26th December Christmas Tree & Pantomime For a selection of pictures of the pantomime 'Operella' ('Cinderella' meets 'A Shetland Odyssey'!!) click on the image.

24^th December
Fair Isle to keep fighting
PEOPLE living on Fair Isle were deeply frustrated at hearing yesterday (Friday) that they had only been ranked "medium" out of the 15 candidates for a coastal and marine national park, because of their remoteness. Read the story in the Shetland News

15^th December
Christmas Customs

	This year the Fair Isle primary School's Christmas concert was called Christmas Customs. The script was written by the children and included a playlet, called The Spider's Christmas, telling the story of how we come  to decorate our Christmas trees with tinsel.

29^th October
Fair Isle hopefuls must be patient - Read the story in the Shetland News
 

Spinning a yarn on Fair Isle
"A SHETLAND ODYSSEY"
24th & 25th October, London
27th & 28th October, Fair Isle

Tête à Tête was founded in 1997 by Bill Bankes-Jones, Katie Price and Orlando Jopling to bring uplifting, surprising, daring and intimate opera productions of the highest quality to the widest possible audiences.

Company:
COMPOSER Julian Grant
LIBRETTIST Hattie Naylor
SINGERS: include Maureen Brathwaite (Soprano), Danny Broad (Baritone), Andee-Louise Hypolite
(Mezzo-Soprano), Louise Mott (Mezzo-Soprano), Kim-Marie Woodhouse (Mezzo-Soprano).
KNITTERS AND SPINNERS: Elizabeth Johnston (Scousburgh), Margaret Milligan (Callendar),
Margaret Peterson (Unst), Janice Sawford (Fetlar), Anne Sinclair (Fair Isle).
PRODUCTION TEAM Bill Bankes-Jones (Director), Tim Murray (Music Director), Tim Meacock (Designer), Mark Doubleday (Lighting Designer), JP Gandy (Piano).

This presentation on Thursday evening of the as yet unfinished opera "A Shetland Odyssey"  represents the outcome of two weeks of rehearsal of  Tte Tte's commission from Julian Grant and Hattie Naylor integrating knitters and spinners from Shetland into an opera company. Trying out all sorts of ideas and experiments the company were keen to get as much feedback from the audience before going on to develop the piece for a fully staged production next year.

The opera looks at the story of Odysseus from some very specific angles. Odysseus fought in the Trojan war, where the rulers of the many Greek kingdoms united to punish the Trojans for Paris' elopement with Menelaeus' beautiful wife Helen. As a result of this terrible war, Hecabe, King Priam's wife, lost her entire family as well as her status, home and homeland, and ended up as Odysseus' prisoner.

The opera opens as Hecabe curses her captor, then turns into a black dog and descends into the Underworld. It then takes Odysseus twenty years to get home to Ithaca and his wife Penelope. We see a handful of episodes from this journey and homecoming through his battle-scarred eyes.

Though the opening was a little slow in its development, once started, the singing was astonishing - the cursing stupendous. The chorus was excellent, even though the music must have been difficult to sing and the timing hard to cope with on occasions - altogether extremely well done!

Unfortunately, while the creation of the 'exploding' knitting was achieved, its ignition and destruction at Muckle Uri Geo for the start of Friday evening's entertainment was not possible due to the proximity of another - possibly more dangerous object (see below). Despite the strong wind the ignition was attempted on ground opposite the hall - but with less than spectacular results (back to the drawing board!).

Back in the hall we were privileged to hear the world premiere of part of an oratorio composed by Fair Isle composer Lise Sinclair given by Tte Tte.

The children - who had sat through the previous evening's performance apparently enthralled and looking as if they too had been enchanted - were now introduced by Bill as the 'new members of the company'. They then took part in several excerpts from Acts I and II of the opera - at first providing 'orchestral' accompaniment with their subsequent participation in the scenes making a definite contribution - particularly their metamorphism into pigs on Circe's enchanted isle!

