The hall looked stunning, with a gigantic Christmas tree, twinkling fairy lights, and the cosy backdrop from the North Roe Primary School Christmas play setting the scene for a warm and joyful afternoon.

Throughout the year, the Lunch Club has alternated between Ollaberry Hall and the North Roe & Lochend Hall. We’ve been lucky to welcome a wonderful variety of visitors, including Lesley Spence from Kits for All, Peter Jamieson from Citizens Advice Bureau, John Clarkson from Home Energy Scotland, Gareth Powell from the RSPB, Helen Robertson, Gino and Archie from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, as well as regular visits from North Mainland Community Involvement and Development Officer, Lynsey Hall, and local councillor, Andrew Hall.

In November, Gareth Powell came to talk about the Oyster Plants which are found around some of the beaches around Shetland, with more than half the known sites being in Northmavine. Over the last few years, Species on the Edge have been planting seedlings on beaches like Urafirth and Stenness so as not to lose this rare plant. However the winter storms and the sheep can mean that many don’t survive.

Gareth and Helen have teamed up to hold workshops to knit and or crochet small panels to cover old creels to sit on top of the Oyster Plants to allow the plants time to establish. It was great to see many of our Lunch Club visitors joining in on the day alongside Charlotte, Karlyn & Franzi.

Photos L-R Archie & Gino from the RNID in the North Roe & Lochend Hall, Helen Robertson’s photos from her & Gareth Powell’s visit to the Ollaberry Hall to knit panels for old creels to protect the Oyster Plants on Shetland’s shores.

Our soups and light bites have featured freshly grown ingredients such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, mustard leaves, onions, leeks, tatties, courgettes, chillies and tomatoes — all cultivated in our large Polycrub here at Bruckland and up at Hamnavoe in Eshaness.

The Lunch Club is open to everyone, regardless of circumstances, and offers a warm, welcoming space to meet others in the community. Each month we see between 12 and 20 people join us for delicious food and good company.

If you’d like to learn more about the Lunch Club, or if you’re part of a group that would like to visit, please let us know!

We’ve also put together a short questionnaire to gather feedback — paper copies are available at Ollaberry and Hillswick Shops, and at Bruckland. You can also complete it online here

The post Lunch Club 2025 appeared first on Northmavine Community Development Company.

Vegetable Section
Class 1 4 Potatoes – White
1st Rachel Ann Williamson
2nd Ollaberry School
3rd Ewen Mowat

Class 2 4 Potatoes – Coloured
1st Ollaberry School
2nd Charlotte Anderson
3rd Ewen Mowat

Class 3 3 Carrots
1st Valerie Peterson
2nd Charlotte Anderson
3rd Robbie Anderson

Class 4 3 Onions
1st Valerie Peterson
2nd Rachel Ann Williamson
3rd Maree Hay

Class 5 A Pair of Courgettes
1st Margaret Robertson
2nd Ann Johnson

Class 6 A Pair of Cucumbers
1st Margaret Robertson
2nd Ann Johnson
3rd Charlotte Anderson

Class 7 A Cabbage of any Colour
1st Rachel Ann Williammson

Class 8 3 Beetroot
1st Rachel Ann Williamson
2nd Ann Johnson
3rd Ewen Mowat

Class 9 3 Tomatoes – Standard
1st Growing Local
2nd Margaret Roberts
3rd Maree Hay

Class 9 5 Tomatoes – Cherry
1st Margaret Roberts
2nd Margaret Roberts
3rd Maree Hay

Class 10 3 Hot Chilli – Any variety
1st Rachel Laurenson
2nd Elaina Leach

Class 11 A Vase of 5 Different Herbs
1st Kit Mowat
2nd Maree Hay
3rd Kit Mowat

Class 12 A box/basket/tray of 5 different Vegetables
1st Ewen Mowat
2nd Rachel Laurenson
3rd Ann Johnson

Class 13 Giant Vegetable
1st Rachel Ann Williamson
2nd Charlotte Anderson

Class 14 Any other Vegetable
1st Rachel Ann Williamson
2nd Charlotte Anderson
3rd Halden Blance

Class 15 Weirdest Looking Vegetable
1st Charlotte Anderson
2nd Rachel Laurenson

Fruit Selection
Class 16 3 Apples Same Variety
1st Elaina Leach
2nd Ewen Mowat
3rd Maree Hay

Class 17 3 Stone Fruit Same Variety
1st Margaret Roberts
2nd Kit Mowat

Class 18 5 Soft Fruit Same Variety
1st Margaret Roberts
2nd Elaina Leach

Class 19 Any other fruit not listed above – at least 3 of the
same fruit
1st Ann Johnson
2nd Elaina Leach
3rd Robbie Anderson

Flower Section
Class 20 Any other flower stem
1st Rachel Laurenson
2nd Rachel Laurenson
3rd Valerie Peterson

Class 21 1 Rose Specimen – a stem of any variety
1st Jean Ramsay
2nd Kath Anderson
3rd Kit Mowat

Class 22 1 Vase of Mixed Annuals – Flowers raised from seed
1st Kit Mowat
2nd Elaina Leach
3rd Charlotte Anderson

