Fish & the Gutter Lasses

Join me as I travel across the ocean to Shetland, where the fresh sea air and rugged landscape captures the spirit of the adventurous souls. Shetland is in the northern region of the United Kingdom just above the Orkney Islands. There are many stories held safe in Shetland’s complex geology of faults and fold axes, metamorphic rocks, granite intrusions and the assemblage of rocks called “the Old Red Sandstone.”  The 1840’s onward were marked by the booming herring industry that propelled Shetland to the pinnacle of Europe’s go-to place for herring. Unst was at the centre of the hubbub. This small island became a vital Herring port - a powerhouse of employment opportunities.    Men would bring in the fish. But a workforce was needed to gut the fish and ready them for market.  It was brave, hardworking women who responded.  They were called Gutter Lasses.