After a year of rewriting, redevelopment and planning, the opera company and Shetland craftspeople will reunite to present the full production in a UK-wide and international tour of performances, starting in October 2006.

See more pictures - ladamemott's Album:Shetland Odyssey (Please do not use the owner's pictures in an unexpected way)

and more here from Mark Doubleday

Read the story in the Shetland News

More information about Tte Tte

A readable account of the journey of Odysseus here

28^th October
Empty liquid nitrogen tank ashore on Fair Isle. Read the story in the Shetland News
An Aberdeen bound freighter the Rosita lost cargo in a night of heavy storms on Monday night (24th October) in winds that were gusting up to gale force nine. Shetland Coastguard were contacted at 11.30pm while the ship was 12 miles south east of Fair Isle and told that several empty tanks used for the transportation of refrigerated liquid nitrogen and two containers had been washed overboard.

Work is in hand to recover this and the other tanks if they are still afloat.

2^nd October
Properties to let on Fair Isle boosts visitor numbers!
On Wednesday 28th September, following coverage on National Public Radio in the USA of how Fair Isle and The National Trust for Scotland  were looking for new islanders to occupy two empty houses on the Isle, the Fair Isle website received a large number of visitors . Almost 12,000 - or ten times the usual number - accessed the site in a single day!
 

Date	Visits	Average	Forecast		% of Total
Sun Sep 25th, 2005	1,050	908.39	n/a		3.62
Mon Sep 26th, 2005	1,311	959.58	n/a		4.52
Tue Sep 27th, 2005	2,111	992.46	n/a		7.28
Wed Sep 28th, 2005	11,945	964.91	n/a		41.18
Thu Sep 29th, 2005	6,745	954.72	n/a		23.25
Fri Sep 30th, 2005	3,808	939.07	n/a		13.13
Sat Oct 01st, 2005	2,036	860.56	n/a		7.02

24th September Last of the Season's yachts?	A busy summer in the North Haven
After a long trip down from Lerwick - sailing the last stages of a summers cruising in northern waters single-handed - a young Frenchwoman had to wait on Fair Isle a few days before a short 'weather-window' allowed her to continue southwards - arriving in Stronsay (Orkney) after a 10-hour passage.

23^rd September
TTE TTE
A Shetland Odyssey
Workshops in London and Fair Isle, 10-29 October 2005
Pioneering opera company Tte Tte teams up with Shetland Islanders to launch a truly ground-breaking new work combining opera, knitting and spinning to portray the adventures of Odysseus.
 

20^th August
Fair Isle on the Edge
BBC Radio 4
9:00pm - 9:30pm
Producer Dave Batchelor
Quote from Radio Times - "The seabirds have stopped breeding because of a combination of over-fishing and global warming has resulted in the disappearance of the sand eels they feed on. Nature writer Jim Crumley explores the island, meets crofters and discovers how one small community is coping with the kind of change that could be on the way for the rest of us."
Jim Crumley also speaks to Jonathan Porritt and asks him what this recent turn of events signals to the rest of Europe.

9^th August
Last orders have been called on visiting drinkers at one of Britain's most remote pubs - the Puff Inn on St Kilda off the Western Isles.  Full story on BBC News Scotland

28^th July
Ghost Ship arrives in Newcastle
Photographs by Jane M. Reid
 

23^rd July

22^nd July
Ghost Ship departs
Making her art debut - the solo/maiden voyage from Fair Isle to Newcastle Upon Tyne - the Ghost Ship sets sail on her autonomous voyage south. Her arrival in Newcastle upon Tyne is hopefully timed to coincide with the departure of the Tall Ships - sailing up the Tyne in the wake of their departure as they leave on the final leg of the race.

The boat was built by Ian Best exclusively for this purpose and fitted with the appropriate technology to enable it to sail on this, its maiden and only voyage.

