Above All Others
The island of Whalsay might be the most northerly and most interesting golf course in the UK but it wasn’t the same without our fishermen friends! The wind was still so strong, we could barely stand let alone play golf! So on we blew!
The ‘peerie’ ferry between Shetland’s mainland and the island of Whalsay.
That day we played hopscotch, catching a ferry back to Shetland’s mainland and then more crossings to the islands of Yell and Unst, the most northerly of Shetland’s 100 isles.
“In spite of Shetland’s reputed barrenness, there is a lot to see...”
BALTASOUND BUS STOP
‘Bobby’s Bus Shelter’ was established by a 7-year-old local lad, Bobby Macauley who wrote to the local newspaper asking for a shelter to be built for kids waiting on the school bus. A shelter promptly appeared along with various domestic items such as a phone (not connected), flowers, a table & chair making the wee shelter all the more ‘homey’. Bobby’s now in his early 30s, a PhD and Research Fellow at the University of the Highlands & Islands.
VIKING INVASION
The ‘Skidbladner’ sailed from Norway to Shetland en route to America. It got as far as Haroldswick on the island of Unst.
A modern-day Viking working on a reconstruction of one of the 60 Viking Longhouses on Sheltand!
As we meandered north, we came across the ‘Skidbladner’, a replica Viking longboat that set sail from Norway in the spring of 2006, crewed by a group of intrepid, modern-day marauders trying to sail all the way to America in the manner of Leif Erikson, allegedly the first European to set foot on that continent.
They got as far as Shetland, decided to call it a day and returned home to their wives and warm Scandinavian bungalows, leaving the ‘Skidbladner’ to the Shetlanders.
A reconstruction of a Viking Longhouse at Haroldswick, Unst.
Shetland was most likely the first footfall for the Vikings in the North Atlantic and there are the remains of at least 60 longhouses on the island of Unst alone, the highest density of rural Viking sites anywhere, including Scandinavia!
SHETLAND SPIRIT
The UK’s most northerly gin still at Shetland Reel’s Saxa Vord Distillery.
THE END OF CIVILISATION
We continued northward, determined to reach the most northerly tip of Great Britain. Saxa Ford pretty much ticks that box. The RAF established a ‘Remote Radar Head’ here and it’s interesting to note it is operational again following its closure in 2006.
The station holds the unofficial British record for wind speed, which in 1992 was recorded at 197 mph (317 km/h) just before the measuring equipment blew away.
There was also once a golf course here which would have been the ultimate most northerly course in the UK but it no longer exists! Perhaps, now that the RAF are back in town, they’ll reclaim it from the sheep.
RESTAURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE
The perfect, simple Scottish breakfast at Saxa Vord Resort. Everything tastes so much better here in the extreme north.
The dinner was even better… combined with some fine Australian red and a whisky or two
The ex-RAF station has since been turned into ‘Saxa Vord Resort, Restaurant & Bar’ and we were delighted to find such comfort so close to the edge of civilisation. The rooms were basic but much to my surprise and delight, the food and service were fabulous. It was one of the best meals I'd had in a while - but perhaps all the fresh air helped.
SHETLAND SPACEPORT
The latest news is Saxa Vord is being turned into a spaceport! It’s all happening here at the ends of the earth! ‘SaxaVord Spaceport’ will be a launch site and ground station for small rockets delivering payloads into low earth orbit. Let’s see if it takes off!
Muckle Flugga is described as the northernmost point of the British Isles. Technically there’s an even smaller skerry a tad further north. The lighthouse was designed by Thomas and David Stevenson in 1854. Thomas was the father of the author, Robert Louis Stevenson who visited Muckle Flugga as a young man and found his inspiration for the map of "Treasure Island".
INSPIRED NATURE
I was lying in my cosy bed the next morning and despite a slight hangover from the bottle of wine and one or two digestifs, (single malt whiskies) I was feeling inspired and oddly full of energy. I couldn’t think why!
It began to dawn on me. It’s this place! Shetland and especially the island of Unst are teeming with light and life. You can spot an otter running along the beach or a dolphin breaching. Gannets and terns swoop through the skies. Sheep and Shetland ponies gambol on the hillsides amidst beautiful Sea Campion and Red Campion wildflowers. This is a place for our planet's more discerning inhabitants. Those of us who walk these roads ‘less travelled’ will be the ones who wake up, possibly with a slight hangover and a smile on our faces!
