November Round Up
From heritage events and restoration projects to new additions in the archives and activities from schools and families, here's a look at a few highlights from the month.
We hosted the Celebrating Heritage Conference together with Shetland Heritage Association. Around 50 delegates joined us at the museum for a day of idea sharing, learning about local projects and celebrating the incredible work happening across Shetland’s heritage community.
We announced the start of two new Peatland Action restoration projects that will deliver lasting environmental and economic benefits to Shetland’s communities and landscapes. The sites are at Murrister, on Shetlands Westside where 45 hectares of degraded peatland are being restored, and at Herra in Yell, where 77 hectares will be revived. Work has only just begun at Herra and we can see pools forming already!
We also hosted a site visit for pupils from the Aith Junior High School and young folk from Bridges to see the peatland restoration work at Murrister.
Our woodlands team launched their free tree pack scheme for schools and community groups. There’s still time to apply – the application deadline is 19th December.
Our archives team received a fascinating and really beautiful donation this month – a collection of 19th century papers including two intricate hand-drawn maps by Andrew Dishington Mathewson of Mid Yell. They provide us with a remarkable glimpse in Shetland’s past and capture a farming system long gone. The papers are available to view online or in the archives.
Our Shetland Junior Rangers enjoyed a special, behind the scenes visit to our Museum Store this month. They learned about how artefacts not on display are cared for by our team. The bairns were impressed with the range of items – their favourites included a whale’s eyeball and Spanish Armada cannons!
This month we’ve been cataloguing rugs and blankets - including a remarkable crofter’s “quilt” donated to the collection. It’s a small, resourceful rug - a touching example of how woollens were creatively reused for warmth on a tight budget.
We started a new block of our pre-school mornings at the museum - relaxed, informal play and learn sessions for under 5s. So far we’ve been explored the sea, the croft and colour.
Our archives volunteer Amber Paton shared her work on cataloguing Islesburgh Drama Group papers – providing an interesting insight into Shetland’s theatre scene in re 1970s, 80s and 90s.
Paul Bloomer’s exhibition Flight in Da Gadderie has proved hugely popular with visitors, including many school bairns. Over the past few weeks we’ve welcomed numerous school groups for talks and guided tours, and teachers have told us their pupils thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Seeing an artist working within the Shetland environment has, we hope, helped inspire a new generation of young artists.
Together with Chris Smith Photography we held a festive cyanotype workshop at the museum - a lovely creative afternoon spent making unique handmade Christmas cards and prints using the historic cyanotype process and images from the Archive.
We were excited to share the news that the Shetland Museum will be hosting a landmark exhibition next year exploring the life of poet Hugh MacDiarmid, who lived in Whalsay in the 1930s. More details on this to come in the following months.
