Day 61: Lax Firth, Shetland to Deerness Peninsula, Orkney Mainland

Virtual Walk: Scotland 2021

6th March 2021: 107.81 km walked today taking the total to 6301.39/8868km. 8% of 169 entries submitting 1268.35km.

We complete our tour of Shetland today then take a flight back to Kirkwall, where we continue our journey on the north of Orkney Mainland.

Route 19: Shetland

From Lax Firth we head to Gott on Strand Loch before heading to Veensgarth and then on to another sea loch called Dales Voe.

From the head of Dales Voe, we walk across the moor east to Holmsgarth on the edge of Lerwick. Holmsgarth is only a mile from the centre of Lerwick and is where the ferry terminal for ferries to Aberdeen on the Scottish Mainland and Kirkwall in Orkney is located.

We turn left here to visit the Bod of Gremista where there is the Shetland Textile Museum. It is also the place where Arthur Anderson was born in 1792. In 1808 he joined the Royal Navy before he joined a London partnership running ships to Spain and Portugal which later became the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). He was a philanthropist and although he lived much of his life in London, he didn’t forget Shetland. He launched the first Shetland newspaper, the Shetland Journal, he was an MP for Orkney and Shetland for 5 years, he provided funds to establish the Anderson Institute, now Anderson High School (with the motto “dö weel and persevere”, which was the advice given to him when he joined the Navy) and he also built the Anderson Homes which were intended for the widows of seamen.

Retracing our steps through Homsgarth we head into Lerwick (which means bay of clay). Lerwick is Shetland’s only town and is the capital of Shetland. It started as a Dutch settlement in the 17th Century which was built to service the herring fleets but was demolished by the Scalloway court (the then capital) in 1615 and 1625. It became a thriving fishing port after Fort Charlotte was founded in 1653.

The oil boom in the 1970s brought a surge in development, however, the old town along the front is relatively unchanged. Most of these sandstone buildings date from the 18th century but a few are older. The old town just developed over time, whereas, at Hillhead, Victorian architects designed a new town with Lerwick Town Hall dominating the new villas and parks.

About a third of Shetland’s population lives in Lerwick. Lerwick holds an annual celebration called ‘Up-Helly-Aa’. This is held on the last Tuesday of January and is an adaptation of a Norse feast. A replica of a Viking galley is hauled through the streets, followed by nearly 1000 torch bearing guizers, and then the Viking galley is ceremonially burned.

Walking into Lerwick we reach the Shetland Museum where we can find out more about the history of Shetland. Leaving the museum, we pass the Mareel which is the most northerly music, cinema and creative industries centre in the UK. It is in a fantastic setting on the historic Hay’s Dock quayside and, as well as taking in a performance, we can have a coffee while we enjoy watching the seals and seabirds outside.

Walking further to the south we reach Fort Charlotte. The fort was founded in 1653 and rebuilt in its current form in 1781. It was named after the wife of George III and although originally a fort it has had various uses over the years. From 1837 it was used as the town jail and courthouse and later it was used as a customs house and then a coastguard station. Due to land reclamation and dock redevelopment, the Fort no longer dominates the shoreline as it probably once did.

We then walk to Lerwick Town Hall which was opened in 1883. It was designed by an Inverness architect, Alexander Ross who designed the building in the Flemish Gothic style. However, it isn’t just the building that is impressive. The people who were involved in the project wanted to express the islands’ history in its decoration. They did this by telling Shetland’s story from the 9th to the 13th century in the stained-glass windows, starting with the Vikings and ending with the marriage of James III of Scotland and Margaret of Denmark. As well as other stained-glass windows there are many other kinds of decoration such as heraldic shields fixed to the timber ceiling and carved stone heraldry. It is therefore not surprising that it has a Category A Listing from Historic Environment Scotland.

After leaving the Town Hall we pass the market cross before heading to the harbour. We then leave this to head south along the coast to the Lodberries. The word “lodberry” comes from the Old Norse hlaðberg, which means a place where boats could be brought alongside for loading or unloading. In Lerwick these were a type of 18th-century house built with its foundations in the sea, combining a pier, courtyard, store, and house. The most photographed one is used as Jimmy Perez’s house in the TV series, ‘Shetland’.

From here we head south before finding a path that takes us onto a path that goes round the coast, first past Twageos Point where there is a small lighthouse, then round South Ness to The Knab. From here there is a great view of Bressay and the shipping going into Lerwick which is why there were World War 2 defences built there. For example, below the Knab there is a torpedo tube platform.

