Make Hay While The Sun Shines An Island Parish

94 miles north of the Scottish mainland,

where the blustery Atlantic meets the North Sea, lies Shetland -

an archipelago of some 100 or so islands, mostly uninhabited.

Until the late 15th century, they belonged to Scandinavia.

And being closer to Bergen than Edinburgh,

the Islanders remain proud of their Norse heritage.

Recently, new riches have been discovered -

supplementing the island's staple of farming and fishing.

The most northerly island is Unst, where locals mix tradition

with innovation to survive in a fast-changing world.

In the days to come, the 140-year-old agricultural show

gets the competitive juices going.

My knitting is very amateurish,

so I've to do quirky things like this!

One of the amazing features of these older people is just

how competitive they are.

Frank and Jem spruce up filly foal Sula to compete for a rosette.

-The trouble with this kind of pony is...

-Too much white.

..too much white.

And at the gin distillery, there's great excitement over a new flavour.

He's asked for seaweed!

Seven years after coming to Shetland

and falling in love with the islands and their people,

Minister David Cooper has bought an old farmhouse

on the south tip of Unst at Uyeasound for his retirement.

But before he moves in, he wants to carry out some refurbishments.

So this is an old house, which in the 1980s was hugely renovated.

What they couldn't do then was make the small windows of the house

any larger and when you're in the house,

you have to stand in the windows to enjoy this fabulous view.

So we're having this extension room built on the ground

where I've killed off the grass and it will have huge windows

and we'll be able to sit behind them and look out and enjoy the view.

Having moved from parish to parish throughout his career,

Minister David is looking forward to settling

in one place for the first time in his life.

Ministry has taken me all over the place

and this will be a final settling down.

The rugged beauty and isolation of Shetland

has always attracted outsiders.

23 years ago, Sarah McBurnie moved here from Bradford.

Hello, chickens!

CLUCKING

Everybody, out. Come on.

She makes a living growing vegetables in her polytunnel

for local businesses.

-Guess what?

-Apple mint.

-Yep.

Recently, she's been supplying dried apple mint to Mark

at the local distillery to flavour the gin.

Now, he's producing a new product with a more exotic ingredient

and he's asked Sarah to supply it for him.

It's a new one to me.

He's asked for seaweed!

Seaweed?!

Luckily, there's an abundant supply at her local beach.

But to make sure she harvests only the edible ones, she's asked

her friend and local seaweed aficionado Chris Dumont for help.

This is northern kelp.

This is the sea lettuce.

That's dulse, that's also edible.

That's sugar kelp. That's good eating.

Make a Korean style seaweed soup with sesame oil, ginger,

chilli, garlic and seaweed.

Boil it... No, simmer it for about 20 minutes and it's lovely.

That's his tea!

It's easy enough to dry as well to keep.

You can dry it on your washing line.

I don't think my other half would really appreciate it

if I offered him seaweed for tea!

After a good morning's foraging,

it's time to dry the seaweed out back home.

There's one particular type

that Mark at the distillery has requested.

This is the fresh bladderwrack and

I've washed it.

If you don't wash it and it's still got seawater on it,

then it won't dry out.

So I've rinsed it, dried it off and now I'm going to put

it in the oven on the lowest heat possible to dry it out very gently.

We don't want to cook it, we just want to dry it out.

Seaweed gin, I know, who'd have thought of it?!

Over at his manse on the neighbouring island of Yell,

Minister David Cooper is preparing for today's service.

But with such a panoramic vista from his study,

it's easy to get distracted.

Every window in Shetland has a pair of binoculars.

You don't need a parish pump for gossip,

you just need binoculars and you know who's in, who's out,

who's got the builder round, who's having their Rayburn serviced

and all the rest.

If I stand in the middle of the window

and look across to the house that

we've bought for our retirement in Unst,

I can see whether or not the builder's van is there

on this particular day

and guess what progress or not is being made.

The builders are taking advantage of good weather

to crack on with the new extension.

A hop across the bay to attend to his parish duties

offers the minister the ideal opportunity to drop in

and check on progress,

although the weather has turned.

-Hi, there. Hi, there.

-Hello.

It's a bit early for that yet.

Wow, it all goes up so fast once the foundations are in place.

This is Siberian larch, is that right?

Yeah.

