The Baltasound Hotel and the Storm of 91/92

Tom Ellis (ex Saxa 61/63 and again 65/66) and his wife Wilma ran the Baltasound Hotel from 1984 to 1995. They also ran Hagdale Lodge which could provide 50 standby beds for offshore oilworkers. During this period the oil industry was very important to the economy of Unst. I’m grateful to Tom & Wilma for the information and pictures below. An earlier section of the blog describes some of the implications of the North Sea oil boom for the local community:
http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.com/2010/01/unst-airstrip.html
With the destruction of Hagdale Lodge in the New Year Storms 91/92 it became imperative that suitable accommodation be found quickly and installed on Unst as soon as possible. This need was increased by Chevrons plans to commence a major overhaul of 3 platforms in the Ninian Field.  After evaluating the alternatives Tom & Wilma placed an order with Pinelog Ltd in Derbyshire for 6 high quality wooden lodges, designed to meet the worst the Shetland climate could offer. An important element in placing the order was the speed at which the work could be completed – from order to commissioning in 10 weeks.
There were difficulties to be overcome such as the transport of the lodges from Derbyshire to Unst and the need to obtain planning permission quickly. However, after plenty of hard work the capacity of the Hotel was increased from 22 to 90 beds in less than a year. The pictures below tell some of this story. (Left click on pictures to enlarge).

A link to the current website for the Baltasound Hotel is below:-

http://www.baltasound-hotel.shetland.co.uk/index.html

 

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html

AOCs 2000 – AVM KD Filbey - Part 2

This is the second and last section on the AOCs Inspection in 2000. (Left click on picture to enlarge).

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html

AOCs 2000 – AVM KD Filbey - Part 1

In May 2000 the Annual Formal Inspection was carried out by AVM KD Filbey, who was AOC 2 Group. The CO was Sqn Ldr Andy Duffus.

For the 3 years from 1 Apr 2001 until 1April 2004, Saxa was not deemed to be a “station”. It lost this status, along with a large proportion of its personnel, becoming RRH Saxa Vord – Remote Reporting Head Saxa Vord. For the last part of his tour Andy Duffus and for the whole time of her tour Sqn Ldr Amanda Giles, were Detachment Commanders, with many of the responsibilities for running Saxa being taken over by the parent Unit- RAF Buchan. For the first few months of his tour Sqn Ldr Phil Carpenter was also deemed to be a Detachment Commander. In their wisdom the MOD decided to close Buchan in 2004 – this led to the restoration of independent Station status for Saxa, albeit only for 2 years before it was also closed.

Because of the events described in the previous paragraph I believe that there were only 2 more Inspections after the one in May 2000 - it would be unusual for a remote detachment to be subjected to such an Inspection. I believe that the last 2 were in 2004 & 2005.

Because there are more than 40 photos available I will be publishing 2 sections covering this event – the second section will be published in a few days time. (Left click on photos to enlarge)

CONTENTS LIST

http://ahistoryofrafsaxavord.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/contents-list.html