Lerwick antiques

It's folks believes and lifestyles that have changed. Sunday was a day of silence where no activity would happen apart from going to church, reading the bible, sewing and some men would shave while singing hymns. Golf was illegal on a Sunday and so were many other activities. If you had hens then the cockerel would be put in a basket or under a kishie so he couldn't indulge in activities with the hens. Even when the radio and TV came first, it was kept turned off on a Sunday. All shops was closed and no one worked unless for a doctor or nurse. Nowadays Sunday is just really like any other day with folk working overtime, various shops open etc. Only folk that are lying low is folk with hangovers from the night before. So, that is how society has changed. Religion does not have the same appeal either, it is more seen as being old fashioned and boring. No one I know goes to church on Sunday's. Some who don't go to church may still have a religion or faith but feel it is no longer necessary to go to church every Sunday. As far as "Religion" goes, that covers all religion. We as a nation are a christian nation with celebrations such as christmas, easter etc and follow a christian law of what is right and wrong. I find that there is however a greater interest in the spiritual, supernatural instead of the church religion. I myself do not believe in a god, devil, heaven or hell. When we die then there is no reward or punishment. My view of the bible is that all these various stories that make up the bible have some truth in them, but a lot of it is fabricated. If you take the bible as a book written to follow, it basically boils down to live your life the "good way" then the reward of heaven awaits, but live your life the "bad way" then the punishment of hell awaits. Going back to when the bible was published in around 1600 if memory serves me correctly, there was hardly any control over what people did, so it helped to control folk and their actions by creating a god fearing nation. It's just the same as everything else, it only holds it's appeal for so long then the more we find out about the world then the less believable it is. Similar idea when folk believed the world was flat, there was monsters from the deep etc. The more educated we get the less believe we have. There was a interested incident in Russia I think it was, where they drilled a very deep hole into the world and claimed they heard the screams from hell, they even recorded it.

It's because Lerwick is the centre of the universe. Lerwick is great, lovely town, fantastic shops, well organized town centre by SIC and Living Lerwick. Lerwick is the heart of Shetland.

Certainly done more than Living Lerwick, but that wouldn't be hard. Atlease Tommy doesn't send a levy fee and a warrant.

Maybe ok for adult litter droppers, but can they legally hand out penalty notices to under 16 year olds?

I know when the AHS was at the old location, then at dinner times the whole south end road was full of litter and there was empty juice bottles etc floating in the sea at Bain's beach. There used to be a SIC? worker that would go by every day at the back of 2pm picking up the litter they left behind. Changed days at the school now. One dinner time a group of bairns had been annoying Whalsay Willie, He went to the central school to complain then the headmaster George W Blance lined all the boys up in the playground for Whalsay Willie to identify the culprits.

I would like to see how they are going to fine you. As far as I am aware, it is not a law, so what grounds can they fine you on? How are they going to get proof if there is nothing with your name, address or details on it? Are they going to rig up CCTV at every wheelie bin? Say for example, I put the wheelie bins out, then two folk walking past just finished two bottles of juice, then they dumped it in the wrong bin, now that isn't my problem. So if the SIC are going to start issuing folk with fines then they would need a lot of proof for the court. Also, what about pensioners who are a bit absent minded who are living on their own with no home help? are the SIC planning on fining them over something they don't understand?

I will need to write a book about the history of Shetland refuse collection, sure it will be a good seller, but will see what happens with this new wheelie bin saga before I start writing.

The SIC came up with the coloured bag scheme a few years ago, but seemed to come to a end soon after it started. The SIC have had various types of bins through out the years and non of them seem to last, mind the metal "dalek" bins they came with in the late 1960s, then they started putting those gray plastic bins which were basically coal bunkers, but the lids blew open and broke on many of them, then they started with plastic wheelie bins, which you were expected to buy from the SIC, then this recycling wheelie bins. What did folk do say pre1970? how was rubbish kept then? anyone know or remember?

Why should we pay for clips, elastic cord, cement, building sheds etc, etc for these wheelie bins? Does the council not have to provide all this for this wheelie bins? is that not part of what we pay council tax for? All this new rules about what goes in what bin is very confusing and they also expect you to wash containers. Might be all very well for most healthy folk, but there are a lot of disabled folk and pensioners who are living alone who are simply not that able to drag these bins around and understand what goes in what bin. This will cause a great deal of worry and stress on folk that isn't able or doesn't understand it, which will lead to further health problems. Remember not every disabled person or pensioner has the home help or care they need.

