A lifetime of Islands: June 2013

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Island 195 - Ness of Sound, Yell, Shetland

Ness of Sound is a small island linked to the west coast of Yell between Setter and Sound by a substantial tombolo. The highest point on the island is 32 metres above sea level. The island is about 600 metres from north to south by 500 metres from east to west. The tombolo is partly covered in grass, so I doubt whether it gets breached or covered very often by the sea. There is a small lighthouse on the west coast and Robert Irvine's Skerries (rocks) are located off the north west coast. The area to the north of the tombolo is called the North Wick of Sound and the area to the south is called the South Wick of Sound - very logical! When I visited there were about a dozen seals in the sea just off the beach to the south of the tombolo, who kept a close eye on what I was doing.

There is a track that leads down the hill from the main road. However it ends with a gate into someone's yard around their house. It didn't say private no access, so I opened it and walked through and out a gate the other side onto the beach. I thought about knocking on the door to ask if it was permissible to visit Ness of Sound. However I thought that might invite rejection, so went for strolling nonchalantly through but prepared to stop and apologise if challenged. There was a car outside the house but no one was in sight.

Tombolo from Yell
This cottage doesn't look to be inhabited on a full-time basis

Yell from Ness of Sound

Ness of Sound from Yell

Tuesday 25 June 2013

Island 194 - Holm of Copister, Yell, Shetland

Holm of Copister is a small island joined to the south west corner of Yell by a tombolo of pebbles on its north east side. The tombolo is substantial and I would guess it doesn't get breached or covered by high tides very often. Another tombolo links the island to Yell in its north west corner. However this tombolo definitely is covered at high tide. The area between the 2 tombolos is called Tangi Loch. Holm of Copister is grass covered, grazed by sheep and the highest point is between 10 and 20 metres above sea level. The island is about 300 metres from north to south by 250 metres from east to west.

This area is a good place to look for otters. On my way back to the car I passed 3 people - a couple we had previously spoken to on Unst and Fetlar, who were accompanied by a local wildlife expert and they were looking for otters. I felt slightly guilty that I might have disturbed any otters in the vicinity, although I hadn't spotted any. However we met the same couple the following day at Eshaness on Mainland and they said that they had seen 6 otters while out with him. The only animals I saw while on the island were sheep, including a distressed ewe keeping watch over her dead lamb, which was rather sad.

There is a tiny unnamed island located to the south east of Holm of Copister on which the remains of a broch can be seen.

Holm of Copister from Copister, looking across Mussel Loch

Holm of Copister from Yell

Yell from Holm of Copister

Tombolo at north west of the island

Holm of Copister from Yell

Island 193 - Ness of Galtagarth, Yell, Shetland

Ness of Galtagarth is joined to the south coast of Yell at Houlland by a tombolo of stones at its south east end. The tombolo is partly grassed over, so I would guess that it is rarely breached or covered by high tides. The island is low lying, uninhabited and unremarkable. The highest point is only 10 metres above sea level. At the north east end of the island a spit of land reaches out towards the Ness of Galtagarth but doesn't quite reach it. The channel that separates it from the island is called The Vadill. The area between the spit and the tombolo is known as the Loch of Galtagarth. The island is covered in grass and looks like it is sometimes used for grazing, although there was no sign of any sheep when I visited in early May 2013.

It looks like the island was inhabited at one time

Don't bring your dog with you.

Someone had corrected the misspelling of allowed but for some reason hadn't corrected the misspelling of beyond!

Tombolo from Yell

Tombolo from Ness of Galtagarth, looking towards Houlland, Yell

The only take away on the island looks like it closed down some while ago!

Friday 14 June 2013

Island 192 - Fetlar, Shetland

Fetlar is known as the Garden of Shetland, as most of the island is relatively low lying and the soils are well drained and fertile. The name Fetlar comes from Old Norse and probably means fat or prosperous island. However the lack of a safe harbour has prevented the island from developing economically and in recent years the population has decreased to a low point of 48 in 2009. By 2013 this number had risen to around 80. In 1841 the island was home to 761 people.

Fetlar is served by a roll-on, roll-off ferry across the Bluemull Sound from Belmont on Unst and Gutcher on Yell. Until April 2013 the ferry was free for both cars and passengers. The journey time is 25 minutes.

Sometimes I have a feeling that I am going to like a place before I have been there and this was the case with Fetlar, even though we didn't experience the best weather during our day trip from Yell in early May 2013. Although the sun shone intermittently, in between were frequent hail showers and the gale force winds were unrelenting and forced us to cancel our plans to explore parts of the island on foot.

I returned to Feltar for a day in early September 2019. The weather was less wet and windy than on my previous visit and I parked my car at Funzie (pronounced Finnie) and walked down the south east coast of Fetlar to a headland called The Snap. The coastal scenery on the way to The Snap was stunning - dramatic cliffs, stacks and a natural arch.

Tresta Beach

Tresta Beach
There are other sandy beaches on Fetlar, called the Sands of Sand (not a very original name) and the wonderfully titled Sand of Paradise on the north coast near Everland.

