Mainland South

Tombolo at St Ninian's Isle from Ward of Scousburgh

Pot of Gold at Hoswick

Shag at Hamnavoe

Shetland Ponies on West Burra

West Burra

Shetland Museum

Bressay at Dawn

Cliffs at Noss - nesting for Gannets, Fulmars, Guillemots and Puffins

Jarlshof at Sumburgh

The last week of January in Shetland was dry with unseasonal light winds and some sunshine.  I was working for 13 days but managed to get out late Friday afternoon to collect Aileen from Sumburgh.  Her first impression of Shetland was sheer amazement as we watched the sunset over St Ninian's Isle.  The fresh fish served in the Scalloway Hotel confirmed that this is a very special place. Saturday dawned bright and after leaving our normal abode in Gulberwick that had been rented out for Up Helly Aa and transferring to a B&B, we explored Lerwick before heading north for Eshaness and a long walk along the cliff tops.

On Sunday we had a morning walk around Lerwick and in the afternoon visited West Burra, a long peninsula separated from the mainland by a voe and joined by a couple of bridges. It is a delight with beaches, cliffs, old crofts, seals basking along the shore, dozens of Shetland Ponies and a community-run museum that we were invited to view by some of the local residents.

On Monday, I worked and Aileen visited the wonderful museum in Lerwick before we had a farewell lunch for Kay at Monty's before she disappeared on maternity leave. Aileen was given a cookery lesson by Christine, our friendly landlady and bannocks were served for the evening meal. We were given a history of the Out Skerries by her husband, Peter, who had been brought up on the remote isles and spent his life at sea fishing before he retired and built himself a boat.

On Tuesday morning at first light, we enjoyed the first early morning boat excursion of the year around Bressay and Noss with Jonathan Wills, a gregarious and controversial councillor and environmentalist, along with a group of officials from visit scotland. The cliffs at Noss are home to 100,000 seabirds in spring - gannets were constructing nests already. We then managed to take part in all the Up Helly Aa activities that merit a separate posting.

Shetland was devoid of life on Wednesday morning after Up Helly Aa as I drove Aileen to Sumburgh airport to catch the morning flight. There was time for us to visit the Jarlshof settlement at Sumburgh, a neolithic site subsequently occupied by Norse invaders. After Aileen's flight left, I had a quick run up Scousburgh Hill which is another Marilyn and the site of the former Early Warning System but is a spectacular viewpoint to see the southern mainland. 

I was the only one working on Wednesday afternoon and as I returned home at 6pm there were still revellers staggering home in their squad costumes, a group of half a dozen men with beards and hangovers, still wearing dresses and high heels summed up the bizarre spectacle of Up Helly Aa. Lerwick was a ghost town with everything closed, even Tesco, as people recovered from the traumas of Up Helly Aa.

Up Helly Aa

Proclamation at Dawn

Da Galley on display at the harbour

Jarl being given freedom of the Town

Jarl Squad before drink

Mini Jarls

Torchlight - Galley approaches

Galley on the way to burning

Northern Lights!

Shetlanders like to dress up as birds!

Opening of Mareel or  White Elephant sketch

Northern Constabulary provide high profile protection for Lib Dem leader

Summer is coming or so they say on the last Tuesday of January in Lerwick as it doesn't get dark until after 4pm.  A 24-hour festival of fun starts at dawn with a Proclamation of what a squad of 'Vikings' would like to see done. This is a sort of shadow manifesto which has a bizarre satirical edge. After being given the freedom of the town, the newly appointed Jarl and the magnificently attired Jarl squad take charge and visit schools, the hospital and residential homes. Aileen had flown up to sample the event, we were turfed out of our rented house that had been let out well in advance to visitors and we stayed in the home of the parents of the rented house where we had spent much of the last three months,  They treated us like family. Aileen was shown how to cook Shetland specialities by Christine and we heard stories from Peter of his days as the captain of a fishing boat.