Due to adverse weather conditions Ghost Ship has re-routed via Kirkwall, Orkney.  It is expected to depart on the flood tide at around 7:30am Sunday July 24th with the next expected port of arrival Peterhead around midnight. Further information about the project can be found at www.ghostship.org.uk

7^th July
New arrivals on Fair Isle

6^th July
An evening of entertainment

First came a sketch based on 'One Church, one Faith, one Lord' . . .     . . . . and then the comedy 'A Fair Isle Yarn' adapted by Stewart Wilson loosely woven around the lack of men on the Isle (though to have "droon'd" at the fishing) and the timely arrival of a shipwrecked Spaniard!	'Our church has ........'

28^th June
First Workcamp arrives

29^th April
What do Islanders think of their Postal Services?
Postwatch Scotland is very keen to hear from people living and doing business on any of the Scottish islands about what they think of their postal services.

Since Postwatch came into being in April 2001, they have only received 103 complaints from the islands. Does this mean that services on the islands are very good? Customers on the islands have a right to complain when services do not operate as they should, and should not settle for second-rate services. If the problem is not resolved when contacting Royal Mail, Postwatch Scotland is here to help. You can contact Postwatch Scotland on 08456 013265 or visit www.postwatch.co.uk for more information.

25^th April
Ghost Ship
The 29' 2 sixareen negotiates the Fair Isle roads. She is the first sixareen to be built in Shetland since Ian Best and Willie Mouat built Duncan Sandisons sixareen in Unst (winter 92/93). She is too big for the Good Shepherd so the MV Snolda took her to the mainland on the first leg of her journey to Southampton University where they will fill her with the technology to sail remotely and carry out tank tests before shipping her back to Fair Isle in July to make her art debut: the solo/maiden voyage from Fair Isle to Newcastle Upon Tyne, during the Tall Ships race.

Pictures Left & Right by Deryk Shaw

Ghost Ship is a major public art project which has been commissioned by Locus+ as part of the events to coincide with The Tall Ships Race 2005. Ghost Ship will involve the autonomous voyage of a boat from Fair Isle, Scotland to Newcastle upon Tyne, arriving in Newcastle as the Tall Ships prepare to leave on the final leg of the race, and sailing up the Tyne in the wake of their departure. The boat will be built exclusively for this purpose and fitted with the appropriate technology to enable it to sail on this, its maiden and only voyage.

A PDF format Press Release containing further information about the project can be downloaded here.

17^th April
A couple of links found while researching other things - an article at scotsman.com (you will have to register with the Scotsman to follow this link - but it's free) dated 25th Jan 2005 on The wreck of El Gran Grifn!
And, also on scotsman.com, this time in the Leisure & Lifestyle pages an article News from nowhere about Phil and Linda and their Scottish Islands Explorer magazine.
[Dave]

16^th April
Barry retires as a crew-member of the Good Shepherd

He didn't suspect a thing!	Barry Sinclair was the only person on the Isle who was in the dark about the true reason behind the evening's get together in the Fair Isle hall.  An evening of excellent food (a 'carvery' of ham, beef, lamb and chicken with much else on offer), friendship and good entertainment to mark his retiral as a member of the Good Shepherd IV crew.	Barry & Anne
Good Shepherd crew	Coming ashore after mooring GS III Barry in the  stern of the dingy.	Good Shepherd IV cake

Strong to near gale WSW'ly winds had removed the carcase by the 11th.

24^th March
THE FAIR ISLE CHOIR 'DROP, DROP SLOW TEARS'
Alastair Stout, the composer from Vidlin, continues his musical links with Shetland whilst working as organist and choir-master in Pennsylvania. In thanks for their work on 'Given Days' - a commission he undertook for Classic Fair Isle three years ago - Alastair recently gifted a new piece entitled Drop, drop, slow tears (a poem by Phineas Fletcher 1582 - 1650) dedicated to Lise and the Fair Isle choir.

Since then, when the choir were joined by voices from the Shetland Choral Society, work has carried on to try and interest the St Magnus festival in the piece, and in Alastairs compositions in general. Even with the merit and praise of Given Days by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, this continues to prove difficult. In the meantime the choir have sung within the more conventional repertoire, from Handel to Richard Rodney Bennett.

