Twenty years ago

In January 1996, the Shetland Times produced the fourth article in a series looking at The Folk of the islands. 

Isn't it amazing what twenty years can do? How much changes and how much stays the same. The newspaper article - a double page spread - was given to Hannah who brought it into the studio to show us all. The article is a profile of different people in Shetland and this time looked at traditions, crafts and skills. Some of the people written about we know and some have, sadly, left us, but it is heartening to see how hand-made quality products were highlighted then and continue to be so now. Knitting seems not to be so well-known then, but weaving certainly was, and spinning, and of course, music. A special mention is made of the lace knitting and the thinnest of yarns that go into the making of the the finest lace shawls. Nature too is a big part of the piece, and tourism is spoken about as the Next Big Thing after the oil has finished. Artists are also highlighted, and fishing. It seems that, no matter what the Big Wide World out there does, Shetland knows what it is good at and continues to excel at those things. Thanks Hannah for sharing the article.