Also in the news / Dialect award winner named, Salt Roads to be translated, STEM activities at SaxaVord and Sunday openings

THE WINNER of the annual Rhoda Bulter award for dialect writing is Yvonne Tait from Bigton.

The family of the late writer and poet had this year asked for short stories on the theme of Anniversary.

Speaking on behalf of his brothers and sisters John Bulter said they’d been impressed by the high standard of all the entries, saying there had been a marvellous range of stories and styles.

He described Tait’s story A meid athin da twalmont as beautiful and poignant, a worthy winner.

She said: “I feel honoured to win because I always enjoyed Rhoda’s writing. The theme appealed to me and set me thinking and the story came to me.”

JOHN Goodlad’s best-selling book about Shetland’s maritime links with the rest of Europe is to be translated into Faroese later this year

This follows a Dutch translation of the book in 2023.

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Goodlad said: “I am delighted that my book is to be translated into Faroese.

“There is a lot about the Faroe Islanders in this book, particularly about when the Shetlanders fished for cod at Faroe and smuggled large quantities of brandy back home.”

RFA project manager Rhys Williams during his presentation to pupils. Photo: SaxaVord Spaceport

RFA project manager Rhys Williams during his presentation to pupils. Photo: SaxaVord Spaceport

SAXAVORD Spaceport recently hosted its inaugural open day for schools as it increases its STEM activities.

Fifty secondary students from Baltasound Junior High School and Mid Yell Junior High School were invited to explore the world of space and rocketry at the spaceport.

In the coming years, a rolling programme of open days will be scheduled with the aim of giving every Shetland pupil the chance of visiting at least once during their time at school.

The event included a presentation from Rhys Williams, project manager for Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), which is preparing for the first vertical orbital rocket launch from SaxaVord later this year.

Director of facilities Debbie Strang said: “This was a huge first step for us towards our ultimate goal of having every school pupil in Shetland visit the site and see for themselves the exciting and inspiring work that is going on.”

Mark Lawson, head teacher at Mid Yell Junior High School, said: “We really appreciate the effort that went in to organising such an engaging day from all those concerned and look forward to seeing this important development for the North Isles continue to grow.”

THE LERWICK Specsavers branch is set to open on Sundays from 7 July following feedback from customers.

The opticians will be open during 11am to 4pm on Sundays. This means the branch will be open seven days a week.

Gemma Leask, director at Specsavers Lerwick, said: “We have spoken with many of our customers recently and found a lot of people struggle to get an appointment due to other commitments during the week, such as work or school.

“Our customers are at the heart of everything we do, so we’ve taken this on board and made the decision to begin trading seven-days a week.”