I think most houses will just be putting all waste in the black bag regardless of what it's made out of. The best recycling was the local auction which the council refused to help in recent years. There are some pile of stuff going in skips and to the dump now, including valuable museum pieces, perfectly good furniture, working white goods etc due to no local auction. Now, that is waste.

On the plus side, It's good to see the council finally replacing the flag stones at the south end.

Most of my customers are local or folk up on holiday, not cruse ship tourists. Mind one day last year, there was two cruse ships in, there was around 400 of them along my shop and my only sale was to a local person. The other shop owners I know all says the same. Now folk are wanting the shops to open on Sunday's. The only Sunday that might be worth opening is the Sunday before christmas for folk doing christmas shopping.

All these folk and town organizations are obsessed with cruse ships. These folk rarely buy anything unless on a rare occasion. Certainly not enough buyers to cover Sunday opening costs, especially if the owners have to employ staff or have to come in from the country. They are trying to make Lerwick like a town on the south english coast, but it's not, and never will be. Shetland has ALWAYS had it's own way of working and doing things, that's a large part of what tourists admire about Shetland. It's just a shame that Lerwick has already had the heart and sole torn out of it over the past 40 years.

I see there is a bit of mixed opinions on if shops in Lerwick should open on a Sunday or not, what's your thoughts.

If Stuart can get his point proved, what then? If he is correct that the court has no jurisdiction over Shetland and gets that proved somehow, what happens then? What court would have jurisdiction over Shetland? Or, is he planning that him and his "parliament" would take over?

Opening a shop has always been hard work and expensive. But if I can do it, anyone can. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Some parts of the street is really a sad sight, but I am hoping it will be improved at some point this year. Once that place gets opened in the old Hydro place then it will look a little better. Da Noost looks terrible but hopefully the new owners will be getting under way with that at some point this year. As I have said before, the worse is empty boarded up shops, if someone will get something in them regardless of what the shop might be then it will be a lot better.

There was a wife in my shop on Saturday that had come up here for a holiday. She said it has been 4 years since she was last in Shetland. She asked what has happened to da street, said she was shocked and saddened by all the empty shops and the general state of the place.

What should we do about getting a better quality shopping place and more folk. Demolish most of Lerwick and start again, then move shetland closer to Aberdeen.

Why can Orkney have a good high street and Shetland can't? is it the council?

Yes the old Beervanna shop opposite Conochies is now the Shetland Larder.

Interesting read but nothing I have not seen before, I have always said that it's not just Commercial street that is suffering, but all high streets in the UK are having a hard time. Difference is that Shetland has thousands of visitors during the summer with folk on holiday, cruse ships, wool week and up helly aa. But don't expect a big increase in sales from them either. Us living on shetland has limited choice, as it is not cheap or very practical to go to the mainland to buy something, plus more and more online sellers seem to not post to "Scottish islands" and if they do then they want a punchy price, often the postage price to Shetland is more than the item price.

Is the prices of goods in the shops a big problem? I have bought quite a few things from the internet and usually been quite disappointed by the quality of the goods, plus a lot of places either will not ship to "Scottish Islands" or want a stupid postal charge by various shipping companies that take a while to be delivered here. It probably really depends what you are looking for, but I have personally found that most shops tend to sell quality items, might be a bit more expensive, but atlease you can see/handle what you are buying and most places offer a guarantee on new items.

Another problem is the shops are all old. Old buildings are a problem, some have leaking windows, damp and hard to heat. The shop that I have seems to be one of the better buildings with no signs of damp or leaking windows.

Starting a business or opening a shop has always been a big risk, and believe you me, it's not for the faint hearted. Even more of a risk now with the internet and the lack of footfall. Most folk that might have a good idea but never go for it, instead they get stuck in the 9-5 work routine with a guaranteed sum of money in their pocket at the end of the week or month. You are highly un-likely to make a fortune with a shop now a days. It all depends on what your personal life is like and how you want to live. If you have a family and children to support, want flash cars, go on holiday once or twice a year, etc, then it's not going to work as there isn't enough profit. But, if you are like me, on your own, no interest in jetting off on holiday and no interest in a flash lifestyle, then it will probably work. As I always say, it is hard being in business, but long as I can pay the bills, able to buy fresh stock, and be able to buy something to eat at the end of the day, then I am happy.