We see the headlands of the Shetlands half an hour before we dock at 8:00am in Lerwick, and the scenery is as beautiful as we remember from our 2019 visit here.
An enormous ferry follows us into port and docks across the way. We learn that it makes an 12-13 hour overnight trip connecting the Shetland Islands with the city of Aberdeen on the northwest coast of Scotland – a distance of approximately 200 miles.
Our excursion doesn’t begin until 1:00-pm, so we have breakfast and spend a couple of hours on Horizons on Deck 10. Steve takes photos of boats and scenery through he tinted window there.
Lunch at Waves. Steve is wearing his sweatshirt that says Wallingford CT on it. A couple that is sitting at the table next to ours asks if we have been there. Very excited at the recognition of our town, we answer that we live there! Turns out, their best friends live in town. We don’t catch his name, but he is a retired vet with a practice in North Haven. They are going there soon. Of course, we tell them what a great place Wallingford is.
We walk down to the gangway around 12:50pm and out on to the dock. There is an enormous fishing vessel next to us: the Antares, LK 419.
We walk toward our bus and observe another boat, the Beryl, being unloaded.
We here later that the catch was most likely cod, halibut and/or haddock. A larger blue one is docked there as well and we learn the she would be unloading mackerel and herring. Steve is in heaven and would have liked to spend the next hour watching the process.
We hand our guide our tickets, and see that her name is Anita. The couple we met at lunch said that they had taken our tour earlier that day and mentioned her. They said that they tipped her in US dollars because she had announced that she was heading to New England in October to visit friends and tour New Hampshire and Maine to view the foliage. We were told she is an excellent guide, and we look forward to hearing her.
On our way to our first stop, an outlook where we can view Scalloway. Until we arrive there, Anita gives us dozens of factoids about the Shetlands. Here’s a sampling:
- The capital city of Lerwick has a population of 7-8,000. The Shetland Islands have a total population of 23,000. 17 islands are inhabited.
- The islands have been part of Scotland since 1469. Prior to that, they were part of Scandinavia.
- We are at 60 degrees North latitude and it’s partly sunny and 58 degrees F., but apparently the summer has been cold, an observation that we have heard from all the places we have visited so far. We are beginning to realize just how fortunate we have been with the weather. In fact, it was pouring rain here just a couple of days ago, and now it’s beautiful.
- It does not snow here because of the Gulf Stream. Mainland Scotland will get snow, but not here. The winds are a huge factor in the winter and can reach hurricane force from time to time. Normally the temperature is above freezing, but the wind will drop the wind chill temperature down to 14 degrees F. or more.
- The development of the Shetlands centered around the herring fishing industry.
- Anita mentions an awesome annual festival held here: the Shetland Fire Festival that takes place in January. It sounds like a hoot, a Shetland Islands Mardi Gras, if you will. Here is a brief Wikipedia description: “Up Helly Aa (/ˌʌp hɛli ˈɑː/ UP-hel-ee-AH; literally “Up Holy Day All”) is a type of fire festival held annually from January to March in various communities in Shetland, Scotland, to mark the end of the Yule season. Each festival involves a torchlit procession by squads of costumed participants (known as guizers) that culminates in the burning of an imitation Viking Galley. The largest festival held in Lerwick, Shetland’s capital, involves a procession of up to a thousand ‘guizers’ who march through the streets of Lerwick on the last Tuesday in January.”
- There is much evidence of human settlement as far back as 4000 B.C. There are also several Iron Age ‘brochs’ dating back to 2000 B.C.
- We pass by a Community Hall. There are fifty of these in the various villages. All kinds of community events are held at these halls, and they are an important part of maintaining community life in the villages.
- Anita points to a small building on a hill. As we pass by. This is where an enormous weather balloon is launched each day at noon. Three of these are launched at the same time in Great Britain, including one in Cornwall and another in northern England. They provide daily weather forecasting data for all of Great Britain.
- The current blue and white Shetland flag was adopted in 1969 in a ceremony celebrating the 500th anniversary of independence from Scandinavia.
- Many place names are derived from Old Norse. [More detail from Wikipedia: “Lerwick is a name with roots in Old Norse and its local descendant, Norn, which was spoken in Shetland until the mid-19th century. The name “Lerwick” means bay of clay. The corresponding Norwegian name is Leirvik, leir meaning ‘clay’ and vik meaning ‘bay’ or inlet.’ “
- No point in the Shetlands is more than 3 miles from the sea.
- The economy of the Shetland Islands is based on two industries: North Sea oil and gas extraction (since the 70s) and fishing. In fact, the Shetland Islands fishing industry produces more fish and fish products than all Great Britain and Ireland ports combined.
- 40,000 tons of salmon, for instance, is exported from these islands annually.
- The Vikings used ravens as a navigation aid. They would release them at sea and follow them to the nearest land.
- All the valleys run north to south. This is because, in the last Ice Age, limestone was washed away by watewr when the ice receded, leaving the valleys.
We arrive at our first stop, a spot overlooking Scalloway. This was the first capital of the Shetlands, and the village and harbor are shown below. The offshore islands were inhabited when Scalloway was an important fishing port. In the 19th century, but they have since been abandoned. As can be seen by the sign seen below, the village played an important and very secret role in WWII.
Steve wants to follow up with Anita concerning the derivation of place names. She tells him some very interesting information. The suffix ‘wick,’ as in Lerwick is derived from ‘vick’ referring to Viking. It refers to a bay. Why a bay? Because these were the places in which the Vikings hid before a raid. Sounds plausible to me.