Leaving the Knab we walk along a path along the edge of the golf course along the cliffs of Brei Wick. At the Loch of Clickimin, Lerwick’s largest open public space, we visit a 2000-year-old broch, the Clickimin broch, which when it was built was probably 12 -15 metres in height. There are also the remains of a number of different structures dating from around 1000 BC to 500 AD including a Bronze Age house, a defensive wall, and wheelhouses. The loch itself is well known for its wildfowl with different types of duck seen all year round such as Mallard and Teal and then others, which use it as a stopover during their migration, such as Whooper Swans and Tufted Ducks.

Retracing our steps to the roundabout we turn right to head along Sea Road before reaching the Sound of Ness coastal route. We pass Pullers Loch where there are many different species of duck and we might even catch a glimpse of an otter. The Ness also contains the remains of gun emplacements once designed to protect the South entrance to Lerwick Harbour.

After leaving the Sound of Ness we head west along South Road turning left just before reaching the Sandy Loch which provides Lerwick with drinking water. After passing the Loch of Trebister we reach Gulberwick which is on a bay of the Gulber Wick. This village is only 15 minutes from Lerwick, so it has the best of both worlds, rural but with access to employment and leisure facilities.

We now continue south through Quarff to Fladdabister where we turn left passing the Bay of Fladdabister and the Bay of Okraquoy. We nearly reach the A970 before turning left and heading towards Aithsetter. Near Aithsetter there are the remains of a broch, but it is now just a grassy mound with no wall visible at all. We then reach another Aith at the head of another Aith Voe! Aith in Old Norse means ‘isthmus’ which is probably why there is more than one in Shetland - just like there is more than one Tarbert in Scotland which also means ‘isthmus’.

Reaching the A970, we turn south and soon pass Catpund. This is where the largest outcrop of steatite (soapstone) is found in Shetland and the quarries here extended for 1 kilometre, from the hills in the west to the east coast. This stone was used by the Vikings for making cooking pots as well as lamps, plates etc. as it is soft and easy to work with when it is fresh but hardens when placed in a fire. Along the Burn of Catpund, to the west of the road, we will be able to see chisel marks where blocks have been prised off for shaping into bowls. The method used in making these vessels was to carve out the rough shape of the bottom and sides of the vessel as if it were upside down on the rock, then detach this and finish it by shaping its exterior and hollowing out the inside. Steatite was used extensively in the Viking Age and also during early medieval times and products made from it were not only used all over Shetland but were exported to Orkney, Iceland and Scotland which all lacked their own source of steatite.

Heading south we soon reach a junction where we turn left signposted for Sandwick. Sandwick is a parish that includes several distinct settlements, including Leebitten, Swinister and Old Sandwick which are separated by farmland. At Leebitten we board the ferry for the short trip across to Mousa. Mousa (Mossy Island in Old Norse) is an RSPB Nature Reserve which is an important breeding place for storm petrels and also for colonies of seals. It is, however, the home of the Mousa Broch which is the best preserved of all of the Iron Age brochs. It is over 2000 years old and rises to a height of over 13 metres. We can enter through the small doorway through 5-metre-thick walls and explore inside and then climb the staircase between the walls to the top where there is a panoramic view of Mousa Sound.

There was also a broch at Burraland on the opposite shore and, although the purpose of these towers is a mystery, it is likely they were defensive strongholds and these 2 would probably have presented an intimidating presence over the Sound of Mousa. The Burraland Broch is depleted of its stones whereas the Mousa Broch is relatively complete, probably because it was on an island and so wasn’t such an easy source of stones.

In the 19th century, the Broch was used by smugglers as a place to hide their contraband from the Customs Officers in Lerwick. Now the Broch is used as a nesting site for Storm Petrels.

Returning on the ferry to Leebitten we go south along the coastal path to No Ness along the cliffs on the edge of the Mousa Sound. We soon reach the Burraland Broch which lies across from the Mousa Broch. We then retrace our steps before turning left to head to Sandwick before going back to the A970. We then follow this until we reach Northpunds where we head towards Levenwick and turn left to head towards Levenwick beach.

On our return from the beach, we walk through Upperton before we rejoin the A970. We turn left as soon as we can to head towards Clumlie. We pass the remains of the Clumlie broch before passing the Loch of Clumlie. Here there are a series of horizontal mills, also known as Norse mills, along the burn which runs from the loch to the sea. One of these mills has been restored and can be seen to be an upper stone connected to a wooden horizontal paddle which was turned by water. Because of the noise they made, they were often called Click Mills or Clack Mills.

