AT SEA AND LERWICK, SCOTLAND—Wednesday-Saturday, June 4-7, 2015

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At Sea between Denmark and Scotland--Wednesday, June 4th

Earth, Wind, and Fire: Powering Northern Europe and the World was the topic of Valerie’s lecture today. She spoke on renewable energy like the grid of wind mills seen in several off-shore places we passed. North Sea oil and gas platforms that we might sail past and other sources of energy being used by the Shetland Islands, Iceland, and other “green” countries.

Lerwick, Mainland Island, the Shetland Islands, Scotland--Thursday, June 5^th

The town of Lerwick, sitting on the west coast of the island of Mainland, is the capitol of all of these islands. It dates to the 17^th century and sits on an excellent natural harbor. Once we disembarked, we were handed a brochure with an excellent map of the town with useful information printed on it like what hours and days the museums and libraries are open. The 3D, colorful, aerial map had buildings labeled as well.

The brochure noted that humans have lived on these islands since the Mesolithic period with the earliest written references dating to the Roman times. Then Norway and the Vikings dominated the islands until they became part of Scotland in the 15th century. The Shetlands, after hundreds of years of ownership going back and forth between Norway and Scotland, became part of Great Britain in 1707.

The islands are around 110 miles north of the Scottish mainland and cover an area of 567 square miles. Only 16 of the 100 islands, more or less, are inhabited and have a total population of 23,167. About half of the total residents live in Lerwick, or at least within 10 miles of town.

Fishing is still an important part of the economy, but the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s significantly boosted Shetland incomes and employment. The influx of workers is so much a part of the current life in Lerwick, that no house, B & B, or hotel room is available for rent. The harbor has at least 3 old cruise ships berthed in it being used to house oil rig workers. Railcar-like barracks similar to those seen at construction sites around the world are also stacked by the water.

After exiting the free shuttle bus, we three, (somehow we picked up a “stray” that joined in our wanderings), proceeded to look around the main streets of the town. We crossed through an alley onto Commercial Street and then walked northward browsing in several Charity shops for used books and in one I found and purchased a new porcelain tea mug that had blue tits painted on the sides. We walked as far as the corner of Fort Charlotte that sits on a hill overlooking the harbor. We decided not to climb up and explore it.

The fort was rebuilt in its current form, in 1781, and was named after the wife of George III but has never seen service during hostilities since then. It housed a garrison during the Napoleonic Wars, was a base for the Naval Reserve, and from 1837-75 it was used as the town jail and courthouse. It was later a custom house and coastguard station. With reclamation of land at the foot of the fort, it no longer sits right on the water front.

We continued to window shop as we cut back through another alley to walk south, now on Esplanade Street. Near a corner, we went into a shop that we were told might sell T-shirts, but unfortunately, didn’t. We did see some very nice knit wear that these islands are known for, and purchased a tam of soft multi-hued purple wool as a thank-you gift for our neighbor who is watching the house and watering our plants.

Further along, we stopped to look at and purchased 2 T-shirts for ourselves in a fishing equipment and supply store. Continuing south, we came to a fish and chips shop that was doing a brisk business from our cruise ship. The three of us ordered 2 servings of haddock and the pieces were so large that Valerie, our friend, and I split them—boy does fresh fish taste so much better. No hush puppies, though. We got off our feet a bit sitting in the sun at outside tables to eat our lunch. Cobblestones are HARD on the feet!

When we had finished, the three of us continued along the street toward the extremely nice visitor’s center. There we purchased some souvenir children’s T-shirts and other items. We had noticed a taxi rank nearby and decided we would hire one to take us around the area for an hour. We chose, not the first taxi, but one that was a van, as it is so hard for me to get in a modern sedan type vehicle with their curved backs. The cab driver’s name was David Hepburn with Shetland Cab Hire and he was one of the nicest and most informative taxis we have ever hired to do this type tour. It was very obvious that he was proud and very knowledgeable of his country and wanted to share it with us.

He started his tour by driving along an extremely narrow street that had very old rock houses used for trading that virtually hung out of/in the water and are called Lodberries. He pointed out that the owners each have virtually their own quay/dock and could pull their boats up under the house within to unload them much like we would garage a car. He also pointed out the use of a row boat type boat, flipped over, being used as the roof on a rock shed and also the nearby birthplace of Arthur Anderson, who founded the P&O shipping company.

Mr. Hepburn then drove by the high school and explained the education system here. Next, he drove along the sea wall where there were seals lying about on some rocks. At first the land looked flat, treeless, and very rocky. We were surprised to see some hills in the suburbs of Lerwick to the west. Following the coastline, we pulled into a spot where we could look down on the town of Scalloway below. The tall rock shell of Scalloway Castle, built in 1600, by Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney, could be easily seen as the 2 + story ruins dominate the valley below.

After passing the Castle, we drove into Scalloway, which is the largest settlement on the North Atlantic side of the coast of Mainland Island, with a population less than 800 people. Until 1708, it was the capital of the Shetland Islands. In town, we parked and he told us about the “Shetland Bus.”

During World War II, a Norwegian naval unit nicknamed the "Shetland Bus" was located in Scalloway to conduct operations around the coast of Norway which was then occupied by Germany. About 30 fishing vessels, repainted different colors and slightly modified for each trip, were used. The Bus conducted covert operations, carrying intelligence agents, refugees, instructors for the resistance, and military supplies back and forth to Norway. It made over 200 trips across the sea with Leif Larsen, the most highly decorated allied naval officer of the war, making 52 of them. We taxied to a spot where we could see the building that was used for changing out the boats and then to a memorial commemorating this effort. We were both fascinated by this story, as we had never heard anything about it.

We left the town/village and drove into the countryside with sheep farms on both sides of the narrow one lane road. Here and there we could see a herd of Shetland ponies being raised. Although the Sheltie breed of dog comes from here also, we didn’t see any around.

Mr. Hepburn pulled to a stop near a lake/estuary so that we could view the birds on an island in the middle and he pointed out some of the lovely wild flowers blooming on the side of the road. He had hoped to show us some of the Shetland orchids that grow wild from the ground on a single stock with strap-like leaves similar to an iris or daylily, but it was the wrong time of year for them to bloom.

Our time for this trip sadly came to an end and we were deposited back to the pier and the waiting ship. We really, really enjoyed our visit here and would recommend the place for anyone to stay and tour. Most importantly to us, the people we met with were exceedingly welcoming, friendly and helpful.

At sea between the Shetland Islands and Iceland--Friday and Saturday June 6-7^th

Friday, Valerie lectured on “Selling Cockles and Mussels (and Cod): The Fishing Industry of Iceland” and the rest of the time I spent resting/reading and relaxing while Valerie worked on her last two lectures.

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