We attended the proclamation by the Jarl Squad at 7:30 a.am. and then joined Jonathan Wills, a Councillor and environmentalist who took us on a 2 hour boat trip to see the gannets and other seabirds on the cliffs of Noss. We attended the arrival of the Jarl Squad and greeting from the Council in the Town Hall and then watched the Jarl Squad and galley on its procession through Lerwick. In the evening they burn the galley, which they have lovingly built over many months, by towing it around the streets and then taking it into the children's play park and throwing almost a thousand torches into it. The Jarl squad were joined by forty-six other squads of up to fifty men (no women are allowed in Lerwick) who roam the streets dressed as White Elephants, Nuns, Puffins, Leprechauns, Nazis, Cheryl Cole or Baywatch Babes.  The women man the dozen or so community venues and provide refreshments and some sanity to the occasion.

The police are notable for their low profile, I saw only two police new recruits on duty and backup is 12 hours away in Inverness.  I suspect that some of the local police, like the firemen, are participants in the event.  If Up Helly Aa was proposed today as a new event it would be refused on fire regulations, processions through town centres, excessive drinking, health and safety and countless other of our overprotective regulations.  The fact is that it escapes by virtue of the whole event being self-regulated and having an impeccable safety record.  This despite 950 paraffin torches, equivalent to several million candles, being carried around a residential area in strong winds.

The procession resembles a giant conga, large men with axes followed by numerous squads of politically incorrect figures; the whole event is lubricated with good humour and bonhomie.  This makes it safer than a lot of professional sports and entertainment events or many business ventures in search of a quick profit.  And it is certainly a lot safer, as well as a lot more fun, than almost any town centre on a Friday night.

There is a rotating set of short performances in each of the 9 community halls performed by the 46 squads.  Many are sketches straight from the Monty Python school of silliness as can be seen in this sketch by Slantigirt Flabley in 2010.  This year, for example, one squad re-enacted the lady who put a cat in a wheelie bin in Bath but they put her in instead chased by a pack of dogs.  In a sketch about the new and spiringly expensive arts venue, the Mareel, a marquee was erected and then opened to reveal a herd of white elephants.  The Accounts Commission were portrayed as Dad's Army blustering their way around the Council and having about as much impact as Captain Mannering.

The halls stay open through the night until 9 a.m. the next day when the 950 revellers finish their visits to the halls and then have a few drinks. I took Aileen to Sumburgh the next morning, the roads were empty and the airport had the vibe of an institutional hangover. I went into the office and there were only a couple of people working. On my way back to the house ay 5:30pm I passed random Vikings, various animals and squads of buxom men in high heels stumbling home. Later in the evening, a series of hops allows a topping up of alcohol levels. It is Friday before Lerwick is back to normal, whatever that is.

To say this is the event of the year is an understatement - even Tesco is closed.

Sandness Hill, West Mainland

Sandness with Papa Stour offshore

Fulmar from the cliff top

Bay of Deepdale

Hyper intelligent sheep

From Sandness Hill

Papa Stour Beyond Papa Sound

So come the storms of winter and then the birds of spring again. I do not fear the time.
Sandy Denny, Who knows where the time goes?

When I landed in Sumburgh on Tuesday evening it was the equivalent of the smack of hot air when arriving in the Med in summer. The moderate temperature of Shetland hit me after 3 weeks of Baltic conditions in Central Scotland over Christmas and the New Year. But winter storms were still rolling in over Shetland and I was eager to sample them over the coming weeks. I was enjoying solo walks on the wild side on weekends without any desire for an early arrival of spring. There was plenty of time for lots of work during the long hours of darkness.

Today was one of those grey wet windy days that justify staying indoors but I decided to visit the West Mainland. I drove through downpours in Walls and then down to Sandness, the most westerly point of the mainland which overlooks the island of Papa Stour. There was a coastal path hugging the shore and then curving and climbing to the cliffs overlooking Deepdale, what a great name, to the south. The path was waterlogged but the rain eased after the first ten minutes and I enjoyed 3 hours of lung-bursting activity breathing into the wind. The birdlife was abundant along the edge of the cliffs that reared higher as I headed south.  When I peered over the final rise and the Bay of Deepdale hove into view, there was no obvious way to continue the cliff walk.

