A lifetime of Islands: Island 20

Yell is the second largest of the Shetland Islands. The terrain is mainly peat moorland but round the coast the land is better drained and that is where almost all the inhabitants live. The main road across the island from Ulsta in the south west to the Unst ferry at Gutcher on the east coast doesn't give the best impression of the island, as it crosses the peat moorland. It is well worth taking the time to drive down one of the side roads and explore the coast and beaches.

Yell is almost cut in two by two voes - Whalefirth and Mid Yell. The population in 2013 was about 1,000. Access is by roll-on, roll-off ferry from Toft on Shetland Mainland to Ulsta, a journey time of 20 minutes.

My main memory of the island from our 1978 visit is of us stopping for lunch and my brother investigating a ruined croft and finding the 3 foot long remains of a wooden model Shetland fishing boat, which he wanted to take home. To my amazement my mother let him and we had to sit in the back seat with this dusty model all the way back to Essex! It did take him years but my brother did eventually restore the boat - North Star - LK6.

My next visit was 35 years later in 2013 when I spent 3 nights staying at the excellent Pinewood Guesthouse at Aywick on the east coast.

Yell is apparently one of the best places in Europe to see otters, so I was quite optimistic but had to wait until the last 5 minutes of our 3 day visit to see one - while waiting for the ferry at Ulsta. This was my first ever otter sighting, so I was extremely pleased to see one at long last.

My 3rd visit to Yell was in June 2017 when I spent two separate days on Yell with a day on Unst in between. A friend of mine lives on Yell, so I spent 2 days with her and her family and one night staying with them. The first day was cloudy with a few sunny intervals and we walked out to the headland of Gloup Ness from the hamlet of Gloup. On the way we met 3 friendly Shetland ponies and visited the coastguard hut.

We then drove to Breckon and walked across the beautiful Sands of Breckon out onto the Ness of Houlland to visit the tidal island of Mid Ness. Sadly the second day I spent on Yell was one of almost endless cold rain, so we visited the Old Haa Museum at Burravoe and then spent the rest of the day playing games at my friend's house.

My 4th visit to Yell was at the end of August 2019 and once again it poured with rain for a whole day. I stayed 3 nights with my friend to also visit Unst and Feltar for the day and the following days were much drier.

One evening we walked from North Sandwick to Burra Ness. This is an easy walk of 1.5 miles each way. There is no path as such but the grass is grazed by sheep and therefore short and the walk isn't particularly boggy by Shetland standards. There is a stream to cross at the beach at Sandwick but I managed it in walking boots. There are two lovely beaches on the way to Burra Ness - Sandwick and a larger unnamed one - some ruined houses and the possibility of spotting an otter (we didn't see one but we did see otter prints in the sand). At Burra Ness there are several old boat noosts, a well preserved broch and the ruins of an extensive Shetland pony pund.

Sands of Breckon

Cullivoe on the NE coast of Yell
If I lived on Yell, I think this is the location I would choose to live at.

Gloup - north coast of Yell

Gossabrough, east coast of Yell

The remains of a broch are located nearby. There is also a well preserved broch at Burra Ness to the south of Gutcher and an iron age fort at Burgi Geos.

Gutcher, Yell
The roll-on, roll-off ferry to Belmont on Unst and Hamarsness on Fetlar departs from here.

Hamnavoe Church, south coast of Yell

Mid Yell

Mid Yell is the main settlement on the island. The junior high school, shop, medical centre and leisure centre are located here. There is also a pub but when we were there in 2013 it looked like it was closing down. They were still open for drinks in the evenings but did not serve food, which was a problem, as there were no other venues serving food in the evening that we found. The Wind Dog Café at Gutcher had also closed down. We ended up buying pasties in the shop, heating them up in their microwave and eating them in the car - a cheap way to eat but not very healthy! There are also shops in Ulsta, Cullivoe, Burravoe and Aywick. The shop at Aywick is a veritable Aladdin's Cave and is like a tardis, with many rooms within rooms and it sells everything and anything. I bought a new stripy scarf, which came in handy for the rest of the holiday, as the cold was unrelenting.

Ulsta Ferry Terminal

West Sandwick Beach
One of the best beaches on Yell. The others are Breckon, Vatsetter and Gossabrough.

Gloup Memorial

This memorial to 58 fishermen who drowned on 21st July 1881 is located at the northern end of Yell. Gloup was the site of one of the most important haafs (fishing stations) in Shetland. Open boats known as sixareens and crewed by 7 men who rowed them 30-40 miles away from Shetland to the best fishing grounds.

Sheep at Gloup
Where ever we went in Shetland the sheep were unusually bold and curious and often it seemed like they wanted to have their photos taken.

Bobby Tulloch's Memorial outside the Old Haa at Burravoe

The Old Haa is a museum of local history. Most importantly it has the only café on Yell that was open when we visited in 2013. They only serve drinks and cakes but eating cake for elevenses and again for lunch wasn't a great problem to us! The cakes were excellent and very reasonably priced. There is also a small craft shop and a walled garden. The Old Haa was built in 1672 and was opened as a museum in 1984. Bobby Tulloch was a local naturalist.

St Colman's Episcopal Church is located at Burravoe and is worth a visit.

On 19 January 1942, a Catalina aircraft crashed on the hill at Arisdale. Seven of her crew of ten were killed, and one of the propellers can be seen outside the Old Haa Museum. There is also a memorial at the crash site in Arisdale but it is situated over 3 miles from the end of the public road.

The White Wife, Otterswick

This is the figurehead from the Bohus, a German ship, which was wrecked nearby in 1924. 4 people were killed but the rest of the crew were rescued. It is located about 5 minutes walk from the nearest parking space. Sadly no otters were to be seen at Otterswick.