About me...
How it all came together
My name is John Coutts. I am originally from Shetland, an archipeligo of 100 plus islands in the far north of Scotland. Shetland, never "The Shetlands," and always singular, is well-known for Fair Isle knitting, Shetland ponies, Shetland sheepdogs, and a BBC TV crime series of the same name.
I grew up on the island of Fetlar, the fourth largest island in Shetland, but one of the lowest populated. I was born on August 10th, 1950, a time when memories of a world war were still recent, and times were more austere. We didn't have much, but neither did anyone else in Fetlar, so life seemed normal.
My father died on November 8th, 1955 when I was five years old. My bright, happy technicolor world faded into a dismal, drab, black and grey monochrome after that. Times were hard, and Santa Claus wasn't very generous in 1955.
Boarding School
At twelve years old I started secondary school in Lerwick, Shetland's capital town, thirty miles distant as the crow flies. Travelling to Lerwick was a four-hour, vomit-inducing boat trip through mountainous North Sea waves on The Earl of Zetland, a small coastal cargo/passenger ship, that made the trip three times a week, stopping at various islands on the way to unload supplies and passengers.
In Lerwick I stayed at the Janet Courtney Hostel for boys, and attended Lerwick Central School. There were fifty-five of us staying at the hostal. We only went home on the three major holidays of the year: summer, Christmas, and Easter.
I was still fifteen when I left secondary school. Three weeks later I set off for Edinburgh, the big Scottish capital city, where I started an apprenticeship in marine engineering at Brown Bros. & Co as a machinist, learning to operate lathes of various types and sizes.
The Big City
My years in Edinburgh were very formative. I still think of Edinburgh as a kind of second home. After almost five years there, I moved back to Shetland, somewhat disillusioned by it all. Work was difficult to find, and no one in Shetland needed a lathe turner.
After a year or so I moved to the west side of the Shetland mainland, and about a year or so later I started working for a local westside company that operated trucks, D & J Bowie. I got my heavy good vehicle (HGV) licence in January, 1973 with them, and became a truck driver.
Driving large trucks was by far the best job I ever had. I loved the freedom, and I never lost the thrill of being in control of thirty-two heavy tons, made up of the truck and whatever load I was carrying. Life was pretty good during those trucking years.
The Oil Construction Years
The oil construction years were fun, most of the time. This was the time following the discovery of oil in the North Sea, and the subsequent construction of various buildings and facilities onshore to accommodate it all. Work was plentiful - in fact, we could hardly get any time off work - and the pay was exceptionally good!
When the oil construction years ground to a halt in the early 1980s, the work dried up, more or less. I eventually moved back to Fetlar, after a failed relationship, and finding myself unemployed. I stayed in Fetlar for twenty-three years. I met and married my wife there, and we had a little boy, who we named Frank. Then we decided to leave the island.
That move was a big one. We moved from Fetlar to a village in southwest Spain, where we still live. Aldeacentenera, population around 600, is now our home, and as of the time of writing, 2025, we've been here for eighteen years. I am retired now, and I hope there are many more good years to come.
Why Substack?
Okay... why am I launching this space on Substack? I've spent much of my life writing about something or other. I made a living ghost-writing articles for people in dozens of countries, on every continent of the world, except Antarctica, for 25 years.
I love telling stories, some true, and some fiction. Sometimes the lines blur and I'm not sure which is which. I write about people I know, or knew. I write about things that have happened to me. I write about the weird and wonderful, about mysteries and peculiar happenings, and I write about things that need to be put right in the world.
My Substack will be a platform for all these things, and more. I'll try to write about something at least once a week, sometimes more, and sometimes maybe less. I hope you will stick around for the journey.
Some of my posts will be in English, some in Shetland. If you can’t understand Shetland, then sorry; there won’t (usually) be an English translation.
I hope you enjoy the journey. Just hit the “Subscribe” button and add your email. You can unsubscribe at any time. Your email will be safe with me, and I will always try to make the journey worthwhile!