Rather than heading back, I yielded to the temptation of climbing Sandness Hill, a Marilyn, so named by Alan Dawson from my old running club in Glasgow. He had the time and patience to list all of Scotland's and later the UK's hills which have a drop of at least 150 metres between them and any adjacent hill. It includes therefore many smaller hills and he then had the temerity to call them Marilyns. This was a retort to the rest of us who were obsessed with climbing Munros at the time.  There are 19 Marilyns in Shetland and despite my initial cynicism about Marilyns, I concede that it is a useful list. I will attempt to climb them all 19 over the next few months whilst I am privileged to spend time in Shetland.

Sandness Hill was a steady climb in windy conditions but the dividend was a summit that held a couple of small lochans, several cairns, a trig point, and views over to Papa Stour as it flitted in and out of low clouds but the rain kept off. A mountain hare zipped past as I started the descent and some sheep had been painted an unusual hue of blue. I sauntered into Sandness, pleased that I had made the effort to confront the wild weather, and decided to walk back via the coastline.  When strolling along the beach I saw a woman observing something in the sea. I stopped and followed her line of sight to see an otter playing in the breaking waves. It confirmed my determination to enjoy the wildness of Shetland in all weathers.

On a week when heavy weather had brought chaos to Queensland and Sri Lanka, it made me realise that Shetland is completely at one with heavy weather although I did find a carpet of sea shells about 30 metres above sea level, which confirmed that the Atlantic swells had been pretty huge and the wind mighty strong in recent weeks.

First Runs

First footing was out of bounds this year following the big freeze, the garden and footpaths have been snow-covered for 44 consecutive days which must be the longest since 1962. We also had 11 days without any water although it finally spluttered back just before the bells and presaged my last bath of the year.   Ice has been welded onto the pavements by a freeze-thaw process which has made it almost impossible to negotiate the footpaths, they have become mini glaciers. Pedestrian movement has not been helped by snow ploughs piling the road snow onto the footpaths to confirm that vehicles are more important than people - and how sustainable is that.  Admittedly the pavements to the school have been scraped twice by diggers but, as well as ice, chunks of asphalt have been torn up at the same time.  Forget any ambitions of integrated transport it would be progress if only roads and footpaths could be managed as one. 

In fact, it was 4 days before I ventured out for my first run of the year. A thin veneer of snow had provided some footing on the hard frozen slush and I managed 4 miles without a single fall.  A neighbour, not known for her empathy, hollered me as I skidded past her to 'take care it's treacherous, you're not as young as you were although still as mad'.  I reflected as I continued the run whether I would have preferred  'young' and 'mad' the other way round but concluded that it was probably better to be still mad than still young. I will record it as a contender for my epitaph.

And now I have managed another two runs, yesterday on a 4cm layer of powder snow which made running seem like floating on air and then today on 10cm of wet snow which was like, well, wading through 10cm of wet snow.  The real beauty of running at this time of the year in these conditions is the intensity of this baltic winter: ice flows in the river, icicles drooping from roofs, sharp mountain silhouettes, birch saplings coming through for air, breath like a steam locomotive, tracks of animal movements.  The landscape is from Dr Zhivago - maybe that's why I am running - Lara may make an appearance. 

So I am back on my 2011 target for running at least, and reading is going well. I received a Kindle at Christmas and I am finding Blair's 'A Journey' an enjoyable read. It is reflective, surprisingly honest, down to earth, largely devoid of jargon, good on leadership and change but shallow on policy. He may have blown his reputation by supporting George Bush in the invasion of Iraq but his selling out of public services to private contractors seeking to extract profits from the public purse was an equally bad call. In the wider scheme of things and watching Cameron's austerity policies take effect, Blair will probably be remembered as one of the better post-war prime ministers.

2011 the year of reckoning

I have been an optimist for most of my life with no real regrets apart from discovering that I could not fly and that my bones did break when landing at speed.  The last time my optimism waned was during Mrs Thatcher's experiment in monetary economics.  I was working in Glasgow and responsible for programmes designed to help the most disadvantaged to salvage some hope on the back of unemployment, poor housing, collapsing infrastructure and a cycle of despair mitigated only by the indefatigable humour and family and community altruism.  But life was kind to me even during this deep recession.  I had a job that could make a difference to people's lives and I was blessed by becoming a parent of three children. The joys of watching and nurturing young children is the greatest of all life's many episodes.

