Saxa Vord Sept 2017
I can recommend a holiday in Orkney but always check whether there will be any cruise ships disgorging thousands of day-trippers. Fortunately I live on Stronsay, one of the Northern Isles, where we do get some visitors but not in overwhelming numbers. See the islands's monthly newsletter "The Stronsay Limpet" for an idea of what island life is like.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
What's the internet like on Stronsay? I'm guessing pi*z poor adsl?
Connectivity | Orkney.com
I did a year as the XO in 88/89. Loved it.
Happy hour at 5, Landrover to the lake(Voe) at 2100. Wine in the water to cool, BBQ on and fishing for trout all night in brilliant sunshine. Landrover back to the Mess at 0730, full fry and bed. Perfect.
Plenty of work thanks to Ivan. Brand new Mess. Locals 'Odd' but OK.
Had not heard about the new radar though. About 12 years too late.
Happy hour at 5, Landrover to the lake(Voe) at 2100. Wine in the water to cool, BBQ on and fishing for trout all night in brilliant sunshine. Landrover back to the Mess at 0730, full fry and bed. Perfect.
Plenty of work thanks to Ivan. Brand new Mess. Locals 'Odd' but OK.
Had not heard about the new radar though. About 12 years too late.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
RAF reopens Shetland radar site Saxa Vord to sweep for Russia threat
A barren hill of tufted grassland and peat bog at the top of the Shetland Islands is to return to the front line of British defence in the face of a resurgent Russia.
Saxa Vord, on the island of Unst, featured in a secret list of Soviet targets in the UK during the Cold War, housing a radar station that scanned the Atlantic from Iceland to Norway. In 2006, the Ministry of Defence closed the station as the threat from Russia receded. Now the RAF is to reopen it. A team of about 30 specialists is set to arrive on the UK’s most northerly inhabited island, which saw its population halve to just over 600 after the closure.
In a letter to Alistair Carmichael, the local MP, the defence minister Harriett Baldwin confirmed that Saxa Vord would regain its role. She wrote: “I am pleased to confirm that work is due to begin next month to restore the radar capability there.”
Ryan Thomson, a North Isles councillor, hailed the announcement as “excellent news” for Unst, which has the same latitude as Anchorage in Alaska and is just 400 miles from the Arctic Circle. The nearest railway station is in Norway.
Pam Mouat, who worked at Saxa Vord, said: “Everyone here was devastated when the RAF left. They had been here for half a century. At one time there were 250 RAF personnel here, many with their families. We had a power station, a fully manned fire station and a medical centre with a dentist.”
The news follows tensions after Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea and Ukraine in 2014. Although there are no plans for permanent staff at the base, some have hopes. “They claim to be able to operate it remotely, but knowing the poor level of connectivity in the Northern Isles, I am sceptical,” said Carmichael.
A barren hill of tufted grassland and peat bog at the top of the Shetland Islands is to return to the front line of British defence in the face of a resurgent Russia.
Saxa Vord, on the island of Unst, featured in a secret list of Soviet targets in the UK during the Cold War, housing a radar station that scanned the Atlantic from Iceland to Norway. In 2006, the Ministry of Defence closed the station as the threat from Russia receded. Now the RAF is to reopen it. A team of about 30 specialists is set to arrive on the UK’s most northerly inhabited island, which saw its population halve to just over 600 after the closure.
In a letter to Alistair Carmichael, the local MP, the defence minister Harriett Baldwin confirmed that Saxa Vord would regain its role. She wrote: “I am pleased to confirm that work is due to begin next month to restore the radar capability there.”
Ryan Thomson, a North Isles councillor, hailed the announcement as “excellent news” for Unst, which has the same latitude as Anchorage in Alaska and is just 400 miles from the Arctic Circle. The nearest railway station is in Norway.
Pam Mouat, who worked at Saxa Vord, said: “Everyone here was devastated when the RAF left. They had been here for half a century. At one time there were 250 RAF personnel here, many with their families. We had a power station, a fully manned fire station and a medical centre with a dentist.”
The news follows tensions after Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea and Ukraine in 2014. Although there are no plans for permanent staff at the base, some have hopes. “They claim to be able to operate it remotely, but knowing the poor level of connectivity in the Northern Isles, I am sceptical,” said Carmichael.
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A number of households (including the island's school) have opted for satellite-based broadband and get downloads of 17 MBps or more. There is a plan to replace one of the two undersea cables that supply the island with mains electricity and our MSP is trying to get BT to liaise with the electricity board and lay a fibre-optic cable along with the electricity cable.
If you want a flavour of life on my island (I've lived here since 2004) read The Limpet, Stronsay's monthly newsletter
I have ADSL broadband from BT and get downloads in the order of 6 MBps. However, I am one of the first houses in Whitehall village and other folk get far worse speeds. The big drawback is BT's dreadful support system, their operatives have often promised that an engineer will be at my door by 8am next day; it is useless to explain that we are on an island and that the ferry will not arrive until at least 9am.
A number of households (including the island's school) have opted for satellite-based broadband and get downloads of 17 MBps or more. There is a plan to replace one of the two undersea cables that supply the island with mains electricity and our MSP is trying to get BT to liaise with the electricity board and lay a fibre-optic cable along with the electricity cable.
If you want a flavour of life on my island (I've lived here since 2004) read The Limpet, Stronsay's monthly newsletter
A number of households (including the island's school) have opted for satellite-based broadband and get downloads of 17 MBps or more. There is a plan to replace one of the two undersea cables that supply the island with mains electricity and our MSP is trying to get BT to liaise with the electricity board and lay a fibre-optic cable along with the electricity cable.
If you want a flavour of life on my island (I've lived here since 2004) read The Limpet, Stronsay's monthly newsletter
