Boddam SWI

Boddam SWI Shetland's most southerly institute, we meet on the first Monday of the month at Dunrossness Central Hall (September to May) at 7.30 pm. All are welcome.

25/05/2026

Our Sunday teas, held on 24th May were a great success. There were tables groaning with food of every sort and plenty more in the kitchen to refill the plates. Flowers decorated the tea tables giving a very spring like feel to the hall, despite the dull, cool weather outside. Part of the hall was given over to a silent auction with a large and varied selection of items and there was a very full raffle table as well. While the total amount has yet to be finalised, the profits will be divided between the Viking Genes project and Institute funds. Our thanks go to everyone who contributed, helped on the day, and more importantly, came to support us.

Bank Holiday Monday saw the last meeting of the 2025/6 session of meetings for the Institute. As usual this was our May ...
10/05/2026

Bank Holiday Monday saw the last meeting of the 2025/6 session of meetings for the Institute. As usual this was our May Day prize giving teas and the hall looked very spring like with tables decorated with flowers and set with delicate tea sets. Tempting sweets and savouries were displayed on cake plates and there were even wine glasses for everyone! Following our centenary celebrations we all raised a glass to the continuing success of the Institute. The trophies were presented by President Maureen Sinclair ably assisted by Lynne Watson , the Secretary. Whilst this may be the last meeting of the year, we will not be idle with a fundraising Sunday Teas later this month, a Federation evening meal, Federation Sunday teas and an Institute outing to the island of Bressay in July. Three of our members will be going to Dundee for the National Members' Gathering. Then, it will be the start of the next session!

Our March meeting was well attended with a number of guests joining us for a very informative talk from James Tait, an a...
07/03/2026

Our March meeting was well attended with a number of guests joining us for a very informative talk from James Tait, an accredited tour guide. He came to give us a brief history of St Ninian's Isle. St Ninian was an early Christian from around 350-430 AD and his name is reflected in many places in Mainland Scotland although there is no reason to believe he came to Shetland. The island is connected to the mainland by a sand shell tombolo, the largest in Europe. The beach is formed by the action of the sea as it moves around the isle and it increases and decreases in size as the waves and storms affect it. The isle is often cut off completely during fierce storms. The island has been inhabited since prehistory and Neolithic graves have been discovered under the 12 century chapel and as well as those, there is evidence of a building prior to the existing chapel. It is probably this building that was used to hide the Viking silver horde, dating from the 8th century, which was discovered in the 1950's. The original pieces are now in the Museum of Scotland, with replicas in the Shetland museum. The island was inhabited until the late 1700's and it is still possible to see signs of ridge and furrow cultivation marks. Lack of peat for fuel was probably why the islanders left. James amused us with tales of shipwrecks, of which there are quite a few, and treasure, other than the Viking sort. He then judged the competition which was three Tet a tet daffodils in a pot which brought a bit of Spring into the hall.

Monday 12 January saw our rearranged meeting following the cancellation due to snow on our regular Monday. Our speaker w...
18/01/2026

Monday 12 January saw our rearranged meeting following the cancellation due to snow on our regular Monday. Our speaker was Janette Budge, a Shetland Fair Isle designer and tutor.
Fair Isle patterns were in existence from the 1800's but were mainly used for trade with some kept for Sunday best by the residents. The wool was handspun and dyed with natural ingredients.
It was a 1925 portrait of Prince Edward, Duke of Wales wearing a Fair Isle jumper that gave the impetus for increased trade.
Mechanised knitting meant that the whole process of creating a jumper was speeded up with the main jumper created on the machine and the hand knitted yoke then attached to the garment. Nowadays, it is possible to knit a complete jumper by machine.
The original muted colours of the yolk, used in the past, have now been largely superseded by brighter colours.
Janette then gave very practical advice on how to choose the colours suggesting that thought must be given to what effect you want to achieve; muted and blended, or in total contrast to the main colour. Once chosen, it is a good idea to leave the yarns together for a day or so to see how they look in different lights. She also suggested taking a photo of the yarns to see how they look.
A final check could be the creation of a small bag using the yarn and design which could also be used as a check on tension as well as the final effect.

14/01/2026

The next meeting is on
Monday 2nd February at 7.30pm in
Dunrossness Central Public Hall

The subject is
Recycling in Shetland
With Paula Nicholson

There is no trophy competition

The fun competition is
A Painted Stone
open to everyone

Everyone Welcome, non members £5

09/01/2026

IMPORTANT. CHANGE OF DATE

Following the cancellation of Monday's meeting due to the weather it has been RESCHEDULED AND WILL TAKE PLACE ON MONDAY 12th JANUARY in Dunrossness Central Public Hall at 7.30.

The programme remains the same

Fair Isle Colour Mixing with Janette Budge

Trophy competition, A knitted or crochet item using oddments of wool

Fun competition, A coaster in any medium.

We hope to see you there, and a Happy New Year!

November was a momentous month for Boddam SWI. We celebrated our centenary, 100 years of friendship and fun! And, we did...
05/12/2025

November was a momentous month for Boddam SWI. We celebrated our centenary, 100 years of friendship and fun! And, we did it in style with a superb lunch. The hall was beautifully decorated with flower arrangements everywhere.
Members from Institutes across the isles were guests and we met to enjoy a delicious array of canapes and mocktails whilst looking at the displays around the hall. There were cookery books through the ages, extracts from the minute books, photographs and menus from other celebrations, various trophies won at the Federation Show, and a table groaning with the multitude of crafts members had created over the years. All the while we were accompanied by three talented musicians playing Shetland tunes.
Then came the three course meal, cooked by a local chef in the hall kitchen. We had made our choices earlier and the dishes were served by a group of local lasses who did a great job. This was followed by coffee and petite fours.
The cake made, of course, by one of our members was cut by two of the senior ladies.
After the meal, memories of past meeting were recalled much to the amusement of those present.
Thanks must go to the committee for all the hard work over the last year getting everything organised, it was most appreciated by all who attended.
Now for the next hundred years!

