Sun pillars light up evening sky

A rare phenomenon known as sun pillars was spotted throughout the isles yesterday evening (Friday).

These vertical shafts of light can extend above or below the sun and most commonly appear during sunrise or sunset – with Kenny Williamson photographing the pillars in Gonfirth, Eid and Voe.

Sun pillars are formed when sunlight reflects off ice crystals which are often found in high-altitude cirrus clouds.

While they can occur at any time of the year, sun pillars are typically seen in winter, making this sighting all the more unusual.

The crystals act like mirrors which reflects the sunlight and emulate a long column of light.

Send in your images from this weekend by emailing [email protected]

Forvik Walking Football crowned world champions

Forvik Walking Football over 45s were crowned world champions at a tournament held in the Swedish city of Malmö.

The team, whose honorary president is sovereignty campaigner Stuart Hill, lifted the trophy on Sunday after winning four of their group matches six matches before winning in the semi-finals and final.

Taking place over the whole weekend, Forvik over 45s beat England twice (4-1 and 5-2), hosts Sweden twice (3-2 on both occasions) but lost to Poland twice (2-0 and 4-1) in the group stages.

Forvik progressed to the semi-finals of the four-team tournament to face England, who they beat 3-1, before winning 5-4 on penalties in the close-to-call final over Sweden.

An over 60s side was also entered by Forvik Walking Football but they lost nine of their 10 games – drawing once.

They scored a total of seven goals while conceding 45.

Forvik Walking Football was formed in 2023 when founder Rob Haworth, approached Hill about naming the club after Forvik.

At the time, Hill said Rob Haworth supported Forvik’s “ethos of self-determination” and had asked about playing under their name.

Rob’s brother Andy – who started a League Cup match for then-Premier League side Blackburn in 2008 – has also represented Forvik.

He has also previously played for Falkirk, Bury and Notts County.

According to the side’s official website, Andy Haworth is the top scorer for the over 45s – netting 28 times in 14 appearances.

Rob Haworth is the joint most-capped player for Forvik Walking Football with 24 appearances. He has also bagged 10 goals in that time.

Hill was jailed for three months in June, after he refused to comply with an unpaid work order.

At Lerwick Sheriff Court Sheriff Ian Cruickshank ordered Hill to complete 75 hours of unpaid work the week previously after he failed to pay an outstanding fine issued at Kirkwall Sheriff Court in 2017.

Sheriff Cruickshank said he did not want to send an 82-year-old man to jail – but added Hill’s actions had left him with no other option.

When the case was first called Hill claimed the court had “no authority” over him, describing it as a “legal fiction”.

He continued to challenge the court’s jurisdiction but the sheriff had heard enough.

Levenwick driver banned and fined

A Levenwick man who was caught drug driving was given a hefty fine and banned from getting behind the wheel for a year.

Lewis John Tait admitted two charges at Lerwick Sheriff Court on yesterday (Wednesday).

He was caught with 32 microgrammes of cocaine per litre of blood while behind the wheel of his car. The limit is 50 microgrammes.

The 29-year-old was also found to be more than 14 times over the limit of cocaine’s metabolised form in his blood (724 microgrammes per litre). The limit is 50 microgrammes.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie told the court Tait was stopped by police for a minor matter on 22nd January at around 11pm.

Tait co-operated with police when he was stopped.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said the former truck driver had previously spent two years working in Aberdeen, where he found his friend had committed suicide.

This was a “difficult” period for Tait, Mr Allan said.

And since his arrest, his client had refrained from using any illegal substances.

Sheriff Ian Cruickshank ordered Tait to pay a £1,000 fine and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.

In this week’s Shetland Times

In today’s (Thursday, 10th July) edition of The Shetland Times:

• Energy firms accused of ‘greenwashing’ in schools

• EXCLUSIVE: Trainee paramedic aims to inspire others “struggling” in school 

• EXCLUSIVE: Major rise in accidents at council properties is recorded 

• Former Brae GP is struck off due to dishonesty and misconduct

• Historic hostel to be transformed into accommodation for key workers 

• SPORT: Eight pages of Island Games previews 

Coastguard helicopter evacuates medical casualty from Norröna

The coastguard helicopter has been tasked to evacuate a medical casualty from the Norröna ferry.

Stove Kirk in Sandwick opens for first art exhibition

A kirk-turned-art gallery in Sandwick opens for its first exhibition today (Monday) – showcasing five local artists working with paint, sculpture and digital renderings.

“There are lots of artists and lots of creative people in Shetland – but not a huge number of places where they can show their work,” said the kirk’s owner and exhibition curator Gillian Bridle.

“Since we got the kirk we’ve been wanted to have it as a gallery space, but not on a permanent basis – to have a pop-up gallery where for maybe a month we could show various people.”

The exhibition includes two painters, Nina Price and Katie Leask, who both work with local landscapes but take strikingly different approaches to colour.

Leask, who recently graduated from Shetland college, works closer to realism “with a lot of feeling”, said Bridle, while Price creates “really light-filled landscapes – unusually coloured but full of texture and light”.

They are joined by Orkney-based Maiwenn Beadle – a fine artist by training and Artic skipper by trade – known for her larger, sea-inspired pieces.

Jordan Clark, a collections assistant at the Shetland Museum, will be presenting digital folk art with, Bridle said, a strong shot of influence from tattoo iconography.

Finally, Fionn Arnett creates found object sculptures, “from the textures of Shetland’s landscape and things that he has found on beaches and on his walks in Shetland”.

Without setting a prompt for the artists, Bridle said much of the work had come to run along similar lines.

“The theme kind of loosely comes back to storytelling and the sea and Shetland,” she said.

The exhibition opens today at 4pm, and will stay open for three weeks between 10am-4pm.

All of the artists, except Beadle, will be at the gallery’s opening on Monday at Stove Kirk, between Sandwick’s Carnegie Hall and the post office.

POLL: Should we change our spelling of Up-Helly-A’? 

With many changes happening at newspaper we are taking a fresh look at our style guide – including the spelling of Up-Helly-A’.