Hi Jeff A really great set of pictures 8) My wife & i have just been looking through your photo posts 8) & they remind us both so much of my Falkland Island photos that i took back in the eighties when i was stationed there , seems a lifetime ago now well it was twenty five years ago You can see why the Falklanders want to remain British when they could be in Shetland judging by Jeffs pictures Just a bit of a bigger trip for Heinz beans or Marmite Best regards Stu
Beautiful photos. Reminded me of coming to see a house that was for sale on Bressay in 1991. I wanted to buy it and came up with my son who was then 2. Unfortunately no-one had told me an offer was already in on it so it wasn't to be. I'm still glad we made the journey though as i've never forgotten it, lovely place.
Here are 2 photos which were taken on Fair Isle in the late 1950s, note the Tilley R-1 in the Post Office window. The tall pork pie table lamp in the second photo was used in the bird observatory's sitting room. Fair Isle is the most southerly of the Shetland Islands.
The first photo shows the paraffin and air tanks, which supplied the fuel and air mixture for one of Shetland's lighthouse lamps. The link below shows the type of lamp which was fed by those tanks, there are more related links on that page. http://classicpressurelamps.com/index.php?threads/1225 The second photo shows the Tilley which was used to light the tank room.
There has been a lot of rain in the central part of the Shetland mainland this week and it has caused landslides and floods. The link below shows a news page about the floods etc., and if you scroll down the page there is a slideshow of photos. The photo below shows the worst of the landslides, nobody was killed or injured by the floods etc.. http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/5418-heavy-rain-closes-roads
Here are 3 scans from a calendar, the first scan shows a traditional Shetland croft house and outbuildings, this is now the croft house museum.
That's some beautiful country there Jeff. If you get a big box with air holes in it be sure and let me out.
Hello John, Shetland is not a bad old rock, but the weather leaves much to be desired. I was hopeing that some other folk would start posts which show their parts of the world! I shall watch out for the large box with air holes!
You wouldn't want to see photos where I live. There's a tractor spreading 5h17 in the field up the road and lots of shouting from the town football club. Thats why I collect lamps, the paraffin masks the smell and the hiss drowns out the noise.
I think there's a few, but they are slowly being built on. The latest developments are called bluebell wood and poppy meadow the only poppies i've seen are on the side of the road by the site entrance. If the sun shines and I find anywhere worth while I'll take some pics. Best regards Matt.
Beautiful scenes Jeff. I'll just invite all of you to follow my YouTube channel for action shots from NW Pennsylvania. I regret that digital photography wasn't available when I was romping around in the Coast Guard. Beautiful memories though... Alan Yelvington
Hello Stephan, perhaps, but I cannot see it clearly. The far right end of the house was a shop, so they would have stocked lamps and spares, Jeff.
Those atlantic islands sure got some dramatic landscape on them! It's interesting with the wale bone arch. I guess it was a thing they did all around these areas because they were pretty common in my province of Sweden, and actually one of the few still remaining is where I live. It's in the fishing village of a tiny island that belongs to my island (municipality wise). Here's an old postcard. My island is the land in the background.
Hi we have some whalebone arches in Caithness, in the far North of the Scottish Mainland: http://www.caithness.org/atoz/latheronwheel/whalebonearch.htm I believe that whalebone has also been found as a structural item in some old buildings...well wood was rather scarce! Brotchie’s steading, is a ruined croft house just to the West of Dunnet Church.[1] It originally became the focus of archaeological interest because structural members (cruck blades) in one of the rooms were known to have been formed from a pair of whale mandibles, probably from a fin or blue whale. These are presently housed in the Dunnet Bay Visitor Centre. An excavation by Headland Archaeology was undertaken to examine the role of whale bones as a construction material in Caithness croft houses but it quickly became apparent that the 19th/20th century croft house sits on a much older and extensive archaeological site. Best Regards, George.
Hello George, whale bone arches may be a Viking tradition, I'm not sure, but they do tend to appear in areas that are or were Norse and that of course includes Caithness. Folk had to use what was available in their areas for building. Many old croft houses here in Shetland have wood from wrecked ships in their structures and at one time most of the furniture was made from wreck wood, Jeff.
The Shetland Isles are one of the places I've always wanted to visit but never quite got round to.. The closest I got was when I spent a few days in the Orkney Islands a few years back. I absolutely loved it on Hoy where I spent a couple of nights in a bothy... great fun.
I know that Bothy on Hoy (High Island) and the North end of Hoy is more like Shetland. Most of Orkney is fairly flat farm land, but I like the place, Jeff.
The bothy really is in a idyllic setting with it's own little cove and plenty of driftwood for the open fire...
