LIFE ON SHAPINSAY

Shapinsay is an island just off the east coast of mainland Orkney. The island is approximately 3000 hectares in size with some eighteen miles of roads and about 300 folk. As far as amenities go there is a shop/general store, although not as general as it used to be, post office- we have daily deliveries-, two restaurants, a community school. This building houses a junior school, a community centre with fitness suite and the doctors’ surgery. There is a doctor resident on the island. The ferry trip to Kirkwall on mainland Orkney takes about 25 minutes and there are 6 ferries daily. Unfortunately the ferry does not run in the evening. However, there are several motor boats for hire and on most Saturday nights during the summer one runs bringing people to The Smithy restaurant so you can get a lift across quite cheaply and back again. The Kirkwall and Shore Hotels offers an islander discount if you do have to spend the night across. Being an island does mean that we benefit from a high level of peace of mind; the ferry provides a serious deterrent to those up to no good. The children in the village play out quite happily. Visitors to the island have commented on how relaxed it is and how they can let the children go to the shop on their own.

 There are a number of community groups on the island who are always looking for people to help and to get involved. During the winter there are activities most evenings at the community centre: - football, two traditional music groups, Scottish and country dancing, badminton. There is a very active heritage society which runs the island museum. There are several big social occasions during the year: Burns night supper run by the RNLI, the island sports day picnic and dance, the cattle show and dance, the horticultural show, Harvest Home supper and dance. For more information on Shapinsay take a look at www.orkneycommunities.co.uk/SHAPINSAY

 Mainland Orkney has a fair range of shops and supermarkets: Tescos, Lidl, Co-op and several large agricultural suppliers. The hauliers will collect stuff and deliver direct to the farm and suppliers are quite used to dropping stuff off at the hauliers. This does make life a darn sight easier than it was in Shropshire where collecting feed meant an hour lost and a sixteen mile round trip rather than just a phone call. There are two veterinary practices in Kirkwall. They can make emergency calls via one of the motor boats if necessary. Garth, being a holding of a similar size to a croft, is eligible for subsidised vet visit fees. If there is a problem lambing or calving other farmers on Shapinsay are extremely experienced and very helpful.

Weather in Orkney is very varied and changeable. There is a saying: “if you don’t like the weather wait five minutes”. Sometimes the opposite is also true. It is rarely cold- Shropshire was a lot colder- it can be very, very draughty! It can take a while to develop wind legs! When you come out of the wind after a spell of walking into it then your legs shake because you have been braced against the wind. The most deceptive is a south –easterly as it is behind me when I take the dogs out on to The Point so walking outbound is easy but then when I turn for home I have to push into it to make any headway. When I reach the sanctity of the yard then my knees shake. Winds out of the west tend to be the least unpleasant as they bring bright weather which can turn totally vile for about five minutes but you can see it coming so you can head for cover. A huge difference between here and Middle England is that we are so well looked after. The electricity network is far better maintained and if a spell of serious weather is forecast then extra engineers are brought in so power cuts are in fact very rare and if they happen we are rapidly reconnected. Don’t pay attention to what the Met office says- if more engineers are being brought in batten down the hatches and stay home!

 This difference in how well we are looked after is really quite stunning. There tends to be a lot more grants and funding available- one group I was involved in took the approach of: “this is what we want, who can we get to pay for it”. Quite mind blowing for someone fresh out of Middle England. Occasionally the community council- similar level of government to the parish council- has money available to help maintain the island better. There used be the road scheme where funding was available for making up farm lanes leading to the farmhouse- probably thought the postie’s van would last longer. There has just been a collection of scrap metal which we have taken advantage of. Another aspect which is quite different is access to politicians. On one flight home Stewart was able to tackle the MP, MSP and convenor of Orkney Islands Council in one swoop. Just remember in a country with a population of 5 million, the individual does tend to matter more.

 Don’t believe the stories that it is dark at 2.30pm in the winter- it isn’t! At the depth of winter it is comes light about 8.30am and is dropping on dark for about 4.30pm. The nights pull out a lot quicker than they do south with a serious difference being noticeable by mid-January. On clear nights in the winter the sky can be incredible especially if the Northern lights are on show. At the height of summer it doesn’t really drop properly dark- I actually wind up missing the night skies.