Blue Mull Sound is aptly named. The coast of Fetlar near Brough Lodge

Aithbank
This building began as a fishing station and in the 20th century became home to Jamesie Laurenson, a local historian and storyteller. It is now a camping böd.

Wick of Aith, looking south west towards Lamb Hoga

Stacks at Wick of Aith with Lamb Hoga in the background

Stany Holm, Funzie Bay

Muckle Birriers Geo

Furra Stacks, Funzie Ness

Muckle Birriers Geo

Butsa, Funzie Ness

Natural arch near The Snap

Near The Snap

Funzie Bay

Byre Chapel, Society of Our Lady of the Isles (SOLI)

SOLI is the most northerly religious community in the UK. It was founded by Sister Agnes, an Anglican Franciscan, in 1984. This former byre was their original chapel but now they have a purpose built one. I think the byre is still a chapel but there was no welcome or open/closed notice displayed, so we didn't try to look in it. Note - in 2015 the nuns moved to Unst because several of their members were elderly and in need of social care.

Parish Church

Parish Church
The church was built in 1790 on the foundations of a medieval chapel.

Brough Lodge and Folly

Brough Lodge, May 2013

Brough Lodge, September 2019

Brough Lodge was built c1820 for Arthur Nicolson (he became Sir in 1826 when he inherited a title) on the site of an earlier hall. It was built in a Georgian Gothic style but later generations of the family added other styles to it. It had four bedrooms and the outbuildings included a byre, a cart shed and a wash-house. The house fell into a state of disrepair after Sir Arthur's death in 1863 but was repaired by the Nicolsons in the 1890s. It was last lived in by Lady Jean Nicolson in the 1970s.

The folly tower behind the lodge is built on the site of an earlier broch. It was also built for Sir Arthur Nicolson, who used it as an astronomical observatory.

There were plans to renovate Brough Lodge when we visited Fetlar in 2013. The trust responsible for it hoped to turn it into holiday accommodation and a venue for art and environmental courses. However when I returned to Fetlar in 2019 the building was still in the same state of dereliction.

Folly at Brough Lodge

Folly tower at Brough Lodge

Folly Tower at Brough Lodge

Sir Arthur Nicolson also had another folly built at Gruting on the north coast of Fetlar. It is supposed to be haunted by the ghosts of the tenants that Sir Arthur evicted from their land to make way for sheep. He began the clearances in 1822 and by 1858 he had emptied the north and west of the island of crofters. Stone from their houses was used to build his folly.

Funzie Bay
The buildings in the distance were originally a haaf (fishing station). Fish were salted and dried before being exported.

Funzie Bay
Funzie Bay is very interesting geologically, as the conglomerate rock there is very unusual in that the cobbles within it have been stretched and compressed into rods. They are part of the ophiolite sequence of rocks, along with the east coast of Unst.

Fetlar Interpretive Centre, Houbie

This is open from May to September and is well worth a visit. It is also one of the few buildings in which to shelter on a cold, wet or windy day! There are displays about Fetlar's social history, geology, wildlife and archaeology. There is a small admission fee but the lady in charge on the day we visited was most helpful and happy to answer my many questions. They also offer basic refreshments.

Houbie looking toward Lamb Hoga

Leagarth House

Leagarth House was built in 1900 by Sir William Watson Cheyne, a Fetlar born man, who became Joseph Lister's assistant in his work on antiseptic surgery and was also MP for Shetland for a while.

Planticrubs on the road between Aith and Funzie
These can be found all over Shetland. They are small stone inclosures which used to be used to raise young plants, e.g. kale

Geowall at Funzie

Fetlar's only shop
This is also a café, although we visited on a Wednesday in early May 2013 and at that point the café was only open on Fridays. There is no petrol station on the island. On my next visit on a Sunday in September 2019 the shop and café were open and I had enjoyed an excellent piece of flapjack with a cup of tea.

Lamb Hoga

One of the local school children thinks that the Lamb Hoga (pronounced lammerga) peninsula looks like a turtle and I think I am inclined to agree with them. Lamb Hoga is used as a breeding ground by great skuas, so if you visit during the breeding season, be prepared to be dive bombed by them, as they are very territorial. Much rarer storm petrels also breed here.

Birds. The very rare red necked phalarope breeds at the Mires of Funzie and feeds on the Loch of Funzie. We were there too early in the year to see them and in any case it was far to cold to hang around looking for them. Half of Britain's breeding population comes to Fetlar each year. Red throated divers, which are also rare, can also be seen at Funzie. Whimbrels, yet another rare bird also breed on Fetlar. We thought we saw one of these but it may have been a curlew, as they are very similar. Access to the area around Vord Hill in the north of the island is restricted from May to August during the bird breeding season.

Bird hide at Loch of Funzie

Archaeological sites on Fetlar include

The Finnigert Daek - a Bronze Age wall, which stretched across the island from north to south. Parts of it can still be seen on Vord Hill, which is the highest point on the island at 158 metres