The recession in 2008 was deep and damaging, created not only by the corruption of international banking but in part by the then government's infatuation with the financial sector and Gordon Brown's self portrayal as the British Gordon Gekko - 'its not always the most popular man that gets the job done.'  The actions taken to rescue the banking sector were both brave and effective so that by 2010, the recession seemed to be under control and most of the economic indicators from last year would bear this out although the cost in terms of public sector borrowing was unsustainable.   The new coalition government, anxious to attribute any blame for future economic failure on the outgoing government, displayed its lack of experience by speedily announcing a range of spending cuts and new policies that were neither politically sound  nor well thought out.  You can't govern on the back of a coalition agreement cobbled together in 3 days. They did not seem to understand that there is a decision lag of a year or more between the announcement of policies and when they take effect.  Time should have been taken to look at the evidence and listen to the experienced advisers who would have identified the stumbling blocks and real cost of the proposals, for an earlier rant on this see Day 101.  2011  will be the year of reckoning as the coalition headline decisions of last year become the real frontline issues of this year.

The prime minister's bold belief that we are on the verge of economic growth and that the policies the coalition are introducing will repair the financial damage do not float in my reservoir of optimism.  I have real fears about the damage that will be inflicted on our economy and services in the not too distant future.  So here are the issues that might make or break the coalition but more worryingly wreak the greatest damage on our future wellbeing.

