#shetland — Public Fediverse posts

Boo hiss...

Controversial #JackdawGasField set to be approved in weeks, sources say

Simon Jack, 3 September 2026

"The #UK government is set to give the go-ahead for a controversial new #GasField off the coast of #Aberdeen, the BBC understands.

"Approval for the Jackdaw project could come in mid-September, just before #Parliament breaks for party conference season, according to government and industry sources.

"The gas field was approved by the former #ConservativeGovernment in 2022 but was delayed by a legal ruling from a #ScottishCourt, after #EnvironmentalGroups argued consent was given without fully considering the #ClimateImpact.

"Jackdaw's owner says it will account for 6% of UK gas output when at peak production but environmental groups say it will provide only 2% of UK use when imports are included.

"Campaigners launched legal challenges after Jackdaw was approved in 2022 and when the #RosebankOilField off #Shetland was given the green light in 2023.

"The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled last year that #Rosebank and Jackdaw had been unlawfully approved because the government had failed to take into account the climate impact of burning extracted #OilAndGas from the sites.

"A judge ruled that more detailed climate assessments had to be published, and further estimates were put out for consultation in July.

"Both Jackdaw and Rosebank are operated by #Adura, a joint venture between energy giants #ShellOil and Norway's #Equinor. Aberdeen-based firm Ithaca also owns 20% of Rosebank.

"Adura has estimated that Jackdaw could produce 35.8m tonnes of carbon over its 11-year lifetime, the equivalent of 90% of Scotland's emissions for 2023. But it said a more likely estimate was about 23.6m tonnes - equivalent to 60% of the 2023 figure.

" #Environmentalists insist that more #drilling would be unconscionable, hampering efforts to cut planet-warming carbon emissions as deadly #heatwaves and #ExtremeWeather affect billions across the globe.

"They also say starting production would not protect energy security and that transitioning sooner to #GreenerTechnologies would be better for supporting jobs."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9xe09jz4eo

#RenewablesNow #NoDrilling #NorthSea #ScottishCoast #UKNews #UKPol #Scotland #BigOilAndGas #ShellLies #Oiligarchy

Boo hiss...

Controversial #JackdawGasField set to be approved in weeks, sources say

Simon Jack, 3 September 2026

"The #UK government is set to give the go-ahead for a controversial new #GasField off the coast of #Aberdeen, the BBC understands.

"Approval for the Jackdaw project could come in mid-September, just before #Parliament breaks for party conference season, according to government and industry sources.

"The gas field was approved by the former #ConservativeGovernment in 2022 but was delayed by a legal ruling from a #ScottishCourt, after #EnvironmentalGroups argued consent was given without fully considering the #ClimateImpact.

"Jackdaw's owner says it will account for 6% of UK gas output when at peak production but environmental groups say it will provide only 2% of UK use when imports are included.

"Campaigners launched legal challenges after Jackdaw was approved in 2022 and when the #RosebankOilField off #Shetland was given the green light in 2023.

"The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled last year that #Rosebank and Jackdaw had been unlawfully approved because the government had failed to take into account the climate impact of burning extracted #OilAndGas from the sites.

"A judge ruled that more detailed climate assessments had to be published, and further estimates were put out for consultation in July.

"Both Jackdaw and Rosebank are operated by #Adura, a joint venture between energy giants #ShellOil and Norway's #Equinor. Aberdeen-based firm Ithaca also owns 20% of Rosebank.

"Adura has estimated that Jackdaw could produce 35.8m tonnes of carbon over its 11-year lifetime, the equivalent of 90% of Scotland's emissions for 2023. But it said a more likely estimate was about 23.6m tonnes - equivalent to 60% of the 2023 figure.

" #Environmentalists insist that more #drilling would be unconscionable, hampering efforts to cut planet-warming carbon emissions as deadly #heatwaves and #ExtremeWeather affect billions across the globe.

"They also say starting production would not protect energy security and that transitioning sooner to #GreenerTechnologies would be better for supporting jobs."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9xe09jz4eo

#RenewablesNow #NoDrilling #NorthSea #ScottishCoast #UKNews #UKPol #Scotland #BigOilAndGas #ShellLies #Oiligarchy

Boo hiss...

