A beach called Sand

29th June 2023

It was to be another rainless day here on Shetland, bits of cloud around, but generally sunny, the temperature sneaking up above the average for the time of year, which is 15C, to even as warm as 18, though with the ever-present breeze stroke wind, and under cloud, it will feel more like 10. The nights drop down to about 10C also, a bit colder maybe under a clear sky.

It’s my sort of climate. The biting flies are kept away. They are here, I am reassured, but around the inland lochs, and emerge in calm conditions, which of course, are very rare.

One can only wonder how the sheep, in the photo below, got onto this outcrop..

My mission today was to get onto the twin peninsula to the one I had hiked yesterday, on West Burra. It starts with Minn Beach, which extends both sides, to the north and to the south, of the many centuries ago man-made isthmus holding it to the mainland. The consequence is that there is a splendid calm sandy beach on the north side, and a more lively one, for surfers, on the south side.

Over the beach and the path traces the perimeter of the peninsula, gaining height immediately on its north side to 50 metre cliffs, and spectacular views down over the rocky outcrops, stacks and arches, with the many sea birds perched on them, or dive-bombing Roja rather than me.

The north side beach was ideal for a swim on return. A real highlight of the trek.

The Burra (Scalloway) played a significant, if little known, role in the Second World War. The crews of small Norwegian fishing boats braved the North Sea between 1941 and 1945, in darkness, so mainly in the winter months, in order to support the resistance against a brutal Nazi occupation. They took in agents and supplies – weapons, ammunition, radios – and brought out refugees and resistance workers whose cover was in danger of being broken. Though the operation began in Lerwick, it was soon moved to the Burra as it was less of an obvious landing point. Many thanks to Hugh and Pauline for the loan of the book, which I read this morning.

Another reason for the Burra to be known as that it is the setting for most of the filming of the TV series Shetland. There’s even a tourist route on the islands called the Perez Trail. I’ve read a couple of the books, by Ann Cleeves, and seen a couple of the TV series (they are currently filming the eighth series), and they are quite good. The difficulty I have with series like this, is they are done to a certain formula that clearly works for many, but they do become very similar. Not long into it and such little brain activity is required to follow the plot that it’s possible to divert attention to the cell phone, which is what a lot of people like about it.

After a lazy afternoon listening to the Lord’s Test Match I drove a bit further round the west coast and found an old ruined chapel on a deserted beach to park up at. The beach of a hamlet, rather fittingly, called Sand. The odd dog walker came and went in the early evening, and a group of ladies came for a social swim at about 8 pm. They were kitted out with the necessary gear, but with an average age of about 50, one can only respect their endeavour. Not every Thursday evening will be as calm as this one. I wonder what a similarly aged visitor from a city would think. They were in the water for about an hour.