Blog

Keep up to date with new stories and details of what our researchers are doing to preserve and promote Shetland's heritage and culture.

The Museum and Archives is managed by the Shetland Amenity Trust, a small charity caring for Shetland's natural and cultural heritage. It is free to visit the Museum and Archives and here we share our work with you through our blogs and news. Donations are welcomed to help the Trust care for the collections and our heritage both now and in the future.

Beltane Festival

We're all familiar with calendar customs. Those we have in Shetland today (with one notable exception in late January!) are identical ...

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Visit the Fair Isle Chairs exhibition from the comfort of your own armchair

The Shetland Museum and Archives are delighted to extend their learning programme online with the launch of a new video exploring the ...

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Shetland Footballer - James Hunter Thomson

James Hunter Thomson came from Deepdale (born 1884). There isn’t much that comes from Deepdale now. Uninhabited lang syne, you get ...

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The Man Behind the Lowrie Stories

Sometime in the 1920s a middle-aged businessman in Lerwick began to write stories. He didn’t write about his native town. The hero ...

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His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

We are saddened to hear of the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

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Why burn peats?

As part of the Between Islands project, Shetland’s new online exhibition, ‘Fair Game’ examines three customs that are now ...

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The Bohemian Girl

In 1843 White’s, a firm of Quaker shipbuilders, launched a schooner, 125 tons, 104ft x 22.5ft x 12ft, the Bohemian Girl.

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Celebrating International Women's Day: Britta Laurenson

International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. Here Jenny ...

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Shetland Amenity Trust reopens Shetland Museum and Archives

The Shetland Amenity Trust will reopen its doors to the public at the Shetland Museum and Archives this week following careful ...

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Get Your Skates On!

The weather has changed, the temperature risen, wind and rain are back, the frosty winter fun gone. In 1909 though, one organisation ...

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A present from Lerwick?

Some artefacts are interesting for what they tell us, and others are simply nice to look at. Here's one that's both. On the face of ...

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Why hunt whales?

Pilot whales were important to islanders’ survival, providing many useful products. Subsistence whaling was unpredictable, because ...

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St Sunniva's Tableware

The pandemic meant no cruise liners came to Lerwick, but not many Shetlanders realise that an important one lies on the seabed at ...

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Winter Sports

We’ve had a fine spell of weather of late, snowy, frosty, crispy. Out for a walk one day I was told someone had been spotted skiing, ...

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Northwest Passage

On the 26th of June 1576, three ships anchored near St Ninian’s Isle. These were the Gabriel, a twenty-five tonne barque, the ...

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