10 September
The ferry arrived in Lerwick at about 07:45. If one wishes, the vehicle can be disembarked and the driver return on board to breakfast. I spent some time in the terminal car park before deciding to go north to the end of the road and explore in detail as I came south.
The A968 takes one from Lerwick across Shetland Mainland, Yell and Unst to the outskirts of Haroldswick. From the mainland to Yell and from Yell to Unst there are ferries operated by the Islands Council. Apart from stopping to top up the water tank and waiting for the two ferries, I made the run non-stop arriving around lunchtime.
Hermaness Nature Reserve is almost as far north as one can drive on tarmac in the British Isles.
I didn’t sleep very well on the ferry so I spent the afternoon relaxing.
Hermaness Nature Reserve website
11 September.
When I did poke my nose outside it was to be greeted by horizontal rain. Nevertheless, I took some photos before leaving and driving to the other side of Burra Firth for some photos of the Visitor Centre that stands on a promontory. Beyond the headlands, the next drivable surface is the Arctic pack ice.
Not long after leaving, the cloud started breaking and soon after that a clear blue sky appeared.
The next destination was Skaw and the most northerly inhabited house in the UK.
Returning from Skaw the road passes through Norwick.
Arriving at the former RAF Saxa Vord I fancied a brew and went in search of the cafe in the former Sergeants Mess. It was closed. The general style of the camp’s architecture is so different from 1950s MoD style that it’s not obvious that this is a military camp at all. Except for one building that is. The one that’s always instantly recognisable and is always right by the main gate.
The former stores buildings are now in use as a brewery and as a distillery but no one was around when I called.
In the absence of a brew I made my way north again. This time, as far north as one can go on tarmac roads, the RAF monitoring station on top of the hill called Saxa Vord. It’s a two and a half mile single track road with few passing places. It’s scarcely wide enough for a three and a half tonner to get up there. At the bottom of the road there’s still an RAF sign warning that in snow and ice conditions it’s four wheel drive vehicles only.
The next stop was very different. The Unst Heritage Centre in Haroldswick is housed in a former school building. Being such a remote sparsely inhabited place one might think the place has no history but it has been inhabited from pre-historic times, and people have scratched a living from farming, fishing, mining and making knitwear and lace.
One of the exhibits that caught my eye was an introductory booklet given to new arrivals at the RAF station. It seems there were two types of people posted there; volunteers and those who had been “specially selected”.
The Vikings invaded nearly a thousand years ago bringing with them designs of small fishing boats which are still in use. Unst Boat Haven in Haroldwick is a museum of Shetland fishing with boats and other artefacts on display. The two most common types are the fourereen and the sixareen, as far as I can make out, a four oared boat and a six oared. The latter also has a sail.
Along the coast at Brookpoint is a replica Viking long house and the Skidbladner, a replica Gokstad Viking ship.
From there I went to the Viking longhouse at Underhoull – a genuine one that’s been unearthed.
12 September
My first visit of the day was to an abandoned house overlooking Lunda Wick. There was a local reception committee to welcome me to the area.
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There is a former church right on the coast and the first question that came to my mind was “Why?” It’s only ever been a sparsely scattered community so why build the church in an even more remote location.
Both weather and path were more than a bit wet and soggy so I limited myself to walking as far as the house.
The standing stone is a short distance back towards the main road.
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From there I drove to Muness Castle. Built by Laurence Bruce of Cultmalindie who even by the standards of the time was considered to be abusing the people to the point that he was stripped of the title and rights to the area.
Historic Scotland Muness Castle website
Again, why build such an impressive house in such an area apart from wanting to project power and dominate the people.
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Then it was a brief stop in Uyeasound and back to the ferry at Belmont.
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The next island to visit was Fetlar. Waiting for the direct ferry, due two hours or so later, one of the crew on the service to Gutcher suggested I’d get to Fetlar quicker going via Gutcher.
