These were then prepared using traditional hand tools in Norway before being dismantled and loaded onto a traditional sailing ship the “Statsraad Lehmkuhl” for crossing over the North Sea to Shetland. The sill beams alone weigh over 500kg each and all the timbers had to be carefully moved into place to complete the construction.
At the official opening day for the reconstructed Norse Stofa in 2008, islanders and Shetland councillors welcomed The County Mayor of Hordaland in Norway, Torrill Selsvold Nyborg as well as historian Barbara Crawford and then Finance Secretary for the Scottish Government, John Swinney to Papa Stour for a day of great food, music and dancing. Local fiddlers Kayla and Astrid Jamieson accompanied on keyboard by Mary Rutherford performed Debbie Scott’s newly written ‘Da Stofa’ to commerate the day and entertain guests. The three women later formed a trio called Kollifirbolli, the Shetland dialect word for topsy-turvy/head over heels, and you can here their version of Da Stofa below.