Letters / Memories of 1947
In 1947 I was nine years old. My parents had been posted to Shetland where my late father was to be the Church of Scotland minister in what I believe was/is referred to as the Weisdale Kirk.
We had sailed from Leith to Aberdeen and then stopped briefly in Kirkwall in Orkney and on to Lerwick. In January 1947 there was a sudden snow fall that blocked all the roads going anyway into the rural communities of the island.
My parents didn’t really talk about being storm stayed. But we lived in a hotel in Lerwick until a large snow blower was brought from an airbase.
I can still remember seeing workers digging around the cross arms on the telephone poles – jackets off and working really hard to get the telephone lines to work.
I loved my Shetland experience with a boy from the Weisdale Post Office – I think his name was Jim Moncrieff. I broke my arm at Anderson’s farm when their youngest ran out in front of my bike and I was tossed over the handlebars.
I remember my dad taking me to Lerwick to have a surgeon check the arm that my dad had set the night before. I had a great time in Weisdale.
I also remember going to Up Helly Aa and seeing the longboat being set on fire. Years later when my parents had emigrated to Canada and we lived in Newfoundland, I wrote about my experience at the Up Helly Aa festival.
Hope somebody can find some information for our stay in Shetland.
Thank you in advance. Cheers!!!
Stewart Paterson
Manitoba
erspater38@gmail.com
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
