WARNING: No scones feature in this post! However, before you judge us too harshly you should read on to see the extent of our efforts on your behalf. Scone hunting in the northernmost reaches of Scotland is not for the faint hearted!

Actually today started off in a different direction. Our intention was to go to Fair Isle which lies half way between Shetland and Orkney. Yesterday we had gone to Tingwall Airport, just six miles from Lerwick, to book seats but it was shut. No response to us knocking on the door of Terminal 1. There weren’t any other Terminals to choose from and it was Sunday!

This morning we were back again and the nice lady behind the desk looked at her screen only to announce apologetically that there was only one seat left. I said that Pat would sit on my knee, it’s only a 25 minute flight after all, but she just smiled pityingly and shook her head. A scone from Fair Isle would have been great but now we would have to revert to Plan B.  That meant heading in the opposite direction to get as far north as we could. Muckle Flugga lighthouse was our new target. Onwards and northwards!

Dedication

To get there we had to catch a ferry to Yell, drive across Yell then another ferry to Unst. It promised to be a good day, the weather was lovely and we like ferries. From a sconological point of view Unst has the UK’s most northerly tearoom … Victoria’s Vintage Tearoom. Honestly, the things we do for our sconey readers! 

Before long we were at Toft to catch our ferry to Yell. It’s always exciting to arrive somewhere new and waiting for ferries just heightens the anticipation. To add to the anticipation we had been told by a lorry driver that he missed the previous ferry because he hadn’t booked. He wasn’t sure if he would get on the next one either. Argh! We weren’t booked either! Turns out catching ferries is a bit of a lottery if you’re not booked. No problem though, we got on and so did our lorry driver. Fifteen minutes later we were arriving at Ulsta on Yell!

Restoration project

Yell has a population of about 1000 people and has been inhabited since Neolithic times. There are many Pictish brochs. You can also find the ruins of the Windhouse – the most haunted house on Shetland. It was built in 1707 and when it was being renovated 160 years later skeletons were found under the floor. An English couple bought it in 2003 to restore it … no restoration ever took place and it’s back on the market. Anyone interested? Apparently, being this close to Norway, there’s quite a lot of trolls on Yell.

Luftwaffe

Once again the roads were first class and before long we were in Gutcher waiting for the ferry to Belmont on Unst. Gutcher is a tiny settlement but during WWII the Luftwaffe bombed the post office in an attempt to disrupt communications … hard to believe.

Lord Bothwell, Mary Queen of Scot’s third husband, fled to Unst when he was accused of murdering her second husband. Three ships were sent to bring him back but the sea battle that followed resulted in him sailing off to Norway. Obviously, he didn’t need to book a ferry!

Stereotyping?

No time was wasted in making our way to Victoria’s Vintage Tearoom at Haroldswick in the very north of Unst. It was closed! If it wasn’t for bad luck we wouldn’t have no luck at all.

We had an odd experience here. As far as we could make out we were the only people around for miles apart from two Americans working in the garden of the house next door. They were speaking loudly to each other but apart from a curt “it’s closed“, they steadfastly ignored us. That’s in spite of us being just a few feet away in this vast expanse of emptiness. Having become so used to the warmth and friendliness of the Shetlanders we found this a little disconcerting. Before we get into trouble with our American readers let us emphasise that we are not saying this is stereotypical American behaviour. We know the complete opposite to be true … honest!

End of the world

Not to worry, a little further along the road at Hermaness we reached the end of the road and our destination, the Muckle Flugga lighthouse. No ferries, bookable or otherwise, to the island but at least we could see it. To the east lies the Norwegian Sea, to the north the Artic ocean and to the left the Atlantic. Apart from a nature reserve there’s nothing here. It has that Tierra del Fuego “end of the world” feel about it.

Men!

It used to be most northerly inhabited island in the UK until 1995 when the lighthouse was automated. That honour has now passed to Unst. For those interested in geology, Muckle Flugga was formed when two giants fell in love with the same mermaid. They fought over her by throwing large rocks at each other, one of which became Muckle Flugga. To get rid of them, the mermaid offered to marry whichever one would follow her to the North Pole. They both followed her and drowned, as neither could swim. Men??

Sconeless we headed south again and this was when we came on the Final Checkout, the most northerly shop in the UK. Amazingly, at £1.55 a litre it also seemed to have the cheapest diesel in the UK.

No scones so we decided to have a sassermaet (correct spelling) and egg roll.

Sassermeat is a Shetland speciality. It’s like what we would call ‘square’ or ‘Lorne’ sausage but made with their own spices. It had to be sampled. It was excellent but definitely not a scone! The initial appearance of The Final Checkout is deceptive. It’s big and has just about everything you could possibly think of: plumbing, electrical, household, groceries .. it’s all here! When I said to them “if I was to ask you for something you haven’t got, I would be struggling” They simply replied “If we’ve not got it, we’ll get it for you” … simple! We left with a supply of sassermaet to take home as a reminder of a very enjoyable visit.

Honesty

We have been surprised by the number of honesty boxes on Shetland … there’s a lot. A bit further down the road at Baltasound we came across this one.

The honesty boxes usually contain things like eggs, jam, sweets and cakes and have little cash boxes for the money … a problem in our cashless society. This one was in the form of a little house and when we lifted the roof it revealed boxes of eggs and packets of Shetland fudge. We had three one pound coins so the fudge was ours … yeah! It’s rather nice to see these things all over the place and we think it says something about the way of life up here.

To add to the general weirdness, the little traffic island adjacent to the shelter is dedicated to renowned disk jockey, John Peel who died in Peru a few years ago! Why?

Return to Lerwick

On our return journey we took the road down the east coast of Yell. Near Burravoe we discovered Le Petit Cafe – Chez Simone. Unfortunately, only open in the summer but it even has its own Unst Weather Rock … more fun than looking at your phone! Back in Lerwick and dinner in the Dowry. Oh dear we’re getting near the end of our Shetland adventure.

Fingers crossed

Today, Scotland’s new First Minister, Humza Yousaf, was announced following the sudden resignation of Nicola Sturgeon. Hopefully he will accelerate our journey to becoming a self respecting independent country once again!

ZE2 9TW       tel: 01957 711666        Final Checkout FB

///bandstand.pegs.decimals

ps: our Austrian correspondents have sent a photo of a “delicious” scone they had in the cafe of the Tower of London. Last year they travelled all over South Korea but it was sconeless. Okay, we can delete South Korea from our bucket list. Many thanks M&C