Controversial #JackdawGasField set to be approved in weeks, sources say

Simon Jack, 3 September 2026

"The #UK government is set to give the go-ahead for a controversial new #GasField off the coast of #Aberdeen, the BBC understands.

"Approval for the Jackdaw project could come in mid-September, just before #Parliament breaks for party conference season, according to government and industry sources.

"The gas field was approved by the former #ConservativeGovernment in 2022 but was delayed by a legal ruling from a #ScottishCourt, after #EnvironmentalGroups argued consent was given without fully considering the #ClimateImpact.

"Jackdaw's owner says it will account for 6% of UK gas output when at peak production but environmental groups say it will provide only 2% of UK use when imports are included.

"Campaigners launched legal challenges after Jackdaw was approved in 2022 and when the #RosebankOilField off #Shetland was given the green light in 2023.

"The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled last year that #Rosebank and Jackdaw had been unlawfully approved because the government had failed to take into account the climate impact of burning extracted #OilAndGas from the sites.

"A judge ruled that more detailed climate assessments had to be published, and further estimates were put out for consultation in July.

"Both Jackdaw and Rosebank are operated by #Adura, a joint venture between energy giants #ShellOil and Norway's #Equinor. Aberdeen-based firm Ithaca also owns 20% of Rosebank.

"Adura has estimated that Jackdaw could produce 35.8m tonnes of carbon over its 11-year lifetime, the equivalent of 90% of Scotland's emissions for 2023. But it said a more likely estimate was about 23.6m tonnes - equivalent to 60% of the 2023 figure.

" #Environmentalists insist that more #drilling would be unconscionable, hampering efforts to cut planet-warming carbon emissions as deadly #heatwaves and #ExtremeWeather affect billions across the globe.

"They also say starting production would not protect energy security and that transitioning sooner to #GreenerTechnologies would be better for supporting jobs."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9xe09jz4eo

#RenewablesNow #NoDrilling #NorthSea #ScottishCoast #UKNews #UKPol #Scotland #BigOilAndGas #ShellLies #Oiligarchy

Boo hiss...

Controversial #JackdawGasField set to be approved in weeks, sources say

Simon Jack, 3 September 2026

"The #UK government is set to give the go-ahead for a controversial new #GasField off the coast of #Aberdeen, the BBC understands.

"Approval for the Jackdaw project could come in mid-September, just before #Parliament breaks for party conference season, according to government and industry sources.

"The gas field was approved by the former #ConservativeGovernment in 2022 but was delayed by a legal ruling from a #ScottishCourt, after #EnvironmentalGroups argued consent was given without fully considering the #ClimateImpact.

"Jackdaw's owner says it will account for 6% of UK gas output when at peak production but environmental groups say it will provide only 2% of UK use when imports are included.

"Campaigners launched legal challenges after Jackdaw was approved in 2022 and when the #RosebankOilField off #Shetland was given the green light in 2023.

"The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled last year that #Rosebank and Jackdaw had been unlawfully approved because the government had failed to take into account the climate impact of burning extracted #OilAndGas from the sites.

"A judge ruled that more detailed climate assessments had to be published, and further estimates were put out for consultation in July.

"Both Jackdaw and Rosebank are operated by #Adura, a joint venture between energy giants #ShellOil and Norway's #Equinor. Aberdeen-based firm Ithaca also owns 20% of Rosebank.

"Adura has estimated that Jackdaw could produce 35.8m tonnes of carbon over its 11-year lifetime, the equivalent of 90% of Scotland's emissions for 2023. But it said a more likely estimate was about 23.6m tonnes - equivalent to 60% of the 2023 figure.

" #Environmentalists insist that more #drilling would be unconscionable, hampering efforts to cut planet-warming carbon emissions as deadly #heatwaves and #ExtremeWeather affect billions across the globe.

"They also say starting production would not protect energy security and that transitioning sooner to #GreenerTechnologies would be better for supporting jobs."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9xe09jz4eo

#RenewablesNow #NoDrilling #NorthSea #ScottishCoast #UKNews #UKPol #Scotland #BigOilAndGas #ShellLies #Oiligarchy

Boo hiss...

