Lerwick

Sunny Sunday in Lerwick

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We woke up the sound of church bells. It’s Sunday and we are near two churches.

The sun is shining and the view from our little attic apartment windows is beautiful. Chimneys of different heights, and rooftops with angles and attics add interest to the skyline.

Steve was going on the boat to the island of Mousa We had missed it when we landed a few days ago so he was trying again. I decided not to ( I might regret it but reading about it, I’m not sure I want to walk on uneven ground or wet slippery paths as described. ) I tried to book on a bird watching tour from Lerwick Harbour but they were all booked out. Advice: no matter what you want to do these days you must book!

So I decided to walk and discover Lerwick in the sunlight. It’s been beautiful. I walked from our apartment to the church across the road and sat studying the stained glass windows.

I walked to Fort Charlotte, a wonderful fort that has never seen a shot fired in anger.

I passed at Lerwick police station and wondered if I would spy Jimmy Perez from the tv series Shetland.

Then I walked down hill through one of the many lanes from the higher part of the town to the waterfront. To cut the steep walk down they have added a series of steps.

I met a man with his goat Lucille. He told me she provided so much milk they had started their own goats milk soap company. I went into the shop and tried the various body butters and chatted to the lady who explained the process. Across the lane way was the Puffin Place where everything in the shop was somehow embellished with puffin pictures. I’m thinking the puffin is a little exploited.

See the goat outside his soap shop. And note the chimneys.

I continued along the road and met Jimmy , no, not Perez but a local who offered to show me around. We bought coffee and chatted but I assured him I was enjoying a stroll. He told me he was being picked up by boat soon to go to a bay nearby for a fishing competition. Now that would be interesting!

Sipping a coffee by the waterfront was peaceful and calming. Who could get stressed at this pace !

I walked the entire water front. Past Jimmy Perez’ house, the Lodeberrie. This is a house jutting in to the water where in years gone by boats would pull up to the house to unload their cargo. It’s now privately owned and the most photographed house here!

The Lodeberrie.

Lerwick like many other sea ports is host to the cruise ship! Not many……not enough to flood the town but to deliver some money to the locals. I hope so.

I walked towards the Museum of Shetland on the waterfront and passed the new theatre centre. They advertised a short film ‘ Welcome to Shetland’ ! I decided to see it and the 40 minute film showed a little of the history of this fascinating place. It also focused on the music. The violin or fiddle was a part of every Croft house. It provided the entertainment people needed to relax.

Outside the Museum

The Scottish music has great appeal – gets the feet tapping and the hands clapping. Traditionally played by men the violin is now favoured by Scottish women.

I was waiting for Steve and he arrived back full of stories about the boat trip to Mousa to see the broch. Perfect day for sailing.

The broch from the water
It’s one of the best preserved broch probably because it’s so tall.
What the inside would have looked like.
Climb it if you dare. Steve didn’t. Too dangerous.
From Mousa back to the mainland.

I wasn’t unhappy with my decision not to go. Although he saw seals from a distance. He didn’t see a puffin but saw some shags. and there was a lot of time on the island after walking the islands shoreline.

The Shetland Museum is very well displayed. It shows a timeline of the islands development. The Norse arriving and taking the land. The eventual return of Shetland back to Scotland as part of a dowry paid by the Kings of Norway when his daughter Princess Margereth married King James 111 of Scotland.

Beautiful lace sails

Of course the afternoon finished with a G&T in the local pub. The Douglas Arms.

Fish n chippies tonight!

Heading North. Island hopping.

/ brisbanefrannie / 3 Comments

Breakfast was held in the old world dining room and served by a friendly local girl. They are having a wedding at the hotel today so it as all busy busy!

We headed north to get the first ferry to Yell. A great name for an island. First stop was a teeny tiny Old Haa Museum. Its in a house belonging to one of the islands great characters I’d say. He was a crofter, fisherman , raconteur and part time dentist. There was a tray of teeth he had pulled over the years & there was a old recording of his voice ‘telling ‘ stories.

Outside the Old Haa Museum.

And right on time as predicted, the rain started. We drive the length of Yell island. It’s very barren. Hardly a tree to be seen.

