Shetland - the end is nigh

I'm getting bored with the Shetland posts now - time to move on. We visited a lot more sites over the last 2 days of the trip so here is a whistle stop tour and I promise something different for next week!

Firstly then the Giants Grave and tomb

Nicely weathered pink granite standing stone. Fairly accessible being close to the road but set in a very boggy piece of ground....

This is the burial tomb- now almost completely collapsed and resembling  a pile of tinned pink salmon. ( well it does - sorry)

On now to Esherness. This had some of the most spectacular scenery we saw. Here is just a taste. Worth visiting Shetland just for this. The wind though was incredibly strong and I've never seen water blown back UP a waterfall before.

and a little further inland.

and finally the obligatory broch. Nicely situated this one, right on the banks of a small loch. Unlike many it has a fairly sheltered position, the surrounding undulating headland would deflect much of the wind.

Leaving Northmavine and heading back south we visited Lerwick and Clickimin Broch. Heavily reconstructed it is still a powerful site. However a bit of an anti climax after Mousa!

Lastly a random standing stone - don't ask me where this is. It seems to have lost its tags. If anyone recognises please let me know

Shetland - Furthest North

Strangely appropriate for the 100th post as well.

We'd made a poor choice of accommodation in Unst so up bright and early and eager to be off despite the grim weather ( and trying to forget that we had to spend a second night there!).

The plan was to spend the morning driving around as many old sites as we could and then head to the RSPB bird sanctuary at Hermaness for a spot of puffin spotting. By then we were hoping the weather might have cleared a little.

 First off then was the Stone of Gunnister. A strange flat stone with a series of obviously man made scooped depressions around the edge.

On next to a large standing stone. I don't often include people but this gives a nice idea of size and also just how nasty the weather was!
















We weren't disposed to linger I'm afraid and it was on to the ruins of the broch at Underhoull. After Mousa this was a bit of an anticlimax, being largely ruined but an imposing construction nonetheless.

Underhoull has a wealth of remains and we braved the wind and rain to walk down to the lowest building, a Viking house. This is now down to foundation level but you can see the layout of the rooms and the  entrance to the souterrain. No we didn't attempt to go in. I was in more of  a hurry to return to the car and escape from the wind.

Wonderful views though across the bay and out to sea.



Unable to delay any longer so off to Hermaness and the puffins. It is a long walk from the car park to the cliffs where the birds nest nut the RSPB has boarded 90% of it so it is an easy walk.

And puffins we saw! Not that many but they were remarkably unafraid and came to within a couple of feet of where we were sitting. They are incredibly entertaining to watch.






 The established pairs were engaged in the mating ritual of rubbing beaks and doing their best to ignore the attempted interruptions of single puffins looking for a mate.

I do need to work on my bird photography skills. This was the best shot of the lot and it still isn't good.

Still had a little time to kill before we had to return to our accommodation so we took the car to the furthest point of the island which is accessible by road to see the remains of a wheelhouse.

Wheelhouses are so named for the rooms arranged around a central communal space and seem to be unique to Shetland and the Hebrides. This one is now being lost to the elements. Half of it has gone over the cliff edge already.



If we thought the weather had been bad before, it was nothing compared to this site. The wind was coming straight from the arctic and so strong it was hard to stand against it. The rain was being literally thrown at us. The conditions were so harsh that it was too much even for the local sheep who are extremely hardy and we were greeted by the sad site of a ewe standing guard over the frozen body of her dead lamb.

By now we'd had enough and stopped off at Foords Chocolates  for a hot drink and a piece of cake. Thoroughly recommended. The Belgian chocolate cake was magnificent and a fitting end to the day.

Mousa and its broch

The big question was would the wind drop in time before we had to move to the north of the Islands?  After the high winds of yesterday it was our only chance to make the trip to the island before we had to head north.

An anxious call to the ferryman gave the welcome news that the wind had dropped enough and the sailing was planned unless the wind picked up again. In Shetland this was a distinct possibility so it was with some relief that we boarded the boat and with half a dozen other hardy souls  made the short trip to the island and our objective - the broch.


A broch is a stone building consisting of two concentric circles with a staircase between them. They are believed to have been residential as well as defensive and the one at Mousa is the most completely preserved, still standing to its full height of 44ft.

This is a massive construction in every sense of the word. It is built entirely of drystone, so no mortar at all and is believed to date from 100BCE so some 2100 years old. The state of preservation is astonishing. 

 First things first and it is up the stair we go. Historic Scotland have kindly provided torches for visitors to use and you need them.

Although the stairwell looks well lit here thanks to the camera flash, it was extremely dark with the only light provided by small occasional "windows" into the centre of the structure. If the roof had still been there then there would have been virtually no natural light at all for the original inhabitants.






They must have had very small feet. Each step was only about 3 or 4 inches deep and I wasn't looking forward to coming down them despite the handrail that has been installed.

Looking down from the half way point. All around the perimeter are small rooms/cubby holes.

 Inside one of the cubbyholes.

 These were pitch dark. It was a case of aim the camera in, fire off the flash and then see what you had! I generally try to avoid using flash in my pictures as I get far better results without. Sometime though there is no choice!

The entrance to the staircase and some of the little rooms. This also shows one of the occasional openings to let light into the staircase ( just above the lintel).



Leaving the broch we continued the circumnavigation of the island. The ferry allows a couple of hours before it leaves again for the mainland and the island is an RSPB bird sanctuary. We saw many skuas but sadly it is a little too early for the Storm Petrels who shelter in the external stonework of the broch. A highlight was watching the selkies ( seals)  with their pups on one of the sheltered inlets. Although a favourite haunt of otters too we were not lucky enough to see them.