The Islands - Shetland

Sometimes called "The Shetland Islands" (but never "the Shetlands", please), Shetland is an archipelago of more than 100 islands, 16 of which are inhabited. Shetland is located about 50 miles to the northeast of Orkney, 110 miles from mainland Scotland and 140 miles west of Norway. A pair of overnight ferries serve Shetland from Aberdeen (some of which stop off at Orkney on the way) and there is airline service to Sumburgh Airport from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Kirkwall, at least.

The main island in the archipelago is called Mainland, home of the largest community and capitol, Lerwick.

To keep each page to a reasonable size, my Shetland pictures are divided up into five pages, indicated by color on the map to the right. These pages are:

Lerwick and vicinity - which is this page.
Northwest Mainland - Eshaness, Heylor and Muckle Roe
The Northern Islands - Yell and Unst
Mid-West Mainland - Scalloway, Burra and the Walls area
Southern Mainland - Sumburgh, Jarlshof and St. Ninian's Isle (and puffins)
Bressay - the island to the east of Lerwick

YouTube Playlist with videos about Shetland

Panoramic view of Victoria Pier
Hay's Dock	A sailboat passes Lerwick on Bressay Sound, the island of Bressay in the background.
The Norway to Shetland sailboat race occurs in June each year. When we were in Lerwick the harbour was filled with sailing vessels of all sizes and nationalities who were taking part in the race.	The Shetland Museum and Archives has a large and interesting collection related to the Shetland Islands
Lerwick's Waterfront
Bain's Beach The Viking longboat is the Dim Riv, a replica built in 1980	Twageo Road in Lerwick
The Lodberries in Lerwick were originally merchants' houses. By building out into the harbour, the merchants could offload their products directly into their homes. This particular Lodberry is perhaps best known as the home of DCI Jimmy Perez in Anne Cleeves' detective books and the TV series Shetland.
The Lodberries and Bain's Beach, viewed from Bressay	Clickimin Broch
Commercial Street is the main shopping street in Lerwick The Market Cross is a landmark on Commercial Street, where Mounthooly Street leads down to the waterfront.
Commercial Street	Come on... you know you want some...
Many small "lanes" (alleys or stairways, really) lead off of Commercial Street	Island Larder on Commercial Street - good coffee and ice cream, along with all sorts of other food products and souvenirs
	"Formerly" refers to a renaming and modernization scheme undertaken in 1845. Lerwick people must have long memories.
	We were in Lerwick at the longest day of the year, June 21st. During that time it never really gets dark. Sunset leads to twilight, which then leads to sunrise. The period between sunset and sunrise is called the "Simmer Dim".
The Cabin Museum The Cabin Museum in Vidlin, north of Lerwick, is a fascinating little museum based on the personal collection of the late Andy Robertson. A WWII vet, he started out by collecting regimental badges. By 1978 his collection had branched out into all sorts of militaria related to Shetland's contribution to the World Wars, as well as various other artifacts and assorted stuff, and he opened up the Cabin Museum to let the public see his collection. The museum outgrew its original home, and several additions, and eventually a purpose-built building was erected to house the collection. Andy passed away some years ago, but his museum lives on, manned by volunteers. The parallels between the Cabin Museum and the Homeville Museum in Cortland, NY, where I volunteer, are striking. Both were founded by WWII vets based on their own personal collections, both specialize in military artifacts and local history, both outgrew their original homes into larger museums now manned by volunteers, both founders died around the same time - and both were addicted to DYMO labels. I felt right at home.

The Islands - Shetland

The Cabin Museum