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Belmont House


Kavi Ugl
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...something that caused so much misery to hundreds, if not thousands, ...

What happened there?

I don't think Kavi Ugl is referring to anything specific to the location, but rather to the wider oppression by lairds in general, something which was indeed generally the case.

 

Thanks EM, it was indeed the wider/overall picture that I was thinking of.

 

The sad truth is that Belmont House has been restored by toffs for toffs.....and maybe the odd wedding will use it(unfortunately).

 

:? :)

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Just been looking at the Belmont House web page and I, for one, think it looks great. I'm already considering booking it for a family get together and I'm certainly no toff!

 

£1400 per week may seem excessive but between 12 people it works out at £16.67 per person per night. I think, short of staying in a tent, you'd be hard pushed to find anywhere cheaper. For comparison, the youth hostel at Gardiesfauld (which is also lovely) is £13 per adult per night.

 

It's just a shame some people feel the need to moan about absolutely everything.

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Well I make that £16.66 a person based on 12 for a whole week but agree that it is not so terribly expensive. And surely the argument against restoring Belmont House due to the actions of the Lairds probably applies to just about every castle, fort, manor house etc in the UK.

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Just been looking at the Belmont House web page and I, for one, think it looks great. I'm already considering booking it for a family get together and I'm certainly no toff!

 

£1400 per week may seem excessive but between 12 people it works out at £16.67 per person per night. I think, short of staying in a tent, you'd be hard pushed to find anywhere cheaper. For comparison, the youth hostel at Gardiesfauld (which is also lovely) is £13 per adult per night.

 

It's just a shame some people feel the need to moan about absolutely everything

 

No, it's just that some people are not prepared to be brainwashed and forget the misery that was inflicted on our fellow Shetlanders by the people who built these houses.....

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With all due respect, we can't rewrite history but perhaps we can turn something negative into something positive that, as far as I can see, can only have good implications for Unst.

 

PS - I hear the fellow that stayed in Scalloway Castle was a nasty piece of work, perhaps we should flatten it!

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Yeh, that is a fair comment and I'd have been more content if the re-builders of Belmont House had at least publickly recognised the sad history surrounding it/the laird's era.

 

The flattening of Scallaway castle has often gone through my mind.... :ponders: :wink:

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The flattening of Scallaway castle has often gone through my mind.... :ponders:

 

If it wisna fur auld Patrick's ain kind proppin hit up, dir wid be a sicht less o' im noo.

 

I tink da most fittin memory ta hae o' dat place is o' da Skalawa fok (allegedly) usin im is a kye byre eftir auld Patrick's kind gae up upoa im.

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If it remains intact, with the tourist trade becoming more of a focus, a new museum next door and local traders becoming ever-more savvy, it may come to be that the castle may increasingly provide income for the locals, rather than extract income from them as it did 400 years ago. For that reason it should surely remain. :wink:

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Twerto, if you're going to post something regarding somebody at least have the decency to get their name right :roll:

 

And as for the pyramids, the wind and sand storms are doing a good enough job of eroding them and I would think the pyramids would be nigh on impossible to re-build. Unless you want to try it!.

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Scalloway Castle would also be nigh on impossible to rebuild too, given the cost and availability of materials required and prohibitive planning restrictions. The pyramids might actually be easier. :wink:

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^

I still think that it should be re-roofed and used for something. Sure, ruins have an interesting romantic aesthetic, but Scalloway castle isn't actually very ruinous. Re-roofing it would be quite feasible without need for archaeological vandalism. It is not going to happen of course, because Historic Scotland are generally against allowing such dramatic changes.

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Puting in a roof that is not visible outside the castle has been proposed. Historic Scotland seem to be dead against altering their buildings in any way, prefering them to stay as they found them. That didn't seem to stop them from puting windows in the castle (PVC ones at that if I remember correctly)

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