Class 23 1 vase of Mixed Garden Flowers – min 3 varieties
1st Maree Hay
2nd Kit Mowat
3rd Charlotte Anderson

Floral Art
Class 24 A Floral Arrangement theme ‘Mirrie Dancers’
1st Charlotte Anderson
2nd Maree Hay

Class 25 A Floral Arrangement in an ‘unusual container’
1st Valerie Peterson
2nd Charlotte Anderson

Class 26 A floral arrangement in a ‘single colour’
1st Charlotte Anderson
2nd Maree Hay

Potted Plants

Class 27 1 Foliage Pot Plant
1st Charlotte Anderson

Class 28 1 Flowering Pot Plant
1st Valerie Peterson

Class 29 1 Cactus or Succulent
1st Charlotte Anderson
2nd Charlotte Anderson
3rd Valerie Peterson

Home Baking & Preserves
Class 30 6 Plain Bannocks
1st Grant Anderson

Class 31 Jar of Jam or Jelly
1st Margaret Roberts
2nd Kath Anderson
3rd Kath Anderson

Class 32 Jar of Marmalade
1st Charlotte Anderson

Class 33 Jar of Chutney – any variety
1st Margaret Roberts
2nd Charlotte Anderson

Class 34 A Bottle of Homemade Wine
1st Maree Hay

Class 35 Any other homemade beverage
1st Charlotte Anderson
2nd Maree Hay

Class 36 6 Home produced hen eggs – any colour
1st Kath Anderson

Class 37 6 Duck eggs
No entries

Children’s Section
Age 6 and under
Class 38 3 Chocolate Krispies
No Entries

Class 39 A Vegetable Animal
No Entries

Age 7-9 years old
Class 40 3 Cupcakes
1st Emilie Robertson

Class 41 Miniature Garden
No Entries

Age 10-12 years old
Class 42 Decorated Cake
1st Carly Johnson

Class 43 A Decorated Flower Pot
No entries

Best Exhibit: Charlotte Anderson – Floral Art ‘Mirrie
Dancers’

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Johnnie Notions also known as Johnnie Williamson, was born in the early 1740s, he was a crofter and a fisherman, but most importantly he was a self taught physician with an inquisitive mind.   He saved the lives of many Shetlanders by developing and providing a method of inoculation for small pox.

In October, we hosted an open day in conjunction with the Tangwick Haa’s Open Day. Our electric six-seater van provided shuttles for guests. The peat fire was lit, and everyone gathered to enjoy captivating trowie stories from Liz Tulloch, followed by delicious tattie soup and bannocks made by Charlotte.

If you’re interested in staying in the böd, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by email or phone. We can also offer gift vouchers for friends and family.

Find out more about Johnnie Notions here

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We asked local Ollaberry artist Kit Mowat to draw us some trows which we think look great! There are musical trows with a guitar and a fiddle, a trow with a bouquet of flowers, a trow with a fish and a happy go lucky trow.

Charlotte got started drawing the templates of the trows on to plywood, then cut them out with the jigsaw, though her Fitbit reckoned it was an outdoor bike ride! 

Karlyn then started sanding the edges and painting the boards white.  Once the boards were all dry, we set up the projector and drew the outline of each trow.

NCDC asked the 3 local schools to paint them up, and wouldn’t you agree that they look pretty good!  

Now for the fun part of getting them out in the wild for everybody to find…  The trow’s names are peerie clues on where to find them in Northmavine. 

You’ll notice the trow at Mavis Grind has an Islesburgh beanie! We thought it was only right that this trow should feature the Shetland Wool Week hat designed by Anne Doull.  Anne along with her family are this year’s patrons for Wool Week.  You can find out more about Shetland Wool Week here where you’ll also find the pattern for the Islesburgh Beanie. 

 It is essential that anyone out walking especially on farming/grazing land that they adhere to the Scottish Outdoor Access Code  

• Keep dogs on leads 
• Leave gates as you found them 
• Do not disturb wildlife or historic places 
• Respect the needs of other people enjoying or working in the outdoors and follow any reasonable advice from land managers.
• Take any rubbish home with you 

We hope you enjoy looking for them, as well as visiting new and old places.

Here’s a link to a check list on where to find the trows: Northmavine Trowie Trail (google.com)

If you are enjoying the sights of Northmavine why not check out our audio app to tell you more information about the area. Audio Tour – Northmavine Community Development Company

But most importantly, have fun!

Why not take a selfie with them and use the hashtag #ncdctrowietrail   

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We can hardly believe it has been nearly a month since the first Bruckland Festival. The weekend started with a redd up. The Ollaberry Youth Club tackled Gluss Ayre, Mike Betteridge and Fiona Hargreaves tidied up around Mavis Grind and Grant Anderson headed out with a tractor and trailer collecting scrap metal. We also did a vehicle collection service with 17 vehicles collected waiting to be picked up from Bruckland shortly.

On Friday we had an information day with the SIC Climate Team and Kits for All joining us at the Hillswick Hall. We had a few folk come along to try out our ebikes. We also judged the Bruckland Animal Competition with Ella Tonner getting first with her brilliant elephant, Bella Ramsay second with a fantastic Giraffe and Magnus and Ramsay 3rd with a terrific crocodile.

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