Fetlar is a delightful place, but there’s nothing to see unless one is a bird watcher. There is however a nice cafe, shop and post office at Houbi.
I finally got round to transferring photos from my camera to the laptop and discovered those I’d taken at Hermaness on Monday morning were utterly useless. Due to the strong winds I’d not been able to hold the camera steady enough and the lens was covered in rain.
The morning ferry direct to Unst was at 07:55 and I decided to go back and try again.
Wednesday 13th.
The ferry from Hamars Ness to Belmont is about twenty-five minutes and the drive to Hermaness about the same.
Having got the shots to replace Monday’s disasters I turned and headed back to Belmont stopping for fuel and a few items at Baltasound before boarding the ferry and crossing to Gutcher.
Disembarking from the ferry I took the first turning on the right and went to Gloup.
Overlooking the loch is a memorial to the fifty eight fishermen who lost their lives in a freak storm in 1881. The memorial listing their names was raised a hundred years later.
After Breckon I headed for Cullivoe, stopping off to look at the isolated cemetery before heading for the village. The ruined building in the cemetery was a church dedicated to St Olaf and overlooks Kirk Loch.
When I pulled in to a slightly raised parking place to take photos of the surroundings my step mounting came a cropper due to a lack of ground clearance. Fortunately Hendersons, the local garage and general store, was able to weld it back on for me that afternoon and without charging the earth, £33.
From Cullivoe I returned to Gutcher and stayed in the ferry terminal car park overnight.
14 September
In order to top up my water tank from a sink tap I carry a collapsible water carrier and a short length of hose. At least I did until this morning. I still had the water carrier but of the hose there was no sign. I obviously left it behind somewhere but I can’t remember where. Ho hum.
Fortunately, a lady walking her dogs told me of a shop that would probably supply a new one. It was on my route and I wasn’t desperate for water so plod on.
Just off the B9081 is Mid Yell the road through which leads to Cashigarth and Linkhouse Pier. I found two things of interest on the pier. Most urgent was the loo and secondly was a home made catamaran.
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I then had a choice. I could return to the “B” road and drive across scenic but otherwise uninteresting hills before turning off to reach the shop at Aywick I’d been told about, or I could take the more direct route along the minor road. Since there were side turnings to investigate along the way I decided on the latter.
The shop lived up to the claims for it. They really do stock something of everything. Food, greetings cards, clothes, trinkets, tools and similar and, what I needed, gardening tools including hoses. Like most places hose is now only available in fixed lengths, you can’t buy it by the foot or metre. Except for petrol hose but that’s nearly eight quid a meter. I settled for a fifteen metre roll of standard garden hose (£10) and some fittings.
Most shops in this part of the world look like warehouses from the outside with a single door sheltered by a porch , it’s a cheap building to put up and the easiest way to keep the weather outside.
Aywick shop and the view opposite.
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Leaving Aywick the minor road rejoins the “B” road and about a mile and a quarter later there stands, all on it’s lonesome, a post box. The nearest house is several hundred yards away. The OS map says it’s Holligarth.
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Midgarth with a view across Otters Wick was the next place along a narrow track.
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Followed by a turn off to Gossabrough before arriving in Burravoe.
Pulled up on the foreshore was a very nice open local fishing boat – a sixareen – and a number of other boats, fishing and pleasure, were moored inside the pier. Whilst chatting to another visitor three boats arrived which appeared to be connected with the salmon farming industry. There is overnight parking for motorhomes, caravans and tents – at a price.
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Before leaving the area, I turned down another road to the Old Haa Museum. Standing outside are two memorials.
One is a mounted propeller blade from RAF PBY Catalina Z2148 which crashed on the island in 1942 killing six of the nine crew and injuring the remainder.
The immediate cause was icing on the wings and the loss of one engine. Secondary to this was the lack of runway lights at RAF Sullom Voe which prevented a safe landing. The aircraft was on a mission to bomb the German battleship “Tirpitz” at anchor in the Fættenfjord just north of Trondheim.
