Category: Shetland Times Column
17 February 2012
Most if not all crofters across Shetland have a very good idea about the boundaries of their croft. For some years now the Department of Agriculture in Edinburgh has provided Ordnance Survey maps to each crofter so that they can confirm their boundaries. Changes that occur such as the disposal of a quarter acre for [...]
3 February 2012
What a splendid week. As Guizer Jarl David Nicolson rightly said in the Town Hall on Tuesday Up Helly Aa brings a variety of emotions to bear but it’s place in cementing a very positive image of the Islands across the globe cannot be underestimated. The Promote Shetland webcams complete with Davie Gardner running commentary [...]
20 January 2012
Ending the dispute between Government and ambulance drivers was badly needed so well done to those involved. We all depend on the blue light emergency services across Shetland and the local ambulance crews are people we tend to take for granted until the day dawns when they are desperately needed. I listened carefully therefore to [...]
6 January 2012
Cameron had £20 left. My fatherly advice that in these times of austerity then repatriating the money into a piggyback would make most sense, was dismissed. “Dad, you keep saying there’s no point in putting money in the bank as its value is falling because of inflation and the low interest rates that are paid [...]
23 December 2011
A wise Bressay sage held forth outside the shop the other week on the subject of learning. You never stop learning was his basic contention whether on animal husbandry, the ups and downs of the Arab Spring or the challenges of being the perfect husband. In today’s world this can loosely be interpreted as lifelong [...]
9 December 2011
So it was worth it. The worry. The panic as the day dawned. The humiliation of a missed step and the icy indifference of the judges. Yes I mused on all these emotions after visiting the newly opened Clan House in Aberdeen this week. It does not seem three years since Clickimin hosted Strictly [...]
25 November 2011
Erbil is the capital of Kurdistan and Kurdistan is the new Saudi Arabia with the fourth largest oil reserves on the planet. Erbil could be Aberdeen in the 1970′s albeit without the sea, the harbour and sand storms replacing easterly wind and sea harr! It is a boom town and is pulsing with energy as [...]
SHETLAND TIMES COLUMN 11th NOVEMBER 2011
The Olympic Torch is coming to Shetland next June and will be paraded through Lerwick. Details are scant, but Seb Coe was on the TV this week saying the Olympic organisers were taking the torch to 95% of the UK population. It is welcome that Shetland is included. Too often when a Government or organisation [...]
SHETLAND TIMES COLUMN 16th SEPTEMBER 2011
This week Parliament debated the economy. Or rather what any government can do about global recession, the state of Greece and the lasting impact banking is having on us all. It seems a good time not to over promise as a Government. Get done the things you have responsibility for and do them well. Like [...]
SHETLAND TIMES COLUMN 2nd SEPTEMBER 2011
Parliament is just about to resume in Edinburgh and this week I was hightailing it down the Royal Mile towards the office with half a speech in my mind. I was debating whether the Scottish Parliament would have a role given the majority government. An earlier discussion with someone who had helped to create the [...]