Siberian larch, it doesn't need any treatment

once it's in place

and so many people here build timber houses clad with timber

and it's pretty high-maintenance for some of them.

Well, this is for an old man's house.

I'm not going to be painting all the time.

It'll look after itself.

After checking up on the builders,

it's time to catch up with his flock.

Today, Minister Cooper is visiting the Unst retirees

at the Nordalea daycare centre in Baltasound.

Let us build a house where love can dwell

and all can safely live

Built of hopes and dreams and visions

All are welcome

All are welcome in this place.

The ladies at the daycare centre like to keep busy with

handicrafts, but it's not idle pastime -

they have a fearsome reputation for winning

at the annual Unst Agricultural Show.

One of the amazing features of these older people is just how

competitive they are.

They thoroughly enjoy among themselves

a game of Scrabble, still.

And you can have four 90-year-olds sitting around having

a game of Scrabble.

But equally, in the community they're glad

to put something on display from their club.

This year, they'll be entering a Shetland croft house.

I was wondering, is this exhibit going to be a prize-winner

at the show this year?

-Yes.

-I hope so, yes.

-You hope so.

Their latest contribution to the show is the croft house,

with its stone and straw and everything else.

They've won prizes year after year after year.

The annual Unst Agricultural Show will be held in a few weeks' time.

Another islander with a rosette in his sights is Richard Spence,

who knows a thing or two about traditional crofts.

Richard is a keen breeder of Shetland sheep.

A category that will be fiercely contested.

Traditions in Unst run deep

and the agricultural show is no exception.

But showing the island's iconic mascot, the Shetland pony,

is not for Richard.

Luckily, there are plenty of others who have no such problems -

such as Frank Roberts, the island's horse whisperer.

At his pony stud farm in Clibberswick,

along with his wife Jem and their friend Pat,

he's getting eight-year-old stallion Flashback ready for the show.

You're liking that, aren't you?

This is the bit they don't like, getting the cold water on them.

This year's show will see the first public appearance

for Frank's young filly, Sula.

She too has a much-needed appointment with bucket and brush.

It's the big event of the year for the pony breeders.

The trouble with this kind of pony is...

-Too much white.

-..too much white.

-OK.

-Yeah.

Starting to look a bit cleaner.

Winning prizes at shows is important

if Frank is to keep up his reputation as a breeder.

Sula is the only entry this year, so all eyes will be on her.

You've done very well.

Very good. I'm proud of you.

Yeah, I'm proud of you.

Across on the other side of Unst is the home of Mother Mary,

the island's very own Eastern Orthodox nun.

-Hi, Andrew. How's it going?

-Hello, are you all right?

She moved here a few months ago from the neighbouring island of Fetlar

and rents this house from the church.

Up here, I just love it,

particularly because of its position.

It's on the edge of the community, so it's very quiet and peaceful.

It was a very simple croft house with a kitchen extension

and they built the existing roof over the old roof,

so it's actually got a double roof

which makes it really warm and cosy in the winter.

With the help of Andrew,

Mother Mary is also adapting the old animal barn.

This end of the barn attaches onto the old croft house.

So this is the old croft house wall

and I was very worried about all this staining here.

I thought maybe it was damp, but Andrew, the builder, says

that's a result from years and years and years of burning peat

and not to worry about it at all.

It's a nice bit of history, really,

of the peat fire that was burnt the other side.

Andrew, the builder, and I have discovered

we've got a stone fireplace - quite a big one.

It probably had a cooking range in it.

So what is the living room now was the kitchen area.

Well, we're going to see David, well, David's fireplace to be exact.

The renovation of Minister David Cooper's retirement home

is nearly complete.

It's the perfect place for Mother Mary to look for ideas.

-Hello.

-Hello. Welcome! Welcome, welcome! Come on in.

This is really good of you. I've come seeking inspiration.

Inspiration! Well, come in out of the cold, that's the first thing.

-Immediately...

-This is lovely!

-..you see what you're going to see.

-Wow!

-Yeah!

-Gosh!

Look at your lintel.

-It's enormous!

-That's a big old stone.

It certainly is.

So this stone, which is cold at the moment

because the fire's not been on for a very long,

it will gradually warm and retain that warmth.

So it'll heat the room overnight.

-Yes.

-Wonderful.

-It's not cold in the morning.

