Island 190 - St Ninian's Isle, Shetland

St Ninian's Isle is connected to the west coast of Shetland Mainland at the village of Bigton by a 500 metre long tombolo of pale yellow shell sand.  The tombolo only gets covered at high spring tides and during storms.  It is apparently the largest active tombolo in the UK and it certainly one of the most beautiful.  The tombolo is formed by waves from the Atlantic Ocean to the west bending round the island on either side and meeting on the east side.  These waves deposit sand in the meeting zone.

The remains of a chapel can be seen near the west coast of the island.  The site was excavated in the late 1950s and in 2000/2001.  In 1958 28 Pictish silver and silver-gilt objects and the jaw bone of a porpoise were discovered buried in a wooden box under a cross-marked slab close to the altar by a local schoolboy called Douglas Coutts.  The treasure is now in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh but replicas can be seen in the excellent Shetland Museum in Lerwick.  The treasure may have been buried in the chapel as early as the late 8th or early 9th centuries or possibly several centuries later.  Archaeological remains on St Ninian's Isle date back to the Iron Age.

St Ninian's Isle was inhabited until 1775 but is now only used to graze sheep.  It is also home to many rabbits.  Fulmars, puffins, black guillemots and cormorants breed on Hich Holm, a small rocky island off the west coast of St Ninian's Isle.  The rare bulbous buttercup can be found on St Ninian's Isle.

 St Ninian's Isle from Bigton

 Mainland from St Ninian's Isle

 Ruined Chapel on St Ninian's Isle

St Ninian's Isle - looking south towards Colsay and Fora Ness

 South east coast of St Ninian's Isle

 Shetland Mainland from St Ninian's Isle

St Ninian's Isle from Scousburgh Hill

St Ninian's Isle from Bigton

Chapel on St Ninian's Isle

St Ninian's Isle from Bigton

Tombolo from St Ninian's Isle

South east coast of St Ninian's Isle

Looking north up the east coast of St Ninian's Isle towards the tombolo

Looking south towards Inns Holm

Inns Holm from the south coast of St Ninian's Isle

Eroding cliffs on the south coast of St Ninian's Isle

High Herbi Clett, south coast of St Ninian's Isle

Inns Holm from St Ninian's Isle

High Herbi Clett from St Ninian's Isle

Stacks off the south coast of St Ninian's Isle

Looking south from St Ninian's Isle towards Colsay

St Ninian's Well

Tombolo from St Ninian's Isle

Island 189 - Bridge End Island, Burra, Shetland

I'm not sure if Bridge End Island is the official name of this small island, which lies between East and West Burra and is connected to both by bridges.  It is not named on the 1:25,000 scale map but is home to an Outdoor Centre, a car/motorhome parking area and a small marina.  The Outdoor Centre offers self-catering accommodation for organised groups of between 6 & 26 people.

 West Burra from Bridge End

 Outdoor Centre

Bridge End Island from East Burra

 Causeway to Bridge End Island and West Burra from East Burra

Outdoor Centre

 

Outdoor Centre

Island 188 - Houss Ness, East Burra, Shetland

Houss Ness is joined to East Burra by a short tombolo called the Ayre Dyke.  It is currently uninhabited and is grazed by sheep.  It is just over 2km from north to south but only 500 metres wide.  The highest point on the island is the Ward of Symbister, which is 62 metres above sea level.  There was once a village at Symbister, which is about halfway down the west coast.

There is room for a couple of cars to park at the end of the road at Houss on East Burra.  From there it is only a couple of hundred metres down a grassy path to the Ayre Dyke.

 Ruined building at the north end of the island looking south west towards West Burra

 Ayre Dyke
 

 Looking north towards the Ayre Dyke and East Burra

 Looking south east towards the deserted village of Symbister

Looking north towards the Ayre Dyke and East Burra

Island 187 - Kettla Ness, West Burra, Shetland

Kettla Ness is joined to West Burra by a shingle tombolo to the south of the end of the road at Duncansclett.  The tombolo has been strengthened in places by metal gabions, presumably to stop the sea from breaching it in storm conditions.  The island is currently uninhabited but is grazed by sheep.

The beach on the north side of the tombolo (Banna Minn) is mainly silver sand but the beach on the southern side (West Voe) is comprised of pebbles.

The highest point on the island is The Ward at 58 metres above sea level.  There are 4 small lochs on the island - Virda Vatn, Loch of Annyeruss , Outra Loch and Croo Loch.  The stream running out of the southern end of Outra Loch has the remains of some old mills along it.

Banna Minn

This is the only house, which looks inhabitable.

Timber is in short supply on treeless islands, so old boats are quite often recycled into shed roofs.
 