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Aircrash site – Catalina Z2148 Arisdale
Crash site and memorial at;
The second memorial is to a local naturalist, Bobby Tulloch.
18 September
I ended up stopping in Ulsta over the weekend. On Monday morning I went to look at the places I’d bypassed before catching the ferry to Toft on Shetland Mainland.
From the ferry terminal at Toft I went to went to Sullom Voe and took some photos of the oil terminal.
As I was getting back in my motor I caught a glimpse of another vehicle stopping behind me but making no effort to park properly. Realising who it might be I continued on my way back to another car park along the road where they caught up with me. As I suspected, “they” turned out to be nothing more than the oil terminal security patrol sent out by the supervisor to see what I was about.
Said security staff being a slightly built bloke in his fifties and a five foot nothing woman of around thirty. Quite what they were supposed to do if they came up against a serious security threat I’m not sure. We had a perfectly amicable chat, apart from the chap threatening to inform the police if I didn’t give them my name. That went no further when I invited him to do so. This took place at the RAF Sullom Voe memorial.
Just round the corner is the former RAF Scatsta, now Scatsta Airport. Most of the traffic appears to be oil industry related. The only two aircraft I saw were Bristow’s helicopters.
After refilling the water tank in Brae I went as far north as I could go through North Roe. The A970 splits in the middle of nowhere. The adjacent bus stop is “North Roe Junction”. Even though it’s an “A” road it’s single track with passing places. Driving anything wider than a car means paying attention.
The road ends at farm gates in Ibister.
I returned to Collafirth Brig for the night. There is a community provided motorhome overnight stop with a laundrette, showers and toilets. If one uses the facilities they ask for a contribution of £10 per night.
The MV Altaire is a pelagic trawler. After finding a shoal they take a sample to check the age of the fish. If they’re too young the trawler moves on and warns other boats to avoid. Having found a suitable shoal the net is held off the bottom and the end is connected to a hose which transports the fish directly to the boat.
19 September
Murphy’s Law strikes again!
The weather being grotty for several days I booked ferries back to the mainland last night. This morning is reasonably bright and sunny. Ho hum.
Following my chat with the oil terminsl’s security staff yesterday I had a phone call from the local police this morning. The copper came out to meet me as it was better than dealing with a stack of paperwork.
Keep in mind that I was on a public highway taking photos of structures clearly visible from the road hence no laws were bring broken nor was privacy invaded. The security department consider the terminal to be a “sensitive site” in the current security situation. If the person who sent the staff after me understood those who are attacking us it would be obvious they’re only interested in killing as many “infidels” as possible. Not blowing places up.
Apparently it has been suggested to the terminal owners that they put up signs prohibiting photography and/or to buy the road leading to the terminal gate. It serves no other property. They’ve refused to do either of those.
I almost felt inclined to go back and take some more photos to make my point but that may well have led to genuine problems so I restrained myself.
The chat with the copper ended with him giving me tips on places to visit.
20 September
It was reasonably bright and sunny this morning near Voe. As I travelled south to Lerwick it became duller and gloomier. Now it’s back to chucking it down.
I called at the Lerwick Brewery and bought some of their products to try purely on behalf of friends and family who don’t have ready access. It’s certainly not because I want to. And yes, I would recommend them.
I left the Shetlands on the 5.30 pm sailing heading for Kirkwall aboard the MV Hjaltland with a scheduled arrival of 11 pm.
The chap sitting next to me had an interesting story to tell. He’d qualified as a doctor in his home country, the Philippines, later coming to the UK to practice. Somewhere along the way he lost his enthusiasm and joined his family firm in the Shetlands.
A little after ten o’clock the lights switched to night mode. I took that as my cue to leave the “pod” lounge and find some food and drink.
We had a good crossing and arrived about half an hour early. Those of us leaving at Kirkwall were efficiently disembarked and I drove to the edge of town where there is a place to park overnight.
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