Following the burn to the sea we arrive at very impressive cliffs, but we shouldn’t get too close! From here we will pass the Troswick Stone, a standing stone 2.3 metres tall, before passing a corn drying kiln that looks like a giant beehive almost 3 metres high.

At Dalsetter there are the ruins of yet another broch, the Dunsetter Broch. This broch is not much more than a mound, but it has visible outer defences consisting of 2 ramparts with a wide ditch between. Also, at Dalsetter there are burnt mounds and remains of prehistoric houses as well as remains of an early agricultural field system.

Heading around the head of Boddam Voe we reach the A970, which we cross to head down a minor road to Quendale. We pass the Dunrossness Kirk which was built in 1790 to replace an earlier church. The bell came from Sumburgh Head Lighthouse in 1906 where it had been used as a fog signal. The kirkyard contains a memorial to Betty Mouat who had an unplanned solo trip across the North Sea. She was the only passenger on a fishing smack travelling from Grutness to Lerwick when the Skipper was washed overboard. The 2 remaining crewmen launched a boat to try and rescue him which left Betty on the boat alone. Nine days later she ran aground off the coast of Norway.

Further along the road, we come across another church, the Dunrossness Baptist Church. It was founded by Sinclair Thomson in 1815 but a new church was built here in 1912 by voluntary labour. The minister at the time, William Fotheringham, was the architect. Travelling further down this road through farmland we reach the Quendale Mill. The Quendale Estate dates back to the 16th Century, but it wasn’t until 1770 that the Grierson Family became Lairds. The mill was commissioned in 1876 and grinding began the following year. The mill would take grain from crofters living over a large area then the grinding was mainly done in winter, when there was plenty of water to drive the machinery. The mill has been restored and there is also a cafe and gift shop.

Just beyond the mill is the Bay of Quendale, where there is a lovely sandy beach. Nearby is the buried village of Broo which is now in the process of being excavated. A series of sandstorms from around 1665 buried homes, destroyed the fertile soil, and eventually forced the people living there to flee. It is thought these sandstorms were particularly fierce as they occurred at the time of the ‘little Ice Age’ and caused sand to pile up to heights of 2 metres.

After leaving Quendale, we have to head a further 10 kilometres to Sumburgh Airport for our return to Orkney.

Back on Orcadian soil once more, we leave the airport and head south-east on the A960. We leave the road to pass through the settlement of Toab to reach Tankerness, where jewellery designer, Sheila Fleet, is based. We pop in for refreshments at 'The Kirk Gallery & Cafe’ before returning to Toab along the coast, looking out over Mill Sand on the Deerness Sound en route back to the A960. We follow the road over the isthmus at Sandi Sands onto the Deerness Peninsula. The Deerness Distillery is located in this area, producing the award-winning Sea Glass gin since 2017. Edwin Muir, poet and novelist, was also born on Deerness in 1887.

We walk for 8 kilometres to the peninsula’s northeast, to visit The Gloup and the Brough of Deerness, both situated in the Mull Head Local Nature Reserve, designated in 1993 for its rich geology, wildlife, and history. The peninsula is full of beautiful cliffside walks over heath and moorland; a bird spotters paradise for kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars and skuas.

We reach Skaill on the east coast and follow the coastline north, passing The Gloup for now, to visit the Brough of Deerness. It is located on a large sea stack, so access isn't easy via a steep and slippery, stepped descent down onto a stony beach, before a similar ascent onto the stack with the assistance of a chain handrail! A bridge once spanned the gap hundreds of years ago but is long gone. The bridge served a monastic chapel, built here in the 10th century; from excavation, it appears to have been used until the 16th century. Surrounded by sheer cliffs it also provides us with spectacular views and plenty of seabirds to watch, as mentioned earlier. We bide our time before retracing our steps to view The Gloup, a collapsed sea cave formed by the erosion of the red sandstone on which Orkney stands.

We don’t visit the west coast of the peninsula today, but it is the location of the Covenanter’s Memorial. In December 1679, around 250 Covenanter prisoners were led onto the ship, The Crown of London, in Leith, where they set sail for America to become slaves on English plantations. As they were locked in the hold, when the storm took hold of the ship sheltering in Deer Sound, there was no way to escape. Around 200 Covenanters died that day but around 50 survived thanks to a crewman, who attacked the deck with an axe to free them. Those lost are also buried in the area, at Scarva Taing and Trow’s Kist.