'Drop, drop slow tears' is written for four vocal parts and saw its first performance on Good Friday. The tonal landscape of the piece is very new, but descriptive, and the music was a great success in performance, moving the singers and the listeners. 

A man called lain asked Lachlan and me if he could take our photo by the computer. He also asked Mrs Harrison to get in the photo. Mrs Harrison, Scott and Oliver got interviewed by the BBC on camera and Daniel and me by a lady from the Herald. Lachlan also got interviewed and Alice, Erin, Lowri, Melissa and Fyntan got pictures taken outside in the playground.

Amy took loads of photos of them with the school camera and some of us even got to hold the big BBC camera which is used to film some football matches - it was quite heavy. Just before they went the man that had organised the trip came and gave us each a digital cameral!!!!!!! They are really small and amazing.

After lunch we went up to the airstrip to watch them take off in the helicopter. We got to peep inside through the door and see all the controls. After we had our picture taken in front of the helicopter we all got back in the car and watched it take off. When we got back to school we all ran into the playground and the helicopter circled round with the door open taking photos of the school from a bird's eye view. We all waved and then watched as the helicopter flew off back to Inverness. It was great to see everything!

Hannah Best, Fair Isle Primary School

Links to news items relating to this (though I have no idea how long they may remain current/active)

Grampian TV includes a video clip

The Herald has an item on this on their news archive site - though charge 1.95 to access the full text. So far I have failed to find similar links to The Scotsman, Financial Times or Daily Record - each having been represented on the visit.
[Dave]

At the moment they are looking for representation in our area.  Some information is given below, with more available on the Scottish Consumer website.

Anyone who is interested can contact the Consumer Network Co-ordinator Gill MacGregor who will be happy to supply more information. Gill can be contacted on 0141 227 6462, in writing at the SCC offices at Royal Exchange House, 100 Queen Street, Glasgow G1 3DN or by e-mail at  gmacgregor@scotconsumer.org.uk

Local volunteers wanted to provide information about consumer issues.
The Scottish Consumer Council (SCC) is looking to recruit volunteers from all over Scotland to join its national Consumer Network.  It is looking for people from all walks of life who can keep the SCC in touch with consumer issues that are important in their local community.

Volunteers are asked to report to the SCC three times a year, about any consumer issues that concern them or their community. Topics could range from health to transport, education to the environment.  They are also asked to help with small research projects two or three times a year. This may involve completing a questionnaire or finding out about local services. Recently volunteers in the Consumer Network reported on the facilities available locally for recycling. The time commitment is small, perhaps an hour or so every couple of months.

Volunteers play a vital role in helping to keep the SCC informed of issues that matter to people across Scotland. The information is used by the SCC in helping to promote the interests of all consumers, particularly people who experience disadvantage in society.

There are no formal qualifications required and no barriers to eligibility: -

You dont have to be an expert on consumer matters - you do have to have an interest in local and national consumer affairs

You dont have to be opinionated - you do have to have an opinion

You dont have to be fit and active - you do have to have an active open mind

You dont have to be well educated and highly articulate - you do have to want to communicate with us and keep us informed.

The chairman of the SCC Graeme Millar said: Our Consumer Network volunteers perform an enormously important role in helping to make sure we address the issues that matter to people across Scotland. They act as our eyes and ears across the country to keep us in touch with what is important in their local communities. We would be delighted to hear from anyone who is interested in joining the network and helping to contribute to the important work of the SCC. 

Ivver Entrancin Wis

A suite of music for cello, harp, viola and voice, inspired by pieces from Shetlands body of poetry, past and present, will be the highlight of The New Shetlanders Christmas celebrations in the Town Hall on Thursday 9 December. The event will also feature storytelling and a reading by acclaimed Scottish poet and Editor Gerry Cambridge. The event is funded by Shetland Arts Trust, Classic Fair Isle and Shetland Council of Social Service.

More information on the What's On page.

Listen to the performance via the Internet on BBC Radio Shetland (Click on the Thursday link) until Wednesday 16th February