Safeland Micro-Commission Recipients
We are excited to announce the following recipients of Gaada’s Safeland Micro-Commissions:
Julie Dennison
Foula Primary School + Ranger Service
Jen Hadfield
Sally Huband
Clare Scott
We will be working with the selected writers, artists and community groups as they respond to the below uncompleted projects of Walter Scott's Shetland by Numbers. The commissioned work will come together alongside additional material in a publication designed and produced at Gaada.
Shetland by Numbers: the uncompleted projects of Walter Scott
1. Salt-water Islands
To land on (or touch by hand when sea conditions or the shape of an island precluded a safe landing) … 1,238 have been visited by me, including eleven accessed by touching and here marked by an asterisk*. … (In addition, I have landed on a further 503 rocks, but these were not islands in the above sense as all would have been awash or submerged at high tide…
3. Kilometre Squares
To stand on (or touch by hand when sea conditions or the shape of the available land precludes a safe landing) as many as possible of the 1 km squares of the Ordnance Survey National Grid…There remains 10 [squares] to be visited, most requiring very fine weather.
4. Coastal Walking
The parameters used for this project were as follows: to walk on the beach; to remain within 1 to 2 paces from the edge of a low sea-bank or cliff, and up to 6 paces from the edge of the highest sea-cliffs; to go as near to the sea as possible on steeply sloping sea-banks; to keep to the transition line between bare rock and vegetation where severe exposure has resulted in large areas of unvegetated rock; to walk around all peninsulas of all sizes and which are cut off at high tide but accessible in shoes at low tide; and all tidal lochs which have an obvious connection with the sea…
7. Holms in Freshwater Lochs
To visit all 350 holms in freshwater lochs known to me, regardless of the size of the loch. All must be capable of comfortably supporting two or more persons, and be surrounded by water deep enough to prevent access from the shore in shoes, even in dry summer. All but two have been achieved, both in the island of Vementry.
18. Schools
To visit 35 of the 36 schools which were in use in 2012... The Foula Primary School has not been visited.
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Safeland is made possible by the support of Creative Scotland and Shetland Charitable Trust
