To celebrate International Women’s Day 2024 we shine a light on Ann Harriet Pottinger, née Hunter, one of many unsung, hard-working Shetland women who made a difference to their community and family ..read more

A new publication, ‘Shetland Fine Lace Knitting – Recreating patterns from the past’ by Shetland Museum’s textiles curator, Carol Christiansen, has launched this week ..read more

A profound new exhibition which captures the fragile and shifting beauty of the Arctic landscape opens this Sunday 10 March at Da Gadderie, Shetland Museum and Archives ..read more

Evenings celebrating Shetland’s rich culture and heritage will begin next month as Shetland Museum and Archives launches its programme of ‘Thursday Lates’ talks ..read more

It’s that time of year, Valentine’s Day, the 14th of February. In the Shetland Archives Catalogue references to Valentines are few. Entries for the romantic meaning are fewer still, and most are to the surname “Valentine.” It’s not surprising, Shetlanders are not renowned for their romantic gestures. Read Angus’ blog as he describes how St Valentine’s Day has had ups and downs of taste, attention and presentation since reviving in the 1950s, but it shows no real sign of going away ..read more

We’re warming ourselves up to the idea of Valentine’s Day. Some might say Shetlanders are not renowned for being romantics and references to Valentines in our archives are somewhat sparse. However Mark in our archives team did come across this article from the 1950s which explores old courtship and marriage customs in the isles - thankfully things have moved on a bit since then ..read more

The Shetland Museum & Archives was full of activity last week as we celebrated Lerwick Up Helly Aa with a series of fiery events and extended opening times ..read more

The images of Up Helly Aa go like this – the burning longship, arms and armour, and bearded men. The present Jarl Richard Moar has made a good effort – about a foot of facial hair – and a recent Jarl had a difficult moment when his own formidable effort got caught in a car door. It wasn’t always so ..read more

One of the results of years of peat-cutting in Shetland is that occasionally interesting objects are revealed. So it was the case in Foula, our western-most island located 25 miles (40km) from the Shetland mainland, and currently home to about 40 people ..read more

The fiery season will soon be back and Shetland Amenity Trust is putting together a series of events as well as offering extended opening times to its main sites to appeal to locals and visitors alike ..read more