Beautiful and nuanced history

Thanks to Neil Anderson for the beautiful, nuanced history of R.W. Bayes shop that appeared in Shetland News last week.

Memories of a life in an old-fashioned shop that became an institution

I had the good fortune to live in Shetland for the summer of 2018 while one of my daughters was doing historical research on the Shetland Bus. We visited R.W. Bayes several times that summer and it was clear that it was a unique place both in terms of its history and its amazing people.

Neil helped us with postcards, picture frames, and I can’t recall what else. His Shetland News account of the history of the shop said so much about so many things—the store itself, the amazingly flexible, innovative, and creative people who worked there, the history of Shetland, and how technologies change and how we change in response.

I am grateful that I could experience R.W. Bayes and Neil’s article put it all in context. Thanks so much, Neil (maybe your next act should be as a historian).

Louis Myers
Belmont, MA
USA