1. On the world stage are we to be 'nationalistic' in supporting actions which ostensibly safeguard our narrow interests or are we to be 'principled' in supporting international action which focuses on human rights and encourages trade and development which is both sustainable and egalitarian.
2. Economic recovery in 2010 has been fragile and is in danger of petering out as the public expenditure cuts, tax increases - including VAT and the fuel escalator - converge with rapidly rising commodity prices.  This could severely restrict consumer spending, damage the service and retail sectors, particularly our town centres, and in turn lead to a further hike in inflation.
3. In Europe will the scepticism of the Tories become ascendant over the europhile tendencies of the Lib Dems?
4. Will the referendum on the Single Transferable Vote be successful or will Tory opposition and the electorate anger at the Lib Dems kick it and other constitutional change into touch.  If so what are the Lib Dems for?
5. As Councils and other public services make staff redundant or give early retirement to hundreds of thousands, will there be a reaction about the cost of this as well as public sector pensions and a campaign by the media to replace the bankers as the merchants of greed with public servants?
6. Public services are a means of providing universal access to services from roads and transport to recycling, libraries, sport, arts, care and education as well as the regulation of public health, buildings and the environment.  These are fundamental to the quality of life but will be severely downsized and in some instances withdrawn, this will not play well with the public as is becoming evident from the most unlikely quarters.
7. Equally important Councils are the custodian of local economic development and community well being.  Whilst some services can be provided by both the public and private sectors there is a need to guarantee access to services for all and to avoid the creation of two tiers of services dictated by purchasing power rather than the rights of all citizens.  Fairness is the watchword of the Lib Dems but it is doubtful that this will happen by charging for many services which are currently universally available. 
8. Whilst the protests about Education to date have been about student tuition fees, a far greater impact will arise from the reduction of pre school provision.  Evidence shows that this is where achieving greater opportunities for the most disadvantaged and improved outcomes is most effective.  The coalition are removing funding from Sure Start which will lead to many closures and seem far more interested in creating free schools, although the first one has yet to become operational, and letting the market rip in the provision of universal education.  Even their preferred model for schools based on Canadian experience is essentially driven by strong provincial education authorities, which is not acknowledged by Michael Gove because this is at variance with his partisan political philosophy. 
9. The current proposals to reform the NHS seem to have been dreamt up in a think tank devoid of practitioners as well as thinkers.  The NHS has improved dramatically over the past ten years, maybe at too high a cost owing to drugs and salary reviews, but patients have been impressed.  Asking GP practices to sort out the budget cuts as well as the PCT overspending is tantamount to creating a turmoil even greater than when Aneurin Bevan introduced the NHS in 1948.  Andrew Lansley is no Nye Bevan and even his handling of flu jabs suggests he will not be immune from the epidemic of health scares ahead.  Little imagination is required to see what will happen to when patients and health professionals pool their angst.
10. Our infrastructure and transport systems were the victims of huge underinvestment in the latter part of the twentieth century.  There was a significant catch up over the past decade but governments in both UK and Scotland are focusing on the headline projects. There will be a deterioration in the maintenance and investment of local infrastructure.  Initially this will be blamed on inefficient councils but this will not wash with an ever more vigilant and information savvy public.  The winter damage will amplify the scale of these issues. Bins and roads matter as the coalition will soon find out.
11. We have had a steady reduction in crime over the past decade and record policing levels.  I am not sure that the two are directly related as various studies have shown that it is pre school education, job opportunities for young people, better housing and income support that are stronger indicators of a falling crime rate.  However as each of these services go into decline there will be an increased workload on the Police and the Justice system.
12. Heritage and Culture may be lightweight issues in the minds of the new boys on the block but a confident society (Big or Small) celebrates its achievements using a wide range of arts.  There are institutional national and local treasures which are the custodians of our artistic and cultural endeavours and will struggle to survive.  We cannot rely upon News International and its ilk who have no sense of responsibility for nurturing the future arts or celebrating our heritage.
13. Sport and Leisure might also seem peripheral but wellbeing depends upon quality leisure time. Team work, collaboration, and community participation in sport is grounded at the local level.  If the Olympics is the measure of elite achievement, it is local provision and participation of sport and leisure activities that is the foundation for future excellence. And for most of us local leisure activities are a key provider of well being and enjoyment.  This seems to be little understood and opportunities for future generations could be devastated as the coalition marginalise these activities or look to the private sector to assume responsibility. 
14. One of the growth industries of the past decade has been in lobbying and this has been exploited by many quangos and voluntary organisations to secure central government funding.  Central government was always partial to gaining the kudos from these grants which kept local government out of the game, they were too likely to set local priorities. This funding is now drying up and the previous dependency on local government grants cannot be resurrected in the current financial climate.  There are mutual reasons of despair for the third sector, the quangos, professional associations and the lobbyists.  It will be interesting to see how this plays.
15. The final issue is around the curious incident of the 'Big Society'.  It is an ill defined concept about something which really matters.  The way that government relates to its citizens has changed totally through the internet and mobile communications and the consumer is increasingly able to comment on and help improve the services or goods it receives.  Feedback is in real time and community engagement is swift when things go wrong or are threatened.  Communities can and will increasingly act collectively to find new ways of supporting the vulnerable and acting in concert on the wicked issues.  But not at the beckon call of central government.  We need strong 'peerie' communities to act as lightning conductors on the impact of changes and the instigators of improvements to services.

But there again the PM may be right, we will see.

2011 - Some targets

At this time of the year, I normally review what I have done in the previous year and set out some aims for the year ahead.  I started this 28 years ago when I realised that between family life and work, I had little time for pursuing other interests.  My reading was almost entirely work-related or reading Roald Dahl and other children's books to three young children; I had given up football, skiing and mountain marathons after breaking my leg in a parachuting accident, and travel was not easy or affordable with three young children and a hefty mortgage.

Over the years these aims became extended to a variety of activities.  In 1983 I set a target of running at least a hundred miles a month and managed it consecutively every month from 1984 to 1993, this target was dropped to 50 miles after 1995 when I became a CEO.  In 1987 I set a target to read at least 12 but ideally 20 or so novels or non-fiction books each year and have achieved it, often by an intensive spell of reading between Christmas and the New Year. Since 1990 I set out to climb fifty-plus Munros each year and usually made it with something to spare.  I have used every day of annual leave to go away with the family on holiday or to go on long walks in the Highlands.  I also had a rather sad objective of never missing a day at work which was achieved for all but three of the 38 years that I worked. In 1972 I contracted Dysentery in North Africa and spent a week in an isolation hospital, in 1977 I broke a leg and spent a fortnight in hospital and in 2001 I was laid low by Campylobacter after a First Minister's reception at the Glasgow Hilton causing me to miss two days.  All the targets were admittedly a bit obsessive but it worked well for me and I seldom missed the targets.

