When I was up in Shetland in August for a friend’s wedding, I happened upon the current edition of The Shetland Life in the most northerly tearoom in the UK.
The model on the front was a very homely lady sporting a Shetland home knit, petting a Shetland pony in the fields.
Show that photo anywhere and it would be seen to be iconic of the island. I noticed that it was #466.
Got me thinking, how had they changed over the years? Who was on the front cover of the very first edition?
Amazingly I stumbled upon the 1st edition at a heritage centre on Unst, dated 1st November 1980 with a rugged fisherman, sporting an oikskin, surrounded by squarking seagulls. Price 60p. Nowadays its £3.
It’s now available as an online subscription as well.
How lovely that magazines like this still exist. I could have spent a long time looking through the back issues, proper record of Shetland life.
Rambling With Ruthie 