Our next stop is only a few minutes away, and one we have all been looking forward to: a visit with Shetland Ponies. Anita explains that a woman named Carol raises these adorable ponies, and gives introductory talks about them to tour bus guests. She is also a two-time cancer survivor, and donates all donations she receives from us to cancer research.
We arrive at a fenced in area with at least a dozen ponies. Before we do anything also, we make a donation, putting it in a slotted box set up for that – as do many others in our group. Carol welcomes us, and introduces us to all the ponies – by name, age and relationship to any of the other ponies. She follows that up with tons of information about the breed.
One of the most interesting facts we learn is that these ponies were bred to work in the coal mines, hauling wagons full of coal on rails. They were ideal because 1) of their small size, and 2) because of their strength. Carol notes that they appear to have big bellies, but that isn’t fat, it’s muscle. Pound for pound, they are one of the strongest of pony breeds. Obviously, they were thankfully replaced by machinery in the mines, but the breed very successfully survives, especially due to efforts such as Carol’s.
She answers all kinds of questions, and the animals come over and flirt with all of us. They are super friendly, and we are there for twenty-minutes or so. It’s hard to leave. They are so-o-o adorable !
We board again for an extensive ride into the northwestern part of the Shetlands, into the Tingwall Valley and the beautiful, peaceful landscape of Weisdale.
The most consequential development we see is the beginnings of an enormous wind turbine farm. When completed, there will be 103 wind turbines, all generating electric power which will be sent via undersea cable to mainland Scotland.
Although it is located on of the most northerly sections of the main island, it is nonetheless a very controversial issue. These turbines will each be 450-feet high. Not only will they not blend in with the rural character of the area, but will also be accompanied by all the vibration and potential to be what is described in California as Condor-Cuisinarts. And, apparently, not one kilowatt of this power will benefit the Shetlands. Anita explains that the citizens of the Shetlands had no say whatsoever in the matter. The government on the mainland said it was going to be built. Period.
As is common in the rural part of islands in Scotland, the side road we are on is only one lane wide. Passing by the wind turbine construction site, we start down a hill and encounter three of four vehicles, including a small bus, waiting at an intersection. One of the cars comes out and turns left, and two of the others follow, heading straight for us. It’s a standoff – one in which our bus has the right of way. We stop. Slowly, the car drivers figure out that they need to back right back into the road they were on and let us pass if they expect to go anywhere.
Anita comments: “That’s another thing about this project. None of the turbine laborers are from here, and they have no clue about Shetland Island driving etiquette, especially on these one lane roads. They’re terrible drivers.” She says it with a smile, but you can tell that this wind turbine controversy has not gone away.
We now start back south. In a few minutes, we are back on the main road and soon stop at Shetland Jewellery (and yes, that’s how it’s spelled):
This is a true artisan operation where all of the products are made by hand in a very ancient, painstaking way. We all pile into the workshop to have a lovely young lady named Ashley explain the process. In the course of the presentation, one person asks if any of the work is done digitally. Ashley, illustrating the true artisan nature of their work, says “No, we actually are consciously avoiding anything digital. We believe it makes our work more authentic and valuable.
The business has been active since 1953, and moved into this building in the early 70s. It was founded and owned by one person, who has since passed on, but the business is still successful. Before the internet, their market was primarily Great Britain, with some sales in Europe. The internet has been instrumental to their recent success, and they now have worldwide sales. There are now 11 jewelers – craftspeople who complete the many processes needed to create a piece – and, since the retirement after forty years of one man, it is a completely female enterprise.
After the lesson, we all wander into a giftshop loaded with really nice things to buy. Their jewelry, of course, but many other items made in the Shetlands or about the islands. We find one nice item to bring home and head out the door. Steve wanders around to the back to take a couple of photos of the picturesque countryside.
When he comes back to the front, Cathy has made yet another acquaintance – a man from Hawaii, of all places. It’s interesting to hear how many different flights he and his wife had to take to get to Reykjavik, and yet their luggage all arrived with them, which was not the fate of several other passengers who came from much shorter distances.
Back on the bus. Another twenty minutes or so to our last stop overlooking the village of Aith. We snap a few photos as Anita tells us about this area. Turns out that it too was involved in top secret operations to help the Norwegian Resistance in Nazi-occupied Norway during WWII. Shetland Islanders take very justified pride in their countrymen’s efforts during that conflict. It took a lot of courage and was very dangerous work, using small fishing boats to travel the approximately 140 miles between the Shetlands and the coast of Norway.
One last short ride back to Lerwick and our ship. We tip Anita generously for the fabulous job she did acquainting us with her homeland, and to help her finance her trip to New England this fall. She will begin her exploration at friends’ home in Old Lyme, Connecticut!
We board the ship and dump our stuff in the room. Steve wants to get another photo or two of the fishing boats that are docked near Sirena, so he wanders around Deck 9 to do so.
When he returns to the room, it is almost time for sailaway at 5pm. Not content to just watch, Steve takes more photos of Lerwick and one of the picturesque villages as we cruise out of the harbor.
Both of us have really been taken by the Shetland Islands. We are pleased to see how prosperous it is, due both to the enormous fishing industry and the proximity of the North Sea oil and gas deposits. The welcoming and friendly people that live there deserve it, and their good fortune has had the added benefit of preserving a way of life many of us admire.