Controversial #JackdawGasField set to be approved in weeks, sources say

Simon Jack, 3 September 2026

"The #UK government is set to give the go-ahead for a controversial new #GasField off the coast of #Aberdeen, the BBC understands.

"Approval for the Jackdaw project could come in mid-September, just before #Parliament breaks for party conference season, according to government and industry sources.

"The gas field was approved by the former #ConservativeGovernment in 2022 but was delayed by a legal ruling from a #ScottishCourt, after #EnvironmentalGroups argued consent was given without fully considering the #ClimateImpact.

"Jackdaw's owner says it will account for 6% of UK gas output when at peak production but environmental groups say it will provide only 2% of UK use when imports are included.

"Campaigners launched legal challenges after Jackdaw was approved in 2022 and when the #RosebankOilField off #Shetland was given the green light in 2023.

"The Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled last year that #Rosebank and Jackdaw had been unlawfully approved because the government had failed to take into account the climate impact of burning extracted #OilAndGas from the sites.

"A judge ruled that more detailed climate assessments had to be published, and further estimates were put out for consultation in July.

"Both Jackdaw and Rosebank are operated by #Adura, a joint venture between energy giants #ShellOil and Norway's #Equinor. Aberdeen-based firm Ithaca also owns 20% of Rosebank.

"Adura has estimated that Jackdaw could produce 35.8m tonnes of carbon over its 11-year lifetime, the equivalent of 90% of Scotland's emissions for 2023. But it said a more likely estimate was about 23.6m tonnes - equivalent to 60% of the 2023 figure.

" #Environmentalists insist that more #drilling would be unconscionable, hampering efforts to cut planet-warming carbon emissions as deadly #heatwaves and #ExtremeWeather affect billions across the globe.

"They also say starting production would not protect energy security and that transitioning sooner to #GreenerTechnologies would be better for supporting jobs."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj9xe09jz4eo

#RenewablesNow #NoDrilling #NorthSea #ScottishCoast #UKNews #UKPol #Scotland #BigOilAndGas #ShellLies #Oiligarchy

myshetland.co.uk/a-day-of-two...

Rain this morning. Sun by the afternoon. The sheep refused to go out!

#myshetland #shetland #shetlandislands #shetlandsheep #weather #rainorshine #wetweather #sunnyafternoon #shetlandpony

myshetland.co.uk/a-day-of-two...

Rain this morning. Sun by the afternoon. The sheep refused to go out!

#myshetland #shetland #shetlandislands #shetlandsheep #weather #rainorshine #wetweather #sunnyafternoon #shetlandpony

myshetland.co.uk/a-day-of-two...

Rain this morning. Sun by the afternoon. The sheep refused to go out!

#myshetland #shetland #shetlandislands #shetlandsheep #weather #rainorshine #wetweather #sunnyafternoon #shetlandpony

myshetland.co.uk/a-day-of-two...

Rain this morning. Sun by the afternoon. The sheep refused to go out!

#myshetland #shetland #shetlandislands #shetlandsheep #weather #rainorshine #wetweather #sunnyafternoon #shetlandpony

myshetland.co.uk/a-day-of-two...

Rain this morning. Sun by the afternoon. The sheep refused to go out!

#myshetland #shetland #shetlandislands #shetlandsheep #weather #rainorshine #wetweather #sunnyafternoon #shetlandpony

Chronicles of a (very) slow trip 

What travelling in a 1978 camper van taught me

Articolo in italiano QUI

I was born into a family of outdoors lovers and spent my childhood vacations among caravans, campers, and various campsites, and this inclination for the outdoors remained firmly with me into adulthood. With my life partner, I’ve spent the summers of recent years wandering as much as possible (as far as our adult jobs allow) throughout Europe, from Corsica and Sardinia to the remote Orkney Islands or the Lofoten archipelago, along with our faithful Fiat Doblò converted to a micro-van. 