-Yes, lovely.

-Yeah.

But most of all, David's keen to show off his brand-new extension.

Oh, look at the view!

I hope the floor... Yes, the floor has just been oiled

-a couple of days ago.

-Oh, I see.

This was the original outside wall of the house.

We've had all of this wall revealed and it gives us

these lovely pieces of dressed stone around the door.

Here's extra light.

It'll make a good dance floor too.

-Oh, no, no!

-I expect some good parties, no?

There will be a piano and two comfortable chairs for the view.

-Here we'll sit and just gaze.

-Mm-hm.

-Spectacular panorama.

-Yes, it is.

It's given me the vision of what could be possible

and hearing that the stones can heat up

and that you can keep your house warm overnight

is a very attractive idea.

Other outsiders who've chosen to retire here are former

teachers from Nottingham Heather and Martin Gill,

who first holidayed here six years ago.

You do this with feathers normally, but if not, you use paper.

Daft, or what?!

But it wasn't just Unst's tranquillity

and rugged beauty that seduced them.

They're fascinated by its rich Norse history.

Dotted all over the island are the remains of Viking settlements.

Longhouses like these can be more difficult to spot.

-So here, this is the longhouse.

-It's here.

This is the living area here.

There's the walls.

-We came over here times many and didn't even notice it!

-No!

That's one that's never been actually excavated.

This is probably a staging post for raids on the UK mainland.

You never know.

Heather is a keen knitter and that archaeological heritage

has inspired her entry into this year's Unst Show -

with her own unique interpretation of a Viking raiding party.

My knitting is very amateurish compared to the tradition on Unst

because the tradition on Unst is to make what's called lace knitting -

which is in very, very fine wool,

one-ply wool, and they make shawls for weddings,

most of which they usually say will go through the wedding ring.

I can't compete. My knitting can't compete with that,

so I have to do quirky things like this!

And, of course, a knitted finger puppet raiding party

will need a longboat.

This is to have plants in it.

It was our windowsill but then, you see, it blew off in the wind.

So I thought, "Well, this is a boat, sort of."

So I'm going to convert it so it looks like the galleys.

So I'm going to make this in MDF

and that back end in MDF.

The back end's the tail,

so there's the dragon, here's the tail.

Then the side of it has got one, two, three, four, five,

six, seven, eight, nine shields.

Think what we might get up to if we weren't doing things like this!

Serious problems.

Yes.

-Keeps us off the streets.

-Yeah, I know, absolutely!

With a few days to go before the agricultural fair,

Richard Spence and his volunteers are busy erecting the show tent.

Inside the community hall, the island's matriarchs

are preparing the tables to display Unst's finest produce.

Up at the distillery, Sarah has an important delivery to make.

Mark!

-I've got the seaweed!

-Good, good.

How did it... Did it work fine?

Yeah, it did, actually. It was really good.

-It's dry, it's perfect.

-Yep, it's nice and brittle.

-Tasty.

-Yep, no, that's absolutely perfect.

I must admit, that's going to be an interesting taste.

I think it is, aye. I think it is.

Stuart, Mark's boss, can now mix together the pure alcohol

and water to begin the delicate process of creating the new gin.

The ingredients are added to a still, left to soak for 24 hours,

then heated to create the gin essence -

juniper berries, botanicals and the all-important new flavour.

I've got all the seaweed.

The essence will be mixed again with water and pure alcohol

and then bottled.

Only then will Stuart and Mark know if their seaweed gin is a success.

It's the morning of the 123rd Unst Agricultural Show

and Sarah is preparing to enter the best

that her polytunnel can produce.

This year, she's putting forward a rather unusual specimen.

This is actually a ginger plant.

Definitely a first for Unst Show.

It will be interesting to see what they make of it.

Also keen to get among the rosettes is Minister David Cooper.

It turns out growing prize-winning vegetables is in his genes.

One of my grandfathers years ago in County Durham grew leeks

and chrysanthemums for show.

Leeks as thick as your forearm.

He would think these were miserable!

They are not much thicker than my pen.

Well, it's all growing but it's not for showing.

Setting off from Clibberswick pony stud farm,

groomed and gleaming is novice filly Sula and her mum Sunset Lady,

who's come along to keep her company -

much to the excitement of an admiring colt.

