Letters / Not Scottish
My wife and I lived on Unst in the early ‘60s courtesy of the RAF at Saxa Vord. My abiding memory of the wonderful people we met was that they were as far removed from ‘Scottish’ as myself, an Englishman.
My first faux pas was to refer to my landlord Andy Hewson as Scottish and was firmly put in my place.
We revisited the island after 40 years for a holiday and found many changes. The oil industry had contributed to better inter island travel and communication via the ferry service. Unst was no longer a ‘dry’ island and now had a resident policeman and a brewery.
It always amused us when the policeman from Yell made a visit to see all the cars that were on the road the previous day now up on bricks with wheels removed. How word got around the island so fast we will never know.
On our revisit we again met people we knew. Particularly Edna and Hunter Nesbit and Edna’s delicious home baking when we were invited to tea was never to be forgotten.
Given a free choice I believe that Shetland would not wish to be part of an independent Scotland. Their voices should be heard before it is too late.
Alan and Anne Stackman
Calne
Wiltshire
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