Last year, thanks to our love of quite cold and windy places that are rather unsuitable to staying out of the car for long, and the latter being particularly small, we decided to take the plunge and try to buy a camper. As much as we would have gladly oriented ourselves towards a van camper, unfortunately spending half the value of our house on a camper was not within our budget and so we decided to orient ourselves towards something with a decidedly more vintage taste, absolutely convinced that everything would go smoothly (spoiler no!).  

The preparation: how to face 5000 km 

Since neither of us knows the half-measures, as soon as we got our hands on our 1978 Westfalia Sven Heidin, we decided to take it to the Shetland Islands, probably trusting in the protection of the famous explorer to whom our new vehicle owed its name. Time to prepare: 4 months.   

In these 4 months we ended being mechanics, upholsterers, solar panel and battery experts, carpenters and expert roof window changers, as well as tireless carpet cleaners (who probably hadn’t seen a clean since ‘78). We fixed gas cylinder fuel system failures, prevented a wasp invasion in the back, and changed all the lights, making the interior significantly more comfortable while retaining the iconic ‘70s look. 

After completing all the tasks that came to mind and loading Sven with supplies, it was finally time to leave; the road was practically the same as the one we had taken the previous year to get to the Orkney Islands with our Fiat Doblò, even if we hadn’t really considered a small detail, namely that the Sven Heidin is a 4-gear vehicle with an estimated top speed of 90 km/h (which will actually prove to be a very optimistic estimate). 

A very slow journey 

From the first few kilometres one thing is definitely clear to us: Sven is the slowest vehicle we have ever set foot on. Which can be a wonderful perk for those who decide to take a relaxing holiday in the Tuscan hills but is perhaps not strictly ideal for those with exactly 26 days to travel 5,000 kilometres! 

But we won’t get discouraged and face the almost daily 8 hours of driving with a few minor accidents along the way, like both batteries dead, until we reach the UK. After leaving the endless motorways of France behind we finally get to enjoy the English landscape and on the second day we arrive at one of my all-time favourite places: the Northumberland coast. 

Here we spend one of the days I loved most about this trip. I have always had a particular attraction for this area and in particular for Bamburgh Castle, a place that besides having a remarkable scenic interest (and in fact every time I go there, I take several analogue photos) is also incredibly interesting from a historical point of view. Overlooking the sea and a very long sandy beach, Bamburgh Castle is an ancient, thousand-year-old fortress and the cradle of the kings of Northumbria. It combines centuries of history with breathtaking views, confirming itself as one of England’s most iconic and spectacular monuments, but is also definitely worth a visit inside. 

After a spectacular awakening in front of the castle, we are ready to enter Scotland, the first part of our journey is almost over and in another couple of days we arrive in Aberdeen from where we take the night ferry to the Shetland Islands, after 8 days of travel. 

Arrival in Lerwick 

We disembark in Lerwick, the capital of the archipelago, greeted by an unusual sun and after a short tour of the town and a mandatory breakfast stop, we begin to think about where to go. Obviously as photographers one of our main goals is to take pictures, but we still didn’t know that the weather would row against us literally every single day. Either the sky is completely clear without even a cloud, or everything is covered without the slightest light, so much so that I took just a few photos that I consider far from beautiful, and the rest with analogue cameras, but on the other hand it can’t always go well, right? 

For the next 10 days, we chased absolutely incredible views, lighthouses overlooking the sea, nature reserves rich in local flora and fauna, windswept cliffs, and beautiful beaches, pretty much always with reasonably horrible weather! 

We also had the opportunity to explore the cultural part of the islands, and I would like to dwell on this a little more because many times I have heard people ask me, “but why are you going there, it is such a cold and desolate place, there is nothing”, which is the furthest thing from reality. 