Geo at the north end of the island

 

West coast

Banna Minn from Kettla Ness

Ruined village or farmstead

Kettla Ness from West Burra

 West Voe, looking towards Kettla Ness

Banna Minn, looking towards West Burra

 

Kettla Ness looking across Banna Minn

 

Memorial to Norwegian Axel Eliezer Nielsen on the tombolo

Mr Nielsen was a ship's carpenter.  He drowned in 1903 when the ship he was on (the barque Louise) capsized off South Havra.

 

Small house on Kettla Ness

 

Kettla Ness Tombolo looking towards West Burra

 

Island 186 - Gluss Isle, Shetland

Gluss Isle is linked to Shetland Mainland by a 300 metres long stony tombolo known as the Gluss Ayre.  It lies a mile to the south east of the delightful village of Ollaberry.  The island is 2km from north to south by 1.5 km from east to west.  The highest point is Ramna Hill at 62m.  There are good views of the Sullom Voe Oil Terminal from the island.  There is a track up as far as the leading navigation light for Sullom Voe maritime traffic at the south end of the island.  I walked as far as this but it looked like it was about to start hailing again, so I beat a hasty retreat.  There is another light at the north end of the island

The tombolo looks like it is only covered at very high spring tides or during storms.  However the track leading to the tombolo from the end of the tarmac road at the house called Ramah is covered at high tide.

 Gluss Isle from Shetland Mainland

 Shetland Mainland from Gluss Isle
 

Leading Light at the south end of the island.

View towards Sullom Voe Oil Terminal from Gluss Isle:
 tanker and tug passing by.

Island 185 - Fora Ness, Shetland

Fora Ness is joined to Shetland Mainland by a 300 metre long gravel tombolo known as the South Ayre.  There are 2 other shingle barriers, which extend out from Mainland towards the island but neither of them quite reaches it.  The North Ayre is an example of a mid bay barrier and an unnamed bay-head barrier is located adjacent to the north east side of the South Ayre.   The North Ayre is separated from Fora Ness by a 40 metre channel, which connects The Houb to Swinister Voe.  The North Ayre is relatively stable and is covered with a grassy turf mat and a derelict croft house is located on it.

The area between the North and South Ayres is known as The Houb and it contains submerged peat deposits and in situ tree stumps, which have been dated as being c4600 years old.  They were submerged as a result of rising sea levels at the end of the last ice age.

The Ayres of Swinister are a rare example of a triple gravel tombolo-barrier complex, where a tombolo, bay-head barrier and mid bay barrier are located in close proximity.

The island of Fora Ness, which is 1 mile long by just under a mile wide,  is covered with grass and heather moorland.  The highest point is 100 metres above sea level.  I didn't explore it very thoroughly, as its was cold and windy with intermittent horizontal hail showers on the day I visited.

 North Ayre from Mainland

 South Ayre looking towards Fora Ness

 South Ayre looking towards Fora Ness

 South Ayre from Fora Ness

 North Ayre from Fora Ness

 

South Ayre from Mainland

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.

 Little Holm from Catfirth 

 Gravel tombolo approaching Little Holm

 Catfirth from Little Holm

 Unidentified ruin on Little Holm

 Another unidentified ruin on Little Holm

North coast of Little Holm

Catfirth from Little Holm

Little Holm

Looking down Loura Voe towards Little Holm

Little Holm from Catfirth

Shetland Islands

I have just returned from 2 weeks on the Shetland Islands.  We experienced all types of weather from snow and horizontal hail through to bright sunshine and fog.  Wind was a feature on most days and on one or 2 days it was gale force and you had to hang on to the car doors when opening or closing them to prevent damage to their hinges.

I visited 30 islands in all, of which 23 were new to me.  In some cases I wasn't previously aware of the existence of some of the small tidal islands but came across them by chance on our travels around the islands.    The roads on Shetland are almost without exception excellent and virtually pothole free - unlike most places on mainland Britain.  We met lots of friendly Shetland residents and highly recommend the Isleburgh House Youth Hostel in Lerwick for cheap but comfortable and well equipped accommodation, a warm welcome in a quiet location but one which is within a few minutes walk of Lerwick town centre.

The Shetland Islands Council have produced a comprehensive series of leaflets on different topics and on each island or area of Shetland Mainland, which we found invaluable.  They include historical information and also list places to visit, shop and eat.  However quite a lot of the cafés have closed down since the leaflets were printed and on several days we were unable to find anywhere to sell us a cup of tea or coffee and a slice cake.  This was good for the waistline but not great if you are a hungry or thirsty visitor.  In comparison to Orkney or the Hebrides there was definitely less of an emphasis on tourism, although there are plenty of information/interpretation boards around the island.  The tourist season seems to start officially at the beginning of May, so several heritage centres were not open at the start of our visit.  However museum fatigue sets in after a while and there are more than enough museums from which to choose.  The Shetland Museum in Lerwick is open all year, it is free and is well worth a visit.