When I retired in June 2009, I chose not to do any work for the first six months, I needed to clear my brain and, as several good friends astutely observed, slow down to a normal pace.  I had a health scare in the two months before retiring and was unable to exercise for three months. I soon recovered over the summer so that I was running better than at any time over the past five years, I overdid the gardening and manual work and damaged my sciatic nerve so that I was unable to walk let alone run for the last two months of the year. I did not take on any work in 2009 despite several offers of lucrative employment - I knew I needed a sabbatical to recharge my batteries.

In 2010 I didn't set any targets as I was recovering from my back and leg problem and did not know how long it would be before I could run or make longer hill walks. It was May before I could run without any pain but I had set another objective to walk the GR20 in Corsica. I spent 32 days in the mountains, more than usual, but 13 of these were walking the GR20.  The remaining days gave only 14 days in Scotland for 33 Munros and 4 Corbetts - the lowest total since 1988, although I made good progress towards finishing the Wainwrights in the Lake District with 3 days walking and I managed two excellent days walking in the Tramuntana mountains in Mallorca.  I managed to run just less than 300 miles - the lowest total since 1982 - although I lost 5 months through back problems at the start of the year and was unable to run for much of the last couple of months through the darkness in Shetland and then deep snow and ice for the last five weeks.  Holidays featured less than I expected after retirement although 2 weeks in Corsica, 2 weeks in Mallorca, a week in the Lake District and short breaks in Orkney, Gigha, North Yorkshire and the Lake District were well spread out over the year.  I made new friends and renewed acquaintances with several others from 40 years ago.

But there were other exceptional events: we had a family wedding to arrange for one of our daughters; we carried out a lot of work on the house - re-slating the roof, a front porch, a new bathroom and the subsequent decoration of rooms was demanding on both time and cash.  I had decided in January when setting up a company that I should work for between 50 and 100 days a year including some voluntary work. My business plan was to pay for the wedding and the house repairs.  This was achieved as I worked 62 days, 11 of which were for voluntary projects.  Another outcome, which I had not anticipated, was 68 blogs with well over 3000 hits. All of the above meant that I read only 15 books.  So despite the lack of targets for 2010, there were some positives but it was not the best of years because I had not been as methodical as I should have in setting out my ambitions for the year.

I think on reflection that targets are worthwhile and provide a framework to assuage laziness and create the adventures that really spark the spirit. So I will return to setting some tough targets for the year ahead, and here they are - no pressure then! I will use traffic lights to show whether I am ahead of target (green), within 10% of target (orange) or falling behind (red).

At the year's end (31/12/2011) progress was mixed - the time for all the walking and travelling was curtailed by spending much of January to October in Shetland.

• 24 books - exceeded
• 72 blogs - an average of 6 per month - DONE
• Set up a Munro website - done but only loaded a few walks
• 500 miles of running - missed 4 months running June - October with Plantar Fisciitis. A good couple of months in November and December saw me reach 400 miles. 
• 1000 miles of cycling - too much time away from home restricted this.
• 50 Munros - only 20, the lowest total since 1988
• 20 Corbetts - only 5
• Complete the 226 Wainwright hills in the Lake District - only 10 to go at the start of the year - DONE June 2011 during Langdale week
• 75 days work - DONE with a final total of 110 days meaning less time for many of the other activities
• Finish either the Welsh (6 to go) or Irish (3 to go) 3000 foot mountains. 
• A mountain trek in either Europe or the USA - Pyrenees, Alps, High Sierras?
• Complete the 19 Marilyns (hills with at least a 500ft drop) in Shetland, 18 completed by July but three aborted flights to the Fair Isle prevented completion
• Lose a stone in weight to get back to my 1990 racing weight of 75kg - lost 2kg
• 6 weeks of holiday- DONE Andaluccia, Lakes (2), Paxos, London (2), Deeside
• Three new European cities - DONE - Seville, Cordoba, Grenada