Probably one of the best days I’ve spent in Shetland was the one where I visited the Mousa Broch; A broch is an ancient circular dry-stone tower built in Scotland during the Iron Age (between the 4th century BC and the 2nd century AD). These unique structures are found mainly in northern Scotland, in Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides, and were used both as fortified houses for local chiefs and as symbols of power and defence. The Mousa Broch is the most famous, tallest and best preserved in the world. Located on the uninhabited island of Mousa in the Shetland Islands of Scotland, this Iron Age tower is the only one to retain its original height, about 13 metres, and its internal stone staircase. It appears twice in the Norse sagas; one story tells of a runaway couple who took refuge here after being shipwrecked on their way to Iceland in 900 AD, while another tells that the broch was “an inconvenient place to reach” during an attack. It is located on the island of Mousa, which is privately owned and managed as a nature reserve, and can be reached in about 15 minutes by ferry. Being a nature reserve, it is rich in local fauna, such as the colony of over 6,000 pairs of petrel storms, seabirds found especially in this archipelago. 

After visiting this beautiful island and the broch, returning to the mainland by ferry we also saw some fin whales, which made the day even more magical. 

An even longer return 

While the days in Shetland didn’t go as we’d hoped from a photographic perspective, I can’t say they were bad, but sadly, it was time to tackle the eight-day return journey; we didn’t know it yet, but it would become many more. 

As soon as we disembark in Aberdeen, the camper starts acting strangely, until it almost stops accelerating altogether and we find ourselves going at 10 kilometres per hour. Despite it being 4pm on Friday afternoon, and the day before the start of a bank holiday that would last until Monday evening, the proverbial kindness of the Scots comes to our rescue and we manage to find a garage willing to check it out. There seems to be some problem with the throttle cable, but they manage, despite the vehicle being very old and not understanding how it works, to fix it and so we leave again. 

The next day, everything seems fine until, alarmed by a new noise, we stop at a lay-by; once we stop (fortunately), we realize what the problem is: the throttle cable has broken. 

Obviously, we are unable to continue and obviously, as mentioned before, we are in the middle of a national holiday! After about eight hours on the phone with our insurance company, we finally manage to get picked up by a tow truck which, again thanks to the proverbial kindness of the people of the United Kingdom, even gives us a lift to the nearest hotel. 

In this hotel in the middle of nowhere, in a charming small town called Pity Me, and yes, here we really thought the universe was vaguely mocking us, we spent a whopping 6 days. After countless rounds of calls and days filled with boredom and desperation we managed to get going again but from here on for the next 4 days, Sven had one breakdown after another, including the dead battery at passport control when boarding the ferry to France, he was probably fed up with all those miles! 

The last few days have been a nice delirium of constant rain, breakdowns, fear of having to stop again and general tiredness but in the end, we managed to return safe and sound.

What I learned from this adventure 

Carrying a spare throttle cable with me when I travel! Jokes aside, the trip was absolutely epic a year later and with a clear mind, but we probably wouldn’t do it again! Our Sven is an extraordinary vehicle, arriving here intact after 50 years of road history, but it certainly lends itself more to slow, close-to-home journeys, certainly not to traveling 600 kilometres a day to reach Europe’s most remote islands. It was our first real camper, and we loved our semi-disastrous adventure but it’s probably not the right vehicle for us, or maybe it would be if we could invest a fair amount in improving its mechanics, but at the moment it isn’t. That’s why we decided to put it up for sale, including all the stickers and flags he earned from this trip!  

High costs and unreliable #deliveries for #parcels in Shetland, report finds

Consumer #Scotland has published a report into its findings in #Shetland, #Orkney and the #WesternIsles, saying #islanders faced “high #postal costs” and “inconsistent services”.

A #RoyalMail decision to move postal #flights to #Glasgow instead of #Aberdeen has often been cited as resulting in longer delivery times in Shetland.

https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2026/07/15/high-costs-unreliable-deliveries-parcels/?utm_source=mastodon_fediverse

#greed #privatisation #fail #CorporateGreed

Technical solution could help #Shetland #walkers ward off biting beastie

Digital creator and #ShetlandTimes contributor Mark Burgess is behind the new application, which could provide welcome relief for walkers and other #outdoor #explorers.

Similar #data has been used before to help fight against the #midge in mainland #Scotland.

But the new app has been specifically designed to take account of Shetland’s own conditions

https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/news/itching-for-midge-repellant-new-app-could-be-the-perfect-so-436966/

#midges #nature #apps #weather #free

#Armitage very proud as Nigel Farage met with protests

#Shetland people can see through the #far-right politics of Nigel #Farage. It’s very clear to me what #Reform stands for.

