Papa Stour is a small island located off the west coast of Shetland Mainland.
Stella Shepherd and her husband moved to the island of Papa Stour in 1962 to take up the posts of school teacher and lay assistant minister respectively. They lived in the draughty school house and for the first few years there was no electricity or piped water in the house. Light was provided by paraffin lamps and water had to be collected from an outside well. They stayed for 8 years until there were no pupils left at the school for Stella to teach.
In the mid 19th century the population of Papa Stour was 350 but it fell steadily from the 1870s onwards, due initially to a decline in the herring fishing industry. By 1962 it was about 50. When she arrived on Papa Stour Stella had 8 pupils but one by one they left to go to secondary school on Shetland Mainland or their families left the island or in one sad case one of her pupils became ill and died. Mechanisation enabled the dwindling population to cope with the extra work they had to do to keep life on the island viable:
"The depopulation and consequent labour shortage have led to enforced mechanisation. Thus the few men left have to have mechanical aids. And these few men, in order to maintain a reasonable standard of life and to keep abreast of the work, must be men of many parts".
Stella describes the daily lives of the islanders, seasonal farming events (e.g. fertilising the land with seaweed, ploughing and potato planting), their social events (e.g. weddings) and local customs (e.g. the Papa Stour Sword Dance and kale throwing at Hallowe'en). She also gives details of the coastal geomorphology, landscape, flora and fauna of the island. She and her husband lent a hand when they could and got involved in all the social events. During her time there an airstrip and new pier were constructed, which improved communication with and access to the outside world. Council officials came and went and there were occasional visitors.
Stella and her husband cheerfully endured long stormy winters when Papa Stour was cut off from the mainland for weeks at a time.
Papa Stour is now served by a roll on-roll off car ferry 4 days a week but in 2011 the population was only 15.
Papa Stour Airfield
Natural Arch at Aesha/Aisha Head
Lyra Skerry off the NW coast of Papa Stour
Snolda Stack
Remains of watermills at Dutch Loch
These horizontal mills once had turf roofs.
Ruined farm, Hamna Voe
Aesha Stack with a natural arch incorporated into it
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