The idea is simple: paint or decorate a rock with a design, put a message on the back asking for it to be rehidden, hide it somewhere, and wait. Your rock may or may not be found, but if it is, chances are that someone will take a photo and post it to the movement’s Facebook group, Shetland Rocks, before hiding it again for someone else to find.
While there are similar activities taking place around the world, in Shetland the rocks phenomenon began with two local mums keen to find more things to keep their children entertained over the summer.
Emma Graydon and Kerry Shorrocks both live in the south Mainland. Kerry, who had recently moved to Shetland and was looking for new things to do online, stumbled upon the idea of painting stones. Aafter hiding a few stones locally, asked Emma if she would help and set up a Facebook page to keep a track of where all the stones went.
Emma said: “Kerry hid lots of stones beside her neighbours and at local hot spots. She also hid a stone beside my house for my daughter to find and I posted the photo and re-hid the stone, (it’s still doing the rounds a year later). Neither of us knew of other groups when we started but have since discovered so many!”
