I realized I was so tired yesterday, I didn't talk about the Shetland Islands or the town of Lerwick.
Shetland Islands are a subarctic archipelago in the Northern Atlantic, between Great Britain, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost part of the United Kingdom, and lies 1° West of the Prime Meridian.
The islands lie about 50 miles to the northeast of Orkney, 110 miles from mainland Scotland and 140 miles west of Norway. They form part of the border between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. Their total area is 566 square miles, and the population totaled 22,920 in 2019.
There are over 100 islands in the Shetlands, but only 16 are inhabited. Lerwick is the capital and largest city with about 7,000. Over half of the islands population live within 10 miles of Lerwick.
Shetland Islands experience a long cool winter and a short mild summer. The normal temperature range from winter to summer is only 34 degrees average low in January and February to 58 average high in July and August. They experience frequent rain showers but only an average 50 inches of rain annually. It is windy, with at least an almost constant breeze to quite high winds.
It is a beautiful country with verdant green hills, rocky sea cliffs, lots and lots of sheep and almost no trees.
Things don't always go as planned. Last evening we were informed that the ferry to Bressay Island from Lerwick which normally makes passage each way every hour, would not be operating after the 11:00 AM trip to Bressay until the 5:00 PM return to Lerwick. Our plans were to make an earlier crossing and return early afternoon. and have the afternoon free until dinner. Our trip leader quickly made alternate plans for us to have the morning free to explore Lerwick and stay of Bressay Island from 11:00 to 5:00. As it worked out, this was fine.
After breakfast we left the hotel at 9:00 AM and rode to the Knab, a headland south of town. From here we walked back to the ferry for our short 5-7 minute ferry ride to Bressay. Below are a few photos from the walk.
The Bressay Lighthouse, which we later visited.
A novel use for old rain boots.
If you have an extra boat lying around, why not make a garage of it...
After our short ferry ride from Lerwick to Bressay (we didn't even exit the mini-bus), we drove a couple of miles to Garths Croft. As described on his website, Garths Croft Bressay is a sustainable agricultural holding run by professional archaeologist and historian Chris Dyer, focusing on native and traditional breeds, within a landscape of spectacular natural beauty and historical heritage.
Chris met us as we exited the bus and welcomed us with coffee and tea.
Chris is an archaeologists by profession. He came to the island 17 years ago as Amenity Trust archaeologist and never left. Chris still does archaeology work, but raising sheep and building a sustainable croft is his passion. Chris spent almost five hours with us, explaining his craft, answering questions and having lunch. He then took us on a tour of Bressay Island.
Chris raises Shetland Sheep and specializes in breeding for various wool colors. The larger farms specialize in getting white wool which can be dyed any color
He also has a few hogs, which he rotates the pen area to allow them to naturally, turn the ground (as well as fertilize it). I can't remember what kind of hogs these are, but they were a mixture.
The island of Noss, with just a short shallow separation from Bressay Island. Noss in inhabited and is a wildlife preserve.
One of the many broch ( an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure found in Scotland) found in the Shetlands, this one has long collapsed upon itself.
The Bressay Lighthouse was built in 1858 and designed by brothers David and Thomas Stevenson, of the famous Stevenson family of lighthouse engineers. Thomas was the father of the famous author Robert Lewis Stevenson.
The lighthouse is still operational today, having been automated.
Yellow Sea Thrift growing on a wall at the Bressay Lighthouse.
We were back at the ferry at 5:00 PM and back to our hotel by 5:20 PM. Dinner was excellent, the Shetland Hotel may be a little long in the tooth and need some updating, but their food has been the best by far of any hotel we have stayed in this trip.
We are up and off tomorrow at 8:45 for another full day of exploring. We will be changing locations for the next two nights to Brae in the north-west of the island.
Till then...
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