Lots of hardy looking sheep grazing along the narrow roads with hardier looking people out on their properties mustering the sheep.

We got to the second ferry crossing. From Yell across to Unst. This is really getting northerly. It is the most northerly part of the United Kingdom. It has around 700 residents and is rugged , remote, open, wild and beautiful.

Each of the islands has a distinct personality. Unst is more settled and we spent more time on this island.

Unst is believed to be the first landing point of the Vikings in the North Atlantic. There are the remains of at least 60 longhouses, and the highest density of rural Viking sites anywhere, including Scandinavia.

An example of a longhouse
A Viking longboat.

We visited the small but informative Unst Heritage Centre. This is an ideal first stop for anyone visiting the island. Visitors can explore the unique history of Unst through a display of artefacts donated by residents both past and present. The exhibitions depict geology, archeology, crofting and there are unique examples of lacework & knitting.

The displays depict life for a Crofter – farmer.
Sleeping arrangements in the crofters house. Note the expandable cot.
The most exquisite lace work. Done by lamplight.

For a small centre it is well worth the trip. We were there with a group of knitters & weavers from Scandinavia. They were in raptures.

We moved onto the Unst boat haven also in Haroldswick. And a haven it was. A well curated shed of boats outlining herring fishing from its earliest days until the present. Robert the guide on duty was keen to help and walked with us through the centre talking about the boats and the history of the area. He loved Steve’s enthusiasm for boats, so was a great companion.

We heard about herring fishing from its earliest days until the present.

An amazing collection of boats.
Robert explains the flags to Steve.

I was fascinated by the section on the Herring industry. The women played a big part in keeping this going. In the 1800’s there were 3,000 people living in Unst and 28 registered boats. The fishermen were also crofters to supplement their poorly paid jobs. The landowners and boat owners made most of the money .

By the 1970’s the government banned herring fishing as the giant trawlers had depleted stocks so much. Now the main industry is drawn from its 1700 miles of coastline. The seafood industry and oil from the North Sea.

We took refuge from the drizzly rain in Victoria’s tea room in front of Boat Haven. It’s a gift farm shop and cake heaven. People were tucking into soup and sandwiches but as we’d had a big breakfast we enjoyed coffee and a slice of cake. Coffee walnut for Steve and lemon drizzle for me.

https://www.victoriasvintagetearooms.co.uk

We had read about the Norse people arriving in this not too dissimilar country and building longhouses and longboats.

The Scottish humour shines through the drizzle.

We stopped at the Shetlands Gallery. there is quite an arts crafts trail here in the Shetlands and this gallery was airy, calm with beautiful light filled spaces. It is owned by artist Shona Skinner a woman who taught art in London for many years before she and her husband moved here to her homeland and set up a gallery and studio. Shona had her own workroom attached to the gallery which is open and shows her beautiful work with textiles as well as painting.

Don’t miss the red shed. Shetland gallery halfway up Yell island
Shona Skinner’s workshop walk. Paintings , sketches and sewn

I loved Shona’s work. Such beautiful colour combinations that reflect the colours of the island.

A little concertina book of ideas.

We met a young woman from New Zealand at the gallery. She’s a young doctor doing 6 months work at the hospital. She was telling us how much she was enjoying living in Lerwick. That it is a vibrant friendly place. After 6 months spent just out of London she is enjoying this so much more. I think Ísland life gets under the skin.

We now drive through quite heavy rain to catch the larger ferry back to the main island. We queued up in the unbooked lane and very nearly missed out. So my advice is get online and book your ferry crossings. It can be very busy and you might miss out.

We drove down to Lerwick and in light rain drove around the town.

My first impression is of an interesting town set by the sea ( always a winner for me). Lots of boats to look at. Recently they had the Festival of tall ships. It would have been so colourful to be here then.

We found our little apartment in the attic section of a three story house. Yes a few stairs but so worth it. The apartment is terrific. Clean, well organised and just so comfortable.

We ventured out for food to find the wind and rain had cleared to a beautiful night.

Planning tomorrow’s activities kept us busy over dinner and then we watched a little tv !