BAAING

Up ahead, the showground is a buzz of trailers and animals.

The pens soon fill out with prize specimens from all over Unst

and the neighbouring islands.

MOOING

It's going to be a challenging day for Frank's young filly Sula,

who isn't used to this kind of noise.

So he's hoping that the presence of her mum, Sunset Lady,

will help calm her nerves.

She's never seen these many ponies before

and this much traffic before. Ah, there we go.

If Sula is to pick up a rosette today,

Frank will need all his experience to keep her calm and collected.

BAAING AND NEIGHING

After two weeks of stitching, sanding and painting,

Martin and Heather's Viking raiding party is ready to launch

itself on an unsuspecting public.

This is the most important person, Guizer Jarl.

There he is there, and he's in gold

and these are his children, actually, one, two, three.

There's another one there.

And then these are all the squad.

This is Unst, you see, the shape of Unst is on there, look.

So they've all got their hatchets.

700 years ago, those hatchets would have been used to attack

the croft houses of Unst, just like the one that's been

made by the ladies from Nordalea Daycare Centre.

I think it's brilliant, this one.

Is it actually made...? That's actually made of somebody's...

Somebody's made these from...

Do you know, it really is from little stones.

It's absolutely fabulous, look at that!

So the exhibits are in position and the judging can now get underway.

Over at the distillery,

it's the moment of truth for Stuart and Mark.

So this is it, sample number one.

Time to taste the new seaweed gin.

Wow!

Very much different from the apple mint.

The saltiness at the back!

I can picture being here on a glorious day like today...

Not a glorious day, I think.

I think a stormy day with the waves crashing on the shore, I don't know.

-Well, mate.

-Well done, pal.

-We did well.

-Yep.

-Cheers.

Back at the show,

the prizes are being handed out to the junior handlers.

APPLAUSE

And Richard Spencer's Shetland rams are being put

through their paces.

126...

However, as president of the Unst Show,

his main concern is what's going on in the skies above the ground.

One event that's sure to pull the punters in

is the hotly-contested Chicken Challenge Cup.

Ready, steady, go!

CLUCKING

Come on, you crazy bunch of chickens!

Get a move on!

Not a speed race, is it?

You don't need a stopwatch on this one, do you?

Run! Run! Run!

CHEERING

CHEERING

It's the one with no number!

With the racing chickens enjoying a well-earned rest,

in the hall the judges are awarding the prizes.

Could we give equal first for these two?

And this one a second.

The Viking raiding party and the croft house

are pitched head-to-head.

While outside, Sula is making her debut in the show ring.

NEIGHING

I was going to bring carrots but I'm afraid we ate most of them.

Back inside, the judges are particularly

impressed by a mysterious ginger plant -

something that's very difficult to grow here

on Britain's most northerly island.

It's very unusual, yes. Somebody's done a good job.

-Oh!

-Do I need my glasses on?

-Second place!

I got second place for my potatoes.

What does that say?

Sarah McBurnie!

Oh, another prize!

Sarah McBurnie, hooray!

And it seems the retired ladies

of the Nordalea Daycare Centre have indeed triumphed again

with their croft house.

But this year they have to share a joint first prize

with Martin and Heather's knitted Viking raiding party.

All right, lovely.

-Oh, now look at that! Well done.

-Thank you.

Not bad for two science teachers!

NEIGHING

Off you go, thank you.

Frank has been bringing ponies to the Unst Show for 24 years.

For him, it's vital that Sula wins him a prize today

to maintain his reputation.

NEIGHING

What are you thinking of this? What are you thinking of this?

Yeah, it's all new to you.

Yeah, it's all new to you.

Yeah.

Well done.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

You see that? Do you see that?

Do you see that?

Cheesy grin.

Well done to this little lass, here.

She's the one doing all the work.

In the days to come...

50 for her, then...

..Frank and Jem travel to Lerwick to the Shetland pony auction.

I can switch off but Frank's

a completely different kettle of fish.

He finds it very difficult.

He is more emotionally attached.

Sula, their foal, is up for sale.

If you're going to breed ponies, you've got to let them go as well.

And Mother Mary gets out the power tools

to create a new space to welcome visitors.

If I have a chapel here in the hermitage, it's there ready

and it's a witness, not only to orthodoxy, but to Christian prayer.

I'm very familiar with a hammer drill.