They want to hand over our #NHS to big #corporations, they want to #deregulate #AI, they want to rip up #HumanRights.

The #Green MSP hopeful had previously drawn some criticism for referring to Reform as a #fascist party.

https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2026/04/14/armitage-proud-nigel-farage-met/?utm_source=mastodon_fediverse

#UK #elections #FarRight #fascism #racism #Greens

From #Shetland in the #North to the #IsleofWight in the #South #islanders are suffering from totally inadequate #lifeline #ferry #services.

https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2024/07/20/not-fit-for-purpose-2/
https://www.islandecho.co.uk/red-funnels-suspension-of-service-to-continue-for-much-of-today/
https://www.islandecho.co.uk/pushing-for-regulation-mp-quigley-joins-user-group-ferry-protest/
#transport #publictransport #island #ferry #Solent #travel #transportminister

Orca reportedly rams into yacht off coast of Shetland

An orca has reportedly rammed into a yacht which was sailing from Lerwick to Bergen.

It is believed to be the first such instance of an orca attacking a boat in the North Sea.

There have been recent reports of orcas attacking boats in the Strait of Gibraltar and near to Portugal.

https://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2023/06/21/orca-reportedly-rams-into-yacht-off-coast-of-shetland

#Shetland #Orcas #boats #ramming #attacking #martime #boating

The thread about Leith shipping owners; industrial whaling, the penguins of Edinburgh Zoo and “Homes for Heroes”

Today’s auction house artefact is a painting of the handsome steam & sail ship SS Windsor of Leith off of Flushing in 1874 by Carl Ludovig Weyts (1828-1875), a Dutch artist. She carries the house flag of George Gibson & Co., a big name in Leith shipping that principally served the Low Countries trade. The Windsor was initially employed on the Leith to Antwerp run and was last noted in newspapers in 1899 when she landed the crew of a French hospital ship, St. Paul, who had been rescued off of Iceland after their ship ran aground and had worked their passage back to Leith.

George Gibson & Co. was set up by the man of that name in 1820, he had previously been the general manager of the Leith, Hamburg & Rotterdam Shipping Co. His company acquired its first steamer, the Balmoral, in 1850.

An 1886 advert for Gibsons lists nine steam ships in service. Alongside Windsor there was the Abbotsford, Amulet, Anglia, Kinghorn, Mascotte, Osborne, Talisman and Woodstock all serving Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Ghent and Dunkirk from Leith. The naming of their vessels borrowed from the lore of Sit Walter Scott (this was a common fad at the time in Scotland) and their advertising played heavily on links to their principal destinations in the Low Countries, the illustration below shoing the flags of Belgium and Holland and people in national costume. .As late as 1964 the company was still advertising weekly sailings to Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Dunkirk from Leith.

There is an example of the George Gibson house flag in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, the colours below have darkened and the lower bar of the flag was blue as it was based on the national flag of the Netherlands.

Gibsons were formed into a limited company in 1916 and on the death in 1920 of the last family owner of Gibsons, a joint parent company was formed, Gibson Rankine Line, with the interests of a number of other Scottish commercial shipping companies; J. T. Salvesen & Co. of Grangemouth, James Rankine & Sons of Glasgow and P. S. Nicoll of Dundee. This formalised a cooperation agreement for advertisement of services and sharing of traffic between these companies that had been in place since 1895. In turn, Gibson Rankine was acquired by the Anchor Line conglomerate in 1972 and had ceased to exist as a distinct subsidiary by 1976.

J. T. Salvesen of Grangemouth was founded in that port in 1843 by Johan Theodor Salvesen, the third son of the Norwegian shipmaster Thomas Salvesen (1787-1853) of Kristiansand. Johan Theodor first founded a business in Leith with a local partner, George Vair Turnbull, in 1846 as Salvesen & Turnbull. The business imported timber for pit props and railway sleepers and grain for distilling from Norway, sending coal and iron back from Scotland in return. They also dealt in Norwegian salted herring, a trade that returned healthy profits.

