Living on an Island...
Magnus Malcolmson is the ‘mastermind’ (sorry) behind the Shetland Islands sporting facilities. As he explains, the logistics of the most northerly location in the UK, the weather and the salt all play a huge part in his working life
“In the peak of winter it could be dark from 2.30 in the afternoon, which has a dramatic effect on the length of our growing season and, also, what sports can actually take place”
W Magnus Malcolmson
hen a press release arrived in the office about a new VertiDrain 7521 for the Shetland Island Council it got us thinking “how and why?” How the hell did it get there and, surely, such a technically advanced machine could be of no benefit on a rocky outcrop in the dividing line between the Atlantic and the North Sea? Well, the former was easy to answer; by ferry. The latter enlightened us to the rugged beauty of the islands. Shetland is where Scotland meets Scandinavia and the North Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. Where the Shetland ponies come from; the sweaters and the Vikings. It lies 600 miles north of London and is made up of more than a hundred islands with splendid names such as Muckle Flugga, Bound Skerry, Yell and the more sedate ‘Mainland’ which, as its name implies, is the largest of the islands (third largest in Scotland) and home to the capital, Lerwick.
Just fifteen of the islands are inhabited and the total population is around 22,000. Its main industries have traditionally been fishing and sheep. More recently, oil has helped boost the economy. The islands boast abundant wildlife with over a million breeding seabirds, the highest density of otters in Europe, regular sightings of killer whales and superb displays of rare sub-arctic flora all within and around a quite spectacular coastline. Helping to keep the islanders fit and healthy are an impressive range of sporting facilities which are under the management of native islander, Magnus Malcolmson, Leisure Facilites Officer for the council, a post he took up six years ago. He takes up the story.
“I manage eight full time parks staff who work across our various facilities. They consist of a parks foreman who deals with all of the day to day issues, a machine operator and six
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