BigMouth

Those of us that do speak out risk offending the sensitivities of others, but where change is needed people are bound to get offended.

I rarely buy fish, and if I do it comes in a tin. I do eat a fair bit of it when out for a meal. I have bought items from the artisan shop, but I rarely see anyone, bar the shopkeeper in there, and I pass there every Saturday at least. I rarely see anyone in what was Bolts Electricals, nor the clothes shop. The shop at the top of the stairs near the Post Office holds no interest for me.

Because people can usually walk less than 50 yards to get to the shops. The shops being indoors may have something to do with it. Thriving may be overstating the matter. One particular shop has been opened and closed down in many guises, (Inside Out, craft shop, womens dress shop), and ironically seemed to be doing best when it opened as a charity shop. Particularly of note for me is Bolts, Scoop, The Olive Tree and the Scalloway butchers.

Despite the rhetorical nature of your point Mr Brown my response is that I don't care what people think of me, but if they are critical, then they may well have justification in being so. I do get tired of hearing the perfectly able bodied moan about how difficult it is not being able to park in the doorway of the shop, although they don't quite word it this way. Seeing young mums with pushchairs struggle around vehicles parked on the pavement also grinds my gears. My comment - You can walk from King Harald St to the street and back in less than 10 minutes. Should have been - I can walk from King Harald St to the street and back in less than 10 minutes. Overweight and in my early sixties, many of the few people walking in the same direction as me are doing so much more quickly.

Making something out of gold instead of stainless steel is not technological advancement, it is because the manufacturer sees a higher profit margin in it, so perhaps we should agree that there will always be a race to the bottom for those that can accept lower quality items, and a race to the top for those that want a better quality item. What we seem to often have in Lerwick shops is low quality at "premium" prices.

Competition also encourages higher quality items. Look at how cars have moved on. You don't even have to wind your windows up and down or crank start the car anymore. They even have hill start assist! Shetland Times is on a hiding to nothing as a book shop, because of Amazon. I have seen people in there scanning the barcodes on the books to compare with Amazon pricing. Diversifying is a good idea for them.

All those places you describe are public roads Ghosty, and parking is on a first there gets the space basis. The owners pay their road tax (VED) or are exempt. If they and their cars meet their legal obligations then they can park as long as they like where they like, parking restrictions permitting. If you want the space, just arrive earlier. If anyone leaves a note on your windscreen point out the above.

We have traffic calming measures because little boys in hatchbacks were using Commercial Road akin to a drag strip. If Plod had put the doughnuts down and handed out a few tickets the little boys would have gone to play elsewhere, but little boys being little boys need to be noticed, hence the loud pipes and driving around the town in circles in their little hatchbacks going nowhere. These people who don't have the time, what are they doing? Running international mega corporations from their crofts? Manning the Shetland nuclear deterent control centre outpost? Scanning the skies for Russian nuclear bombers? Providing life-saving electricity by pedalling a bike with a dynamo connected to granny's's iron lung? Writing their PhD on the physics involved in setting up the steam catapult required to safely launch a car full of passengers from Toft to Gutcher? Or are they spending their time sat in front of the telly watching brain numbing dross and BBC propaganda like most of the rest of the populace? Frankly, the "don't have time" argument doesn't wash. We have never had so much spare time. You can walk from King Harald St to the street and back in less than 10 minutes. There is plenty of parking within less than half a mile of the street. People are being idle. People don't even want to park on a hill, because it's inconvenient

The old swimming pool car park has a huge amount of spaces, then there is both sides of the Hillhead, St Olaf St, King Harald St and all the interconnecting roads. There is no shortage of parking. If you have driven in from say, Gulberwick, and you park on the Hillhead, you have saved yourself a very long walk. The street is a hassle for pedestrians because of cars, many of which should not be there (in the restricted zone). If someone opened a doughnut shop I am sure that we would see more Plod on the street. The last thing we want is shops not competing. There was previously a cartel-like operation where you couldn't buy a pair of stockings in shop A because there was an agreement that only shop B would sell them. I needed them for research purposes! Look at the improvement that Specsavers has brought to the street. Living Lerwick needs to be binned, and the traders should have their own committee with the SIC sat in on it taking notes on what would improve the area for shoppers and traders.

when the traffic calming measures are used as an excuse by many not to shop on the street you really have seen a first world problem. Free parking is one of the wonderful things about Shetland. Try to park anywhere near any other town centre in the UK and you will be dipping your hands in your pocket to park. I have no idea how much parking is on the pier, but I doubt that they are asking you to hand over your first born for a space. If you are employed the chances are you can afford it. If not, go and park in the hundreds of other available spaces in Lerwick in car parks and street parking spaces. If you don't give a turd about pedestrians, feel free to park on the pavement, many do. Unless you are disabled or buying a washing machine, then the walk and carrying a few items will do you some good.

Reasons I have heard or seen written have been - No parking available on the street Available parking is too far away High prices Poor choice Surly or disinterested staff Easier to shop online Supermarkets State of the street Excessive traffic on the restricted section Police not enforcing the restricted section I have never experienced poor service, other than being forced to have a bag, which I didn't need or want, by an overzealous member of Harry's. One of the shopkeepers told me that the erection of bollards in Harrison Square saw a massive decline in their shop.

I bought some in Malakoff. They sold it in 4 litres containers

Mr Brown - I appreciate what you say about leaving a long queue. I have done that on many occassions. I don't expect instant service everywhere I go, but with the exception of Boots and Tesco, I find that I rarely wait over a minute to get served in any shop. I am in Don Leslie's 3 or 4 times a week and whilst it can be difficult to negotiate due to the narrowness of the aisles, they sell all of the items that I need for a supermarket-free top-up shop.

Convert the empty places to accommodation. It's not a place that I would like to live, but I am sure many would, and do. There's no point having a Lipton’s type store. People just wouldn't walk to it and the parking outside couldn’t cater for it. I often hear the refrain that there's is no parking close by, and you only have to see the able bodied park on the double yellow lines or on the pavements at Tesco to know that there are some who are too idle to walk 100 yards across a car park. Cafes seem to do well, and are usually very busy at lunchtimes. What I have noticed is that there seems to be a high number of staff in each shop compared to what I have seen south. Cut the number of staff and your costs will go down. We need to grasp the reality that the internet has consumed a lot of our earnings. The market is no longer as large for the High Street, so either let it die, or put some life into what remains by converting it into accommodation.

Three dreams surely Frances - fish supper and a Choux bun!

From waiting 7 years for an appointment a few years ago, we will soon all have Hollywood gnashers!

We have waited a long time for this, and it's finally happening, Wetherspoons is coming to Lerwick, although their choice of venue seems odd according to the rumour - the new Baptist Church up in the Quoys. Steak nights on Wednesdays.

I couldn't be trusted with the baking

I will be in charge of the money.

Yes I heard that some weeks ago.

Sounds like I have a date!

Just imagine the sit-down meal in the Fort, followed by a choux bun for dessert.

I am sure that they will make a small one for you

Patisserie? Is that a cake shop for posh people! We certainly need one. I will be in there on day one. Thanks.

I saw Fine Peerie cakes being stripped out today. What is the shop going to be next?