Jay Wyllie’s joinery skills helped him embark on a valuable career when he moved to Shetland. He also puts his knowledge to good use renovating the home he and partner Lauren Bulter bought together in the beautiful North Mainland.
From a young age, Jay Wyllie was inspired by Shetland. He visited for family holidays as a teenager and knew then that one day he wanted to call the islands home.
Having fallen in love with a native Shetlander and settling in the North Mainland village of Voe, that dream has become reality. And it could not be going better.
A joiner by trade, Jay soon discovered there was a wealth of work for someone with the skills he possesses. And since joining the construction industry in Shetland, he’s continued to develop new skills, which he also uses while renovating an historic property.
The story begins with Jay’s father, Grahame, a musician, who used to play on the St Clair ferry which provided Shetland’s links to the mainland for many years. That connection led to friendships in Shetland and the Wyllie family would regularly visit the islands for summer holidays.
Jay recalls, “We came one year, and then we came the next, and we kept coming every summer. The first trip we came, I saw a but ‘n’ ben up on a hill and I was like, ‘I want to live here’.”
To achieve that ambition took a few years, and the blossoming of a relationship with Lauren, who grew up in Shetland but travelled south to Jay’s home city of Dundee to study.
The couple always wanted to set up home in Shetland, and in 2016 took the decision to move to the islands. They’ve never looked back.
Lauren, an artist, began freelance work while Jay was soon putting his joinery skills and knowledge to good use. He’s been working in the industry for almost over 15 years, including eight years in Shetland. He says the variety of work in the islands is much greater than he enjoyed working on the mainland, and is hugely rewarding.
His apprenticeship and background had been in ‘bench joinery’, working predominantly making doors and windows.
However, in Shetland he’s moved across to a more construction focused role, first with DM Joinery and then with Busta Services working all over Shetland on a range of projects.
Although I was trained more as a bench joiner, up here it’s a lot more site work and everything in between. That’s good, I enjoy the variety, you’re learning as you go, and it’s a very scenic place to work.
“Having a trade, I always knew I was going to find work. Lauren had finished uni’ and we thought we would move up here. Very quickly I was able to start doing bits and pieces by myself and pretty soon got a job.
“We work all over and it’s a bit of everything from small jobs through to house building and renovation. And you end up doing some of everything from the ground work up to the roofing.
“Although I was trained more as a bench joiner, up here it’s a lot more site work and everything in between. That’s good, I enjoy the variety, you’re learning as you go, and it’s a very scenic place to work.
“It varies whether you’re in the West, South or North of Shetland, it’s very different landscapes and interesting places.”
Another new skill that Jay has learned in Shetland is galley building – that is constructing the beautiful replica Viking longboats that feature prominently in Shetland’s Fire Festival Season.
Living and working in the North Mainland, Jay became involved in Delting Up Helly Aa.
The weekly gatherings over the winter months are an important part of socialising in communities like Brae where the Delting galley is built.
“I got involved in Up Helly Aa and it’s another good kind of social event, and it is a good fun.”
Each Up Helly Aa torchlit procession culminates with the ceremonial burning of the galley, and in 2023 Jay was lucky enough to be involved with the Delting Jarl’s Squad – the group of Vikings that leads the day’s events. (His boss was the Guizer Jarl)
Jay feels privileged to have been involved as a relatively recent “Shetlander”.
“I got the offer to join the Jarl’s Squad, which was a bit of a surprise, but it was fantastic. The whole build-up to the day and the atmosphere is exciting. The torchlit procession was good, and to be involved in the galley building and then see it being burnt is something special.”
As a skilled craftsmen, Jay was heavily involved in building the galley, named Ragnarok by the 2023 Guizer Jarl Dwayne Davies.
Dwayne is Jay's boss at Busta Services and was impressed enough with his workmanship to hand over the responsibility for creating the galley's nameplate and intricate details and embellishments on the galley tail and the handles of the axes, carried by each member of the Jarl's Squad.
If building and burning galleys keeps Jay busy in the winter months, he’s also a committee member of the Shetland Off-Road Club (formerly Shetland Land Rover Club). He and fellow 4x4 enthusiasts get together to test their off-road skills on some challenging courses.
“We set up a track with canes and take on the hills and quarries. The aim is to drive through without touching the canes while managing the terrain. It can be challenging.
“It’s a good bunch who are involved and it’s fun, with light-hearted competition.”
As well as off-roading Jay’s also been part of a rock-climbing group and is quick to point out that Shetland boasts a huge number of activities to get involved in. “There’s groups and clubs for everything.”
While there’s a lot of work, it’s rewarding and it feels good to be breathing new life into an old property, in a beautiful community.
These days, however, Jay has another focus which takes up a lot of his spare time – home renovation.
He and Lauren bought an old Manse-style house in Voe which once belonged to the Adie family that ran a general merchants and wool business from the village.
It’s an historic house, and an ambitious restoration project, but Jay is armed with the requisite skills and passion to breathe fresh life into the home.
“It’s a good project and it keeps me busy. When we bought the house it was needing a full restoration, which we’re working on.
“While there’s a lot of work, it’s rewarding and it feels good to be breathing new life into an old property, in a beautiful community.”