I went with my sister, Carrie, to a very cute wee cottage near to Alexandra. Mitchell's Cottage was built by two brothers (John and Andrew) who learnt their stone masonry skills from their father in the Shetland Islands. It was built between 1880 and 1904 and housed John, his wife and 10 children. The brothers originally came to NZ for the gold rush, but when gold ran out in the area, they became farmers. It is now a historic reserve. After visiting the cottage, we went for a drive right up into the hills (you can just see through the clouds in the distance).
Its interesting how the Shetlands are part of NZ'ers history in some areas! In a village near where I used to live called Herbert, all the roads are named for the Shetlands! Love this photo of the iconic cottage!
Other than the trees, this little house could be in the Shetland Isles! My mum was a Shetlander, and this house looks quite like her mum's croft there. I remember visiting my grandma in the late 60s, and she still had no running water, fetching all her water from a well a good distance from the house. She also kept a cow (for milk) and hens in the other side of the house. Her 'kitchen' had an earth floor, and we washed in a metal 'bath' in her 'back room', having brought the water up and heated it on the stove first. And all of that, not so long ago! She also raised 4 children on her own (and ran the croft) as she was widowed very young. She never got a widow's pension because her husband was not killed in action, but rather his fishing boat was sunk by a German submarine. Those were very different days. Boy, that was a bit of an outpouring - I bet you never thought your photograph would elicit that type of response! Lovely image, and thanks for bringing back the memories! My mum and my gran have both passed on now. :-(
@jamibann I am thrilled that you have told me so much about your grandma and her way of life. She must have been a very strong person to have brought up her children and run the croft under such difficult conditions. Thanks so much for sharing.
Gorgeous image Dianne, lovely depth of field, lighting and colour, its a beautiful looking cottage in a stunning location, thanks for adding the history very interesting:)
What a lovely composition - and interesting to read the history of this cottage. Hard to imagine 12 people in this space growing up today. What wonderful colors in your shot - and those foggy clouds make the perfect backdrop.
Lovely to see this, Dianne and I really appreciated the story from Issy @jamibann . I have been interested in the Shetlands due to my addiction to hand spinning, dyeing and knitting - and loved reading about the origins of some of the work I tried.
@ethelperry Oh, yes, my mum knitted a lot, and we were all kitted out, every Christmas, with fair-isle jumpers which came from Shetland, usually knitted by one of my aunts over there. I still have one of the one-ply hand knitted lace like baby shawls, which I got when my daughter was born, and it was also used for my son. They are absolute works of art.
@jamibann I agree about the Shetland lace - have some books on the subject and have had a stab at small projects, but never a baby's shawl. I hope you are "harping " on and on that they must never be put in the washing machine, so the next generation doesn't ruin them :(
@ethelperry Oh, indeed Ethel, a washing machine would be a disaster for those shawls! My mum even used to put our hand-washed woollen jumpers onto a stretcher to keep them in shape after she'd washed them. I bet not too many households have one of those. I guess I'll fall heir to it one day, but not sure I'd use it, in all honesty. I'm sure my dad doesn't use it either, and it'll be sitting in a cupboard somewhere gathering cobwebs at the moment.
