Shetland Day 1

 A train from Perth to Aberdeen, an overnight ferry to Shetland, and pick up the car!

It takes less than an hour to get from Lerwick, where I was based, to most points in Shetland, and there are sme main roads with 60mph limits across the island.

On Shetland, it's all about the archaeology, the magnificent coast, and the birdlife - especially the Puffins!

So my first trip was down to Sumburgh Lighthouse, at the southern point,  in search of Puffins. 

They are much smaller than most people realise, and the ones nesting on the cliff needed a zoom lens but fortunately this one was not too far away.

There are two archaeological sites nearby, but I was booked into Old Scatness on Friday so with the Puffin ticked off the list, I headed back up and west to St Ninians Beach and Isle.

There are lots of islands in the archipelago, some with a bridge and some with a small beach connecting them to the mainland. St Ninians is connected by the largest active sand tombolo (effectively a sandbar)  in the UK.  Absolutely stunning! And the water is crystal clear.

I walked around most of the island

There are the remains of a Chapel there, where in 1958 a schoolboy discovered the remains of a wooden box with 28 silver objects and the carved bone of a porpoise. Probably hidden in the church for safe keeping.

As usual, the originals are in Edinburgh, with copies at the Shetland Museum

The beach sparkled in the sunlight, and had a fascinating collection of different rocks.

Here is a sample:

Next stop was on the East coast, slightly further up in search of Burraland Broch.  A broch is a circular stone building, often built on the coast, during the Iron Age period. They have a double skin wall, with a circular staircase going up to two higher levels, and a single door at the bottom level. There are lots of different theories about whether they were fortifications or simply communal buildings. There are estimated that there were about 700 of them now mostly ruined, to be found across the North and west of Scotland, with the highest concentration, 120 of them,  on the Shetland Isles. The Google maps directions had me going along farm tracks, and across a field - in Scotland you are allowed to do this as long as you shut gates behind you, and avoid walking across cropland.

Near the broch were the remains of a settlement, still active in the mid 1800s, but with clearances, only one person remained by the 1890s.

The base of the broch was still standing, but most of it would have been dismantled to make the croft houses.

Looking across the water, I could see another one - much bigger. It is on the Isle of Mousa - a trip for another day.

With the afternoon still ahead of me,  I went west to Scalloway then down through the Burra islands.

Once on the islands, it was single track, and I ventured to the end of each of the roads. The most southern point was another beautiful tombolo - Minn Beach. The weather was looking threatening, so I contented myself with going to the far side of the beach and back.

This amazing house was in the village nearby

Also along the road was a Shetland Pony farm

Scalloway, which was originally the capital of the Shetland Islands, has an excellent museum next to  Scalloway Castle (one of only 2 castles on the island) which was built in 1600. Unfortunately it is undergoing restoration works, so there was no access. It is technically a tower house and was built by Patrick Stewart - a not-very-nice man. He also had the 'Earls palace'  which I saw in Kirkwall, Orkney.

Wiki has a good summary of his deeds and misdeeds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalloway_Castle

The museum had a wonderful geological collection which I will put in a separate post.

It also had history of the fishing industry.

My accomodation was a private guesthouse, only a short walk from the main centre.  Lerwick is very hilly so I was going to get my steps up  (and down!) over the next few days. There are little alleyways - like the Perth Vennels, between the buildings, with steps to take you from one level to the next.

When looking for somewhere for dinner - very limited options! I discovered a bar where they have locals playing on a Wednesday night. Basically whoever choses to turn up to play. Perfect! I found a Thai restaurant that didn't need a booking, then wandered down to the Lounge Bar. I had a wonderful couple of hours - chatting to people near me, enjoying some wine, and listening to lively traditional music from a circle of musicians who were clearly enjoying themselves, and two older fisherman who sang a number of songs.