A lifetime of Islands: Island 184 - Little Holm, Catfirth, Shetland Mainland

Little Holm is an unremarkable tidal island located about 200 metres to the south west of the shore at Catfirth on the east side of Mainland. It is accessed via a gravel causeway at low tide. I wasn't sure for how long after each low tide it is accessible, so nearly left it for another day, as the Northlink ferry with me on it arrived in Lerwick 15 minutes after the time of low tide. My car was parked in the basement of the ferry and was the last car off it but it only took about 20 minutes to drive to Catfirth from Lerwick and the causeway was still very wide when I reached it an hour after low tide. It didn't look like it would get covered for a least another hour.

Little Holm is flat and grass covered and is about 500 metres from north to south by 250 metres east to west. There were a few seabirds around when I visited in late April, including oystercatchers, which seem to be everywhere you look in Shetland. However I gather from someone who visited later in the summer the island is a nesting place for terns.

There was a seaplane base at Catfirth from 1918 and the remains can be seen as you walk down the track towards Little Holm.