06/11/2025

Boddam SWI had a very relaxing evening last Monday. Our guest was Diane Taylor of Shetland Resolve who talked about the need for self help. She started by asking what we thought self help meant. There were many answers; the need to know when to stop and when to ask for help, were among the main ideas. In this day of constant information, (not all of it good, or even true), there is an unspoken expectation that from the moment the day begins to late in the evening, there should be constant activity and that sitting down and relaxing is wrong. This constant work ethic can lead to stress which, in turn, can end up with illness. She emphasised that a period of 'me time' during the day is the best way of counteracting the problem and should not be seen as laziness. Forget the little jobs that need doing, they can wait until you've had a period of relaxing, whether that is knitting, reading or what ever other hobby you have. The evening ended with Diane leading us through a few minutes of relaxation therapy accompanied by calming music.
Appropriately, the fun competition was for something representing your favourite pursuit and this was won by a member who brought in a dog lead accompanied by a roll of poo bags!

08/10/2025

Monday's meeting was a very interesting one. The speaker was Sandra Laurenson from the Viking Genes Shetland committee. She explained how the Viking Genes Project, led by Professor Jim Flett Wilson of Edinburgh University, was revealing that Shetlanders (those with at least two generations of grandparents) had a much higher chance of carrying genes which were potentially deadly. In fact some of these genetic variants were found to be hundreds of times higher in Shetland than in the UK as a whole. These included ones causing breast, ovarian and prostate cancer and potentially fatal heart rhythms. Not only that, areas of Shetland were found to have higher proportions of these genes, Whalsay being one example where the risks of developing breast cancer was particularly high. The initial screening involved 3,000 volunteers and, unusually for such projects, everyone was given the opportunity to receive the results of the test. A very high proportion of people opted to find out if they were at risk of future health problems. NHS Shetland have been proactive in supporting those with health issues and, as Sandra said, early intervention can save not only the life of the person but also money for the NHS. Professor Flett Wilson hopes to roll out a much bigger screening of Shetlanders to further his search for disease causing variants.
The income from the raffle plus some very generous donations allowed the institute to present Sandra with the sum of £225 to support this very worthy cause.
Anyone interested in finding out more about this can find more from the internet by searching for Viking Genes.

Monday saw the first meeting of the new session with a good turnout of ladies catching up on the events of the summer. H...
04/09/2025

Monday saw the first meeting of the new session with a good turnout of ladies catching up on the events of the summer. Having been welcomed by Maureen Sinclair, Lynne Watson then congratulated all those members who had contributed to the biennial Federation Show which took place in August. The Institute had been extremely successful, with many winning entries and three gaining overall trophies. The Roxburgh Trophy returned to Boddam, having been won two years ago, for a selection of three different home bakes, made by three members. Patricia Morris, Eileen Tait and Maureen Sinclair were the winning cooks. Yvonne Malcolmson won the Scalloway Salver for her photograph of the Shetland landscape, and Anne Anderson won the Orkney Trophy for her written piece on What Shetland Means To Me.
Our speaker for the evening was fellow member, Philippa Gray who spoke about her time as an operator in a Police Call Centre in Staffordshire. She explained how to be clear when phoning 999. It is no use simply saying "I need the police now!" Clearly state what the incident is and where it is taking place. Similarly, it is of no use giving a description of someone without specific features. Medium height and wearing dark clothing is not helpful. She went through a number of types of call such the silent call, where the caller does not speak. This may simply be a child playing with a phone, or it may be more sinister, where the caller is being threatened and daren't speak. Calls can be traced and help provided. Philippa provided a very interesting talk and despite its serious nature, there was some humour. Asking where on the motorway one distressed caller was, she was provided with the reply "I've just passed the service station with the Starbucks"!
The competitions were for a floral arrangement in a recyclable container, won by Yvonne Malcolmson, and an item beginning with W. This attracted entries including a packet of Woobine ci******es, a tin of W D 40 and a box of Whiskers. The winner was an old wool winder brought in by Wendy Borill.
We look forward to next month's get together.

The May meeting marked the end of the 2024/25 session and, as usual it consisted of a special tea, prize giving and ente...
07/05/2025

The May meeting marked the end of the 2024/25 session and, as usual it consisted of a special tea, prize giving and entertainment. This was provided by Helen Budge and Katherine Sanderson who took the famous Shetland Wool Week as their subject. Speaking in the Shetland dialect, their " 'makkin' and yarnin'" sketch was very funny and brought lots of laughter from the ladies.
There was a raffle dedicated to the Mind Your Head charity which raised £80.
Winners of the various trophies were;
Helen Quirk, the Mary Russell trophy her Easter Bonnet.
Katherine Henderson, the Kathleen Anderson Trophy for flowers in an unusual container.
Mary Leigh, 75th Anniversary Clock, a points prize.
Maureen Sinclair, the Federation Plate, a points prize and The Peggy Leslie Memorial Shield for 3 decorated cup cakes.
Eileen Tait, The John McLeod Cup for homegrown flowering bulbs, the Baba Burgess Trophy for a woollen item with a floral theme and the Margaret Mainland trophy for most competition points.
See you all in September!!

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Lerwick
ZE2

Telephone

+447971971986

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