“We had a day to explore Shetland’s ‘mainland’ before catching an overnight ferry back to the Scottish mainland. It was going to be a busy day!”

— David J Whyte

*Sea Kayaks Shetland offers guided Kayak trips!*

When we first visited in the early 1970s, music was a big deal. It still is, I'm sure! Being budding musicians, we were keen to join in but somehow, we continued as consummers rather than creatives.

FARTY FIDLERS

‘Da Farty Fiddlers’ or ‘The Forty Fiddlers’ as it translates, is a traditional group formed in 1960 upholding Shetland’s fiddling tradition. Fiddle music wasn’t quite our cup of tea at the time but it was part of the local pub scene when a couple of lads in the corner whipped out their instruments and did the ‘Reel Thing’! Pretty good!

Then there was 'Peerie’ Willie Johnson, a legendary guitarist known for his shock of white hair. Peerie (peerie meaning ‘small’ in Shetlandic) started playing the ukelele and later progressed to guitar, playing in the styles of Eddie Lang and Django Reinhardt. This was more interesting to us ‘Soothmoothers’ as we were keen guitar guys, though not nearly as good as Willie, I might add who did a wonderful job of fusing swing and jazz with traditional Shetland reels. Eventually, Willie got a regular gig with Shetland’s main dance band and the rest is folk legend history.

COUNTRY WESTERN

But the most popular music by far at that time was Country Western. Having spent my teenage years in the US, it bewildered me how Country Western could appeal so much in rural communities throughout Scotland. It might have been the influence of ‘Westerns’ on the TV and cinemas. I remember friends of mine playing in pubs down in Ayrshire where the clientelle would show up in full, adult cowboy outfits and see who could ‘draw’ the fastest.

In Lerwick, we drank in bars like The Lounge, The Thule or the Legion to the strains of Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Conway Twitty or Buck Owens. For a bunch of Dundee hippies, it was a bit bizarre. Then there was the Marlex Pub which we also often did get kicked out of!

Here’s another small island coincidence! The guy who drove me to and around the Isle of Whalsay for the Fishermen’s Mission Golf Invitational a few years ago was Douglas, the son of Margaret and Alex (hence ‘The Marlex’), a tea-totaller despite his publican position. He eventually took over his parent’s pub and renamed it ‘The Douglas Arms’. It’s a small island!

SCALLOWAY

Ewan and I were on the move again, trying to make the most of our last day on these islands. There’s a viewpoint on the road from Lerwick to Scalloway overlooking the bay and town towards the Atlantic Ocean.

On the west side of the ‘mainland’, the village of Scalloway was once the capital of these islands, a seafaring port where scallops and whitefish are still landed.

*Da Haaf Restaurant’s seafood chowder is one of the best I’ve ever tasted, simple but supremely satisfying.*

The North Atlantic Fisheries College and its ‘Da Haaf Restaurant’ has, as you might suspect, a great seafood restaurant. We tried to make it for a late lunch but they were finished serving! Disappointed, we gave the ladies a sob story about playing golf too late and lo & behold they produced a seafood chowder which was well worth the pleading. Dinner there is only served on Friday & Saturday evenings but that’s well worth it also.

THE SHETLAND BUS

*Throughout WWII, a fishing boat would regularly cross from Shetland to Norway carrying papers, people, arms, equipment and expertise to sabotage and combat the German invaders.*

Scalloway Museum in the middle of town gives details of the so-called 'Shetland Bus', a World War II clandestine operation that maintained communication with the resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Norway. Scalloway was responsible for organising the ferrying of refugees and the shipment of secret agents or weapons from Shetland to Norway.

The ruins of Scalloway Castle stands on a narrow promontory near the water. The infamous Earl Patrick Stewart was responsible for its construction in 1600 using forced local labour. His and his son's tyrannical behaviour was known throughout Shetland and Orkney until he was executed for his bad behaviour.

SCALLOWAY HOTEL

Scalloway Hotel is probably the best place for fine dining on these islands. The bar area is certainly popular for fish & chips but we were dining in style in the main restaurant.

SUMBURGH HEAD

At the southern tip of Shetland, Sumburgh is the site of the islands’ main airport with regular daily flights from Aberdeen. During the Oil Boom, this was a fairly busy spot.

Sumburgh Head Lighthouse, Visitor Centre and Nature Reserve is a series of attractions wrapped into one. The cliffs surrounding the lighthouse are teeming with birdlife during the summer breeding season and this is where you’ll get those great close-up shots of puffins. You might also catch a glimpse of dolphins, porpoises, Killer and Minke whales from this lofty vantage point.

JARLSHOF

Jarlshof is the primary prehistoric site in Shetland. Bronze Age settlers were the first to built small oval houses here with thick stone walls. The Iron Age people added a broch and a defensive wall. The Picts decorated the place with various works of art in a hippy-like manner and the Vikings no doubt bullied everyone around and added their graffiti and longhouses. Finally The Scots came and built a fortified manor house which is the main edifice you see today surrounded by more ancient stone piles.

ST NINIAN’S ISLE

St Ninian's Isle is a small rocky outcrop connected to the Shetland mainland by the largest tombolo in the UK. You can walk across the 500-metre-long sandy stretch during the summer months when it’s above sea level. During the winter, that’s maybe not such a good idea!

As the name suggests, the island has ecclesiastical connections, as do many in the Northern Isles, Hebrides and Faroes. However, its history is much older than Christianity. Neolithic graves were found within the walls of the 12th-century chapel ruin still seen near the end of the tombolo. Also found in the 1950s was an 8th-century hoard of silver, suspected to have been buried during a Viking raid.

SHETLAND MUSEUM

As our cultural day, as well as the trip, drew to an end there was one, final stop before we queued up for the ferry back to Aberdeen and mainland Scotland. It was the award-winning Shetland Museum and Archives officially opened in 2007 by HM Queen Sonja of Norway and the Duke & Duchess of Rothesay (aka. King Charles & Camilla). It’s a pretty impressive installation taking you back to when Shetland was part of Antarctica.

BACK SOOTH

It was time to head ‘sooth’ and we were first in the queue for the ferry. It wasn’t that we were desperate to get away! We’d simply had enough in a very good way. There’s so much to see and do on these islands, so many different experiences, such a quality of life that is rare to find these days, there comes a point when you realise you have to ‘come back down’ to earth again, the normal world.

On this visit, I went as far as fantasising about living here, that’s how much the place got to me. I’d go to Scalloway for all its fresh, delicious seafood, play my golf at the Dale and take frequent trips out to Whalsay. Or maybe rent a croft near Haroldswick on Unst. I’d then set about reclaiming the Unst Golf Course from the sheep. Then it would once again be the most northerly golf course in Britain.

TRAVEL FACTS

Northlink is the best way to get to Shetland, a superb service all the way so it’s like your holiday begins as soon as you get on board in Aberdeen the night before. For more information visit www.northlinkferries.co.uk or telephone +44 (0)1856 885500

What Else to Do!