Johan Theodor’s younger brother, Salve Christian (known as Christian), was brought over from Norway to help in this business and would take over in Leith, his elder brother running the Grangemouth business. The house flag was a red field with a white-bordered blue diamond in its centre and a white “S” centred within that. Johan Theodore died in 1865, the Grangemoth company passing on to his sons. Christian left the partnership with Turnbull in 1872 and set up on his own in Leith as Christian Salvesen & Co., focussing on trade between mines he owned in Norway and Leith, via Stavanger. His house flag was a Norwegian cross set in a diamond in the middle of a white field.

In 1883, Christian delegated control of the company to his eldest sons Edward T. and Theodore. By the turn of the 20th century the company was sailing between Leith and many Baltic and Scandinavian ports, to as far east as Malta and Egypt. They had also become heavily involved in supplying the North Atlantic and Arctic whaling stations in Greenland, Iceland and the Faroes. In 1904 they moved directly into whaling, setting up a shore base at Olnafirth in the Shetland Islands. The company’s whalers would travel up to 200 miles into the Atlantic in the hunt for whales, which they continued to do until 1929.

A depression in the global shipping industry early in the 20th century saw whaling become an increasingly important part of the business, and its profits kept the company as a whole going. In 1907 they ventured into the South Atlantic whaling by setting up a station in the Falkland Islands, In 1909 a subsidiary of the company, the South Georgia Company, founded the port of Leith Harbour in South Georgia as a station closer to the whaling waters. It would become the largest of the seven such stations in South Georgia and Salvesens would eventually go on to become the single largest whaling company in the world.

Salve Christian Salvesen died in 1911. Up until 1914 the company’s funnels had been painted red, white and black stripes, but this proved to be too close to the colours of the Imperial German flag. When Salvesen’s steamer Glitra was sunk 14 miles off of Stavanger in October of that year by a U-boat they switched to the red, white and blue of the Norwegian flag. These new colours can be seen below on the preserved whale catcher Southern Actor, now a museum ship in Sandefjord, Norway.

After WW1, Salvesens purchased the former Royal Mail steamer Carmarthenshire and had her converted into a whaling factory ship – the Sourabaya – with a stern ramp up which carcasses could be hauled, to be disassembled and processed on board. The factory ships could accompany the whale catchers directly to the hunting grounds and made the whole process more efficient; the whalers had shorter journeys back and forth to the factory ship rather than always back to the shore base, and the partially processed whales could be transshipped to the shore base for final processing and packing. The Sourabaya was used as a cargo ship during WW2 and was sunk by a German U-boat in the middle of the Atlantic in 1942.

Salvesens shipping losses during WW2 were particularly heavy for the size of the company. Seven of their ten tramp steamers were sunk; they lost sixteen from their fleet in total, from the 876 ton Glenfarg up to the 12,000 ton factory ship Salvestria. The Salvestria was lost within sight of Leith, bringing a cargo of processed whale blubber all the way from the South Atlantic; she hit a German mine off of Inchkeith in July 1940 and went down with ten of her crew; 5 British and 5 Norwegian. Nine of the company’s whale catchers that had been requisitioned for naval service would also be sunk. After the war, Salvesens began to made good their war losses and return to the South Atlantic whaling. They started by buying up war surplus naval corvettes – a type of vessel built on the hull of a commercial whale catcher and which was easily converted into one.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottishmaritimemuseum/48126941931/

Whale catchers were small vessels and did exactly what it said on their tin; they caught up with the whales and caught them by harpoon. They had no facilities for processing the carcasses, which were towed to the factory ships or places onshore like Leith Harbour. The company’s post-war factory ships were enormous, the Southern Venturer was one of two 15,000-ton monsters complete with helicopter, landing pad and hangar. These were built in 1945. We can now look back on this industrial whaling with the horror it deserves, but this was a big and profitable business in depressed economics of post-war Britain.

But the company faced a problem of its own making; the extreme post-war modernisation of its whaling fleet was producing ever-diminishing returns; as they had become more efficient, the whale populations were ever more reduced. In turn, the whalers had to hunt further and further for longer and longer to try and find whales and it was ceasing to be a profitable venture. Salvesens now had an about turn in attitude and became a proponent of whale conservation; their whaling assets were sold in 1963 and the company’s “southern capital” at Leith Harbour was abandoned by 1965.

