Grunay is now uninhabited but was formerly the location of the shore station for the lighthouse keepers who worked in the lighthouse on Bound Skerry. During the Second World War a Canadian bomber crashed on Grunay. A memorial plaque was placed on the island in 1990.
The Out in Out Skerries is derived from the Old Norse for East. This was to distinguish the islands from the Ve (West) Skerries off the west coast of Shetland Mainland. The islands are low lying. The highest point on Bruray is 53 metres above sea level. However they have an excellent natural harbour and fishing has always been an important part of their economy and remains so. There is also a fish farm there and some sheep farming.
The islands are served by a roll-on, roll-off ferry from Vidlin on Shetland Mainland 4 days a week, which takes 90 minutes and from Lerwick 2 days a week, which takes 150 minutes. However it isn't worth taking your car, unless you are disabled, as there is only a mile of road and if you go for the day you will have at least 4 hours there, which is plenty of time to explore the islands.
We travelled from Vidlin, as it was the shorter journey time and I'm glad we did, as it was quite rough on the journey there. There were only 2 other groups of passengers on the ferry but one of them had 2 small children, who were both sick, so the passenger cabin became an unpleasant place to be, which meant we had to stand out on the car deck, which was a bit chilly. However about half way there a rescue helicopter circled round us and then hovered over us. A few minutes later a man appeared on a winch and landed on the car deck of the moving ferry. This was too exciting to miss, so despite getting covered in seawater spray from the downdraft we stayed on deck to watch. The man unclipped himself and then came over and shook all our hands and then went up to the bridge to talk to the crew before being winched off again. The crewman I spoke to said that the rescue helicopters sometimes do this when they are practising but we thought it was great "in-flight entertainment"! The journey back to Vidlin was calmer and the passenger lounge had been cleaned and no longer smelt of vomit.
The islands are popular with visiting yachtsmen and divers. There are many wrecks around the islands, e.g. the Kennermerland, which sank in 1664, the De Liefde in 1711, the Danish warship Wrangels Palais in 1677 and the Nordwind in 1906. The Norwind's cargo of timber was put to good use on a treeless island.
The Shetland Islands Council have produced a series of free leaflets about each of the areas of Mainland and the outlying islands and for each of them they have given a strapline. The one for Out Skerries is The Friendly Islands. However that wasn't really our impression. Admittedly we only met one islander - the man serving in the shop on Bruray. He must have had laryngitis on the day we visited or was participating in a sponsored silence, as he didn't respond to our greeting when we entered the shop and then when we got to the till he remained silent and we had to read the charge off the till. When we got outside my friend noticed that the fudge he had sold her was out of date but strangely enough she didn't want to go back in and point this out to him!
There is no waiting room at the harbour and as it rained for the last hour of our visit, this was a bit of a problem. There are a few outside benches to sit on near the harbour but none under cover. I came back from looking for a geocache near the airport to find my friend standing in the telephone box reading her kindle but as there wasn't room in it for two of us, we went and sat in the ladies toilet, which had a bench in it but no windows but it was better than getting wet. I am sure if the weather had been better we would have enjoyed the islands more. However I shan't be rushing back for another visit.
Out Skerries School - the smallest secondary school in Britain
Skerries Airfield
Rescue helicopter on a practice run - the winchman is about to land on our car deck.
Shop on Bruray
Shops on small islands do not need to advertise their presence! There was a very small sign round the other side, which said Shop.
Shops on small islands do not need to advertise their presence! There was a very small sign round the other side, which said Shop.
Lang Ayre, Bruray
Flat Lamba Stack and Lamba Stack from Bruray
Grunay from Bruray - near the airfield
Filla - Out Skerries ferry
Remains of a fish liver kettle
- used in the past to melt fish livers and to later to prepare cutch bark for coating fishing lines and nets.
Pet monkeys are not welcome, well not if they have come from abroad anyway!
Bridge linking Bruray to Housay
Bruray from Housay
Out Skerries Lighthouse on Bound Skerry
It was completed in 1858 and is 98 feet high. It was machine gunned in February 1941 by the Germans but no one was injured. They bombed it in February 1942 and hit the boatman's house. His mother was badly injured and subsequently died. The lighthouse keeper's houses were also destroyed by the same bomb. The lighthouse was automated in 1972.
Bruray from Housay
It was completed in 1858 and is 98 feet high. It was machine gunned in February 1941 by the Germans but no one was injured. They bombed it in February 1942 and hit the boatman's house. His mother was badly injured and subsequently died. The lighthouse keeper's houses were also destroyed by the same bomb. The lighthouse was automated in 1972.
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