peter Guy. (Can be bought at Shetland Times, Lerwick, Visitor Centre, Lerwick and numerous other outlets).

The Shetland Flag story - part 3

1969, 2 guys came up with a flag design. A long process ensued (see part 1 and 2 of the epic flag story). Jos Poels, a chap from the Netherlands, a flag historian and author of 'Flags of the World,' was the consultant to the Shetland Island Council in 2006 and reponsible for the exact specifications of the flag.

The Shetland flag is said to represent its Nordic and Scottish history. The blue may be seen as where the Shetland Islands, in the blue Atlantic ocean, are the crossroads where Scandinavian and British cultures meet and mingle

On June 21st 2007, the flag, after much cogitating and deliberating was designated as Shetland Flag Day. Shetland every year, on the longest day of the year, when the sun hardly sets, celebrates its flag, and frankly I'm not surprised after discovering the long process involved! Now I'm more flag-savvy I will celebrate in style next year, for sure!

As yet there's no name for the flag. It was proposed to call it 'Da Hjalt' after the old Norse name for Shetland - which was Hjatland. Hjalt means the hilt or cross guard of a sword.

In 2009 a Shetland flag day competition began as part of the Johnsmas Foy festivities. Anyone can enter, visitors or locals. The competition asks people to submit a photograph of the Shetland flag in the most entertaining or unusual locations. My favourites are shown above. The rest of the submissions can viewed by clicking here.

This is the final part of the flag story, well, so far anyway. There's sure to be something else, but for now it is as it is - plain, yet striking - simple, but saying so much - much like the Shetland landscape - perfect.

The Shetland flag story - part 2

Get back in your comfy seat and don't doze off!

Where were we? Ok, the Shetland flag is being recognised all over the place, and so we leap forward to 2004 and this is where Sandy Cluness, Counsellor of the Shetland Islands council presents the case to Lord Lyon to make the flag legal and official. The court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms is the Scottish authority on flags and coats of arms.

Early 2005 the Lord Lyon sanctions the Shetland flag, described:

'Azure, a cross Argent in Scandinavian form.'

Azure is the heraldic denomination for blue. Argent describes silver or white in flags. The colour shade or the width of the arms of the cross are not described. Since 1969 the measurements and colours varied. The Lord Lyon description was a general one. The final specification of the flag came down to the Shetland Islands Council.

On 13th December 2006 the Council decided on an exact description which has symbolic references contained within:

'the flag of the Shetland Islands is blue (Pantone 300), with a white Scandinavian Cross whereof the height of the arms is 1/6th of the height of the flag. The top and bottom fields at the hoist are square. The proportions of the Shetland Island flag are 3:5'.

Pantone 300 is the current world standard. In 1998 devolution had empowered the Scots to make some decisions without referring to London. Come Feb. 2003, the Scottish Parliament specified Pantone 300 - a medium blue - as the correct blue to use, thus stopping the varying shades that were being seen in the Scottish saltire. As the Shetland flag is based on the Scottish flag, it was deemed that Pantone 300 was the appropriate colour to use.

There were also differing sized rectangles in the top and bottom of the Shetland flag. The confusion came about due to the Nordic flags - there are two types of Scandinavian Cross:

The first cross creates two squares (one at top, one at bottom). The flags of the countries and regions bordering the Atlantic Ocean - Norway, Iceland, Denmark and the Faroe islands - all have these squares.

The second type of Scandinavian Cross flags are those of the Baltic Scandinavian countries - Sweden and Finland. In this type - the top and bottom fields at the hoist are rectangular in shape.

Shetland is part of the North Atlantic community, therefore it was indicated that the tradition of Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands and Denmark be followed as this was the original intention of the designers of the flag.

The final decision to be made (phew), was the exact specifications of the Shetland flag. there is no fixed law in UK re: dimensions, but it's a given that dimensions are represented in the proportions of 3 (the height) to 5 (the width). This is so that the upper and lower fields at the hoist are square.

The Shetland flag may never have been realised - in 1914, Shetland's neighbour, Iceland adopted the same design, at the time Iceland was ruled by a Danish King. However, the king objected to the design, saying it was too similar to the then Greek national flag. Iceland therefore opted for a smaller red cross on top of the white cross, thank goodness!

See part 3 for the final episode of the Shetland flag story!!

The Shetland flag story Part 1

I hope you're sitting comfortably with a cup of tea, as I relay the history of the Shetland flag.

There were 2 chaps - Roy Gronneberg and Bill Adams, Shetlanders both - students at the time, living in Aberdeen. It was 'the swinging sixties,' 1969 to be exact and 500 years after the 'dowry saga'. Now Shetland didn't have a flag at the time and the guys wanted to design one.

Roy's father was Norwegian and his mother a Shetlander. Roy therefore thought, why not design a flag that symbolised the transformation of the islands from Danish-Norwegian to Scottish sovereignty? He looked to Scandinavia and studied their flag designs.

The Danish flag - the Dannebrog (meaning Danish cloth) has a red background, The students changed this to a blue background as found in the national flag for Scotland, therefore mixing the two designs together. Now you'd think that would be the end of the story, but no, the Gronneberg-Adams flag was not immediately adopted.

Other people got creative, inspired by Gronneberg and Adams, they too started designing flags for the island. For example Donnie Williamson added a red square in the centre of the cross - utilising the colours of the British and Norwegian flags and remembering the Shetlands became British in 1707. Other flags were suggested, and so the design proposals carried on until 1975. In this year Lerwick Town Council and Zetland County Council merged to form Shetland Islands Council. It was the era when substantial wealth was coming into the islands from oil and gas discoveries in the North Sea. Shetland was changing rapidly, and it's main source of income reverted from the fishing industry to these natural resources.

In the wake of all these changes, Gronneberg decided to promote his design yet again, but his efforts weren't met with much enthusiasm. Zetland Council had used a flag of its own, but only for official purposes - the flag is now on display in the Shetland Museum and Archives in Lerwick.

Interest in the flag occurred in Sweden! The Shetland Tourism Director, at the time, Maurice Mullay went on a promotional tour of Scandinavia in 1984. People said, 'so Maurice what does the Shetland flag look like?' Mullay was a bit stumped at first but did recall the Gronneberg-Adams flag.

The following year Swedish yachts moored in Lerwick and they showed the blue and white Shetland flag as courtesy ensign, instead of the Union Jack. This was the first recognition of the flag. Thank you Sweden!

The flag's popularity grew and in 1985 it was used officially for the first time when it represented Shetland in the Isle of Man, during the Island Games, the Olympic Games for small islands;

Fishing vessels from Shetland started flying the flag to show where they came from. The flag became very visible everywhere - on visiting yachts, merchandise, tourism and so forth. It finally became a recognised symbol for the islands.

The powers that be could no longer ignore its popularity. Read tomorrow how the flag finally gained official recognition.....

To be continued...!