How one young family found freedom in Shetland's wonderful Westside

When Hannah Timbol realised she was unhappy with the stresses of city life she recalled a promise she had made to her mum – that one day she would live in Shetland.

Hannah was just 12 when she made that vow. Some 13 years later her prediction proved to be true, when she and her young family moved to the islands.

Partly because of fears over crime and pollution, Hannah realised she did not want to raise her son Oliver in Nottingham and began looking for ways to escape city life.

“It was a now or never move before Oliver started school.”

She added that she considered Orkney, Wales and York, but after recalling a holiday visiting a family friend in Scalloway, "it had to be Shetland.”

Her then husband Phil was a qualified bus driver and secured a five-year contract with Whites Coaches.

The job came complete with temporary accommodation, a crofthouse in Twatt, in West Mainland and they – along with Oliver, three and Snowy the cat – made the move north in June 2014.

They then spent six months renting in Setter, near the hamlet of Gruting.

Making friends and settling into life on the Westside made them want to settle down properly there and buy a house.

Hannah posted a message on Facebook saying that they were interested in buying a house.

A friend saw her post and explained a relative was thinking of selling but the house wasn’t on the market yet. Hannah visited the house, within sight of the playpark in the village of Bixter, and they did the deal on a handshake there and then.

They moved into the house in April 2015.

As Hannah points out, Bixter is a “convenient place, it has what you need”.

The village has its own shop with post office counter and filling station, health centre, community hall, vet and garage. It’s also on the Lerwick to Walls bus route.

Lerwick is less than a 30-minute scenic drive away.

And just three miles away is the West Mainland Leisure Centre, in Aith, with its swimming pool, gym, sports hall and climbing wall.

Oliver now attends Aith Junior High School, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary and caters for youngsters from nursery up to S4 (ages three to16).

Oliver, 11, has just finished P6 and is happy at the school.

“It’s a really good school,” Hannah said. “When he first started he was really shy and wouldn’t speak.

“Now he is popular in the class, probably talks too much! He’s getting on really well, he’s made loads of friends and the whole class get on with each other as friends.

“I don’t think he’s ever had a teacher that he doesn’t like.”

The playpark has also proved popular with Oliver’s younger brother Jack, aged 20 months.

Discover more about schools and education in Shetland.

Hannah, now a single mum, grew up in Nottingham and describes herself as being “super streetwise”. But it didn’t take her long to relax into island living.

“I managed to switch off pretty quickly within the first year,” she said.

In Shetland it’s normal to say hello to strangers as you walk past them, people leave their doors unlocked and there’s no need to fear your phone being taken from you if you leave it visible in a cafe.

“When I go back to Nottingham I have to remember to go back into city mode,” she said.

Oliver has also benefited from growing up in a safe community.

He has been allowed out to the playpark by himself since he was five and now he’s older, he’s allowed out to play with friends, knowing that he will return when he’s hungry.

“He’s got the freedom to go and roam,” Hannah said.

“You hear so many stories of people south where their kids are just inside on their tablets and computers. Yes, he does do that but he’s outside so much, so I don’t worry about it.”

Hannah, aged 35, had been working towards a diploma level four in surgical footcare in Nottingham and completed the qualification shortly after she arrived in Shetland.

She then set up Timbol Toes, offering specialist footcare services to clients, mainly in the West Side but across Shetland.

“It started off slowly but through the power of word of mouth it grew. It took me going out there, meeting people and saying what I do.

“One of the first questions people ask are: ‘Why are you here?’ and ‘What do you do?’ That was my way in.”

The job means that Hannah meets a lot of people and travels across Shetland, an aspect of the job that she particularly enjoys.

“It’s an interesting job meeting people from all backgrounds,” she said.

“You’re not just there doing a service, you’re chatting to them as well. And for some elderly people, you can be the only person they are going to see for a while so I sit and chat to them for longer.”

Her job also involves lots of driving to remote locations, with her border collie Tango as travel companion.

“Directions can be interesting,” she laughed. “'We are at the top of the hill, down a lane and next to the red tractor’.”

It’s quite different to what her business would have looked like if she had stayed in Nottingham.

“I’m going into someone’s house that I don’t know, completely alone and these people are strangers until I’ve met them,” she said.

“If I’d done that in Nottingham I don’t think I’d have had the same level of trust. I don’t think I’d have enjoyed it quite so much.”

It wasn’t long after moving to Shetland that Hannah decided to set up a Facebook group, Sooth-Moothers – a term used to describe people who have moved to Shetland – as a way of meeting like-minded friends.

Since its launch in December 2014 the group has grown to include more than 1,500 members.

They include people interested in moving to Shetland and those who have already made the move – some as long as 20 years ago.

Members post questions about all aspects of Shetland life from recommendations for walks to plumbers. It’s also a forum for debate.

“It’s grown from simply being about making friends with other people who have moved up to helping each other with every aspect of Shetland life you can imagine,” Hannah said.

“People are looking for all kind of things – accommodation, jobs, where they can repair a bicycle, where’s the best walk.”

Sooth-Moothers sits alongside the official groups Promote Shetland and Living and Working in Shetland and many people interested in moving join all three.

Hannah admitted that she couldn’t have imagined the group’s success. “I just thought I’d meet two or three people. I didn’t expect it to be 1,500.”

Hannah made a conscious effort to go to as many community events as she could in order to meet people.

That’s included Sunday teas in community halls, taking Jack along to mum and toddler groups, swap shops and car boot sales.

“If you move here, it is what you make it,” she said.

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