The company was not without a replacement income stream for whaling however, they had been hedging their bets and had also dipped their toes into the Atlantic whitefish business. Again they turned to industrialisation and would revolutionise the industry in the early 1950s when they developed the first stern trawler freezer factory ships. These both trawled for the fish and also processed and packaged it for sale and kept it frozen so that they could be at sea for much longer periods. The first of these vessels was Fairtry I of 1952 and was the brainchild of Sir Dennis Burney who had approached Salvesens in 1948 with the idea. He had been experimenting with the concept and Salvesens quickly saw the potential, buying both his prototype trawler Fairfree and his business. Their experience in factory whaling ships and knowledge of the Nordic demand for fresh white fish made this a common sense business decision.

But once again, the company’s heavy technological investment started to produce diminishing returns. As the whales had disappeared so too did the once seemingly infinite shoals of Atlantic cod and haddock. With trawling now waning too, the company survived once again through reinvention and diversification. They moved away from traditional coastal shipping and focussed themselves in specific sectors such as bulk carriers, managing colliers for the Central Electricity Generation Board and in the North Sea oil offshore service industry. On land they moved into containerised distribution, frozen food and storage – all head-quartered in Leith and Edinburgh. I can clearly recall their lorries around town when I was young, carrying the house flag once sported by the company’s ships.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/88738529@N02/16044987670/

In 1986 the company listed itself as Christian Salvesen PLC on the London Stock Exchange and by 1989 took the decision to exit the shipping business entirely to concentrate on logistics and distribution. In 1997 it left its spiritual home Bernard Street in Leith behind for the East Midlands and Northampton. They did at least leave their flagpoles behind! This building at one time also co-housed the Norwegian Consulate.

Salvesens are now long gone from Edinburgh and Leith but they have left us behind a few reminders of their presence. The famous penguins of Edinburgh Zoo for instance were first brought back from South Georgia by Salvesen’s ships alongside 4 seals. They were captured by the Coronda in 1913 and arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday 25th January 1914.

On the banks of the sterile river basin of the Water of Leith, now cut off from the sea and shipping, a Salvesen’s harpoon gun is a bit of a curiosity and a reminder of Leith’s dubious role at the forefront of the 20th century whaling industry.

The Salvesen family lost a number of sons and nephews in WW1 and after the war Edward T. Salvesen – by now Lord Salvesen – became involved in the Scottish Veterans Garden City movement; a scheme to build “Homes for Heroes“. In Trinity in Leith the SVGCA built a small housing scheme for injured ex-servicemen named Earl Haig Gardens (no comment on the appropriateness of that name.) on land that had been gifted by the Salvesen family, formerly part of the gardens of Salve Christian’s house of Mayfield . Plaques over the doors of some of the cottages commemorate the lost Salvesen men and relatives of some of the other benefactors.

At Kaimes Crossroads the Edinburgh Ladies Committee of the SVGCA, led by Lady Salvesen, built a row of neat modern cottage houses for disabled ex-servicemen, with ELC plaques on the pediments.

Lord Salvesen died in 1942 but his family remained involved in the SVGCA. After WW2 they again helped finance the construction of SVGCA ex-servicemen’s housing, this time in Muirhouse. Salvesen Gardens is a pleasant little cottage housing scheme again laid out along Garden City sorts of lines. If you stroll around you will find commemorative or benefactory plaques by most doors.

And next to Salvesen Crescent are the former Lighthouse keepers cottages for the Forth shore station, built in 1951 for the Northern Lighthouse Board. These housed the keepers and their families who served the lights of Bass Rock, Bell Rock, Inchkeith, Fidra and the Isle of May. As the lights became automated these were later used as retirement housing for ex-Lighthouse keepers before being gradually sold into private ownership. This is really one of the most charming little bits of social housing Edinburgh has to offer. Small but perfectly formed and with a style that evokes the NLB‘s lighthouse keepers cottage style.

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