Safe Return Doubtful

In July 1881 ten of twenty six haaf fishing boats were lost in a storm just a few miles northwest of Gloup. 58 fishermen lost their lives, all from small communities, with Gloup being hit the heaviest. Haaf fishing already had a name for being dangerous, using just 30 foot long sixareen boats powered only by oars, and this was a hammer blow to the industry. The memorial lists the names of those lost, with a statue above it if a mother, with child in arms, looking out to sea.

Sunday was a better day weather-wise, though the early July days of swimming in the ocean seem distant now. Maximum temperatures are about 15C. The route I put together today descended to Breckon Sands beach, which has decent sized dunes making access a clamber, the first dunes I’ve encountered on Shetland, though, like almost every beach I’ve been on, it was person-less. From there I followed the headland, that forms the peninsula of Gloup Ness, around; tough going with boggy ground after all the rain yesterday, and the various fence crossings. This is the most northerly point of Yell. The ocean side cliffs are much higher, about 50 metres, than those on the eastern edge.

At the few houses that form the hamlet of Gloup, is the fishermen’s memorial. This looked an excellent place to park up for the night, and on return to Breckon, I moved the van. The rain had given way to many flies, though not the biting variety, nonetheless troublesome.

With the tide out in the evening, Roja and I wandered down to Gloup beach.

Unforecast rain came in the form of showers on Monday morning, only after we had started on a hike from the Cicerone book, south on the steep grassy side of Gloup Voe. The Cicerone book has been very good, and is authored by a guy who lived close by when I was in Bampton. But the description of this walk, was all wrong. The distance and the route on the map didn’t match by a long way, something I had spotted last night. The walk was ranked as easy, and described a track that was actually little more than a sheep trod, very narrow, and occasionally extremely exposed on the steep grassy slope (above). At the southern end of the Voe, I binned it, and put it together with a track I’d seen on the Walk Highlands website, and climbed up to Scordaback hill (below). Graham Uney’s hike in the Cicerone book was an out and back hike, following the east side of the Voe northwards for a couple of kilometres. This was fairly evident from the opposite side, if anything narrower and steeper.

My thoughts are that Uney never actually did this walk, his description is so inaccurate. I will contact Cicerone and inform them, perhaps others have as well. It needs to be ranked as ‘hard’, otherwise it will attract walkers with unsuitable footwear and experience.

Despite the rain, up on Scordaback there were great views..

After lunch we drove the twenty minutes to the Unst ferry and made the crossing. Though there is normally plenty of room on these ferries, which depart every half hour, I had booked. This week in the Unst Fest, with the Tall Ships calling in at the end of the week, and other activities, though mainly indoor.

Once on Unst I headed for the castle at Mu Ness. The showers were still frequent, with a strong wind, so I had opted the (very slightly) more sheltered east coast. On arrival I had a chat with the farmer, something that happens quite often. Rather than be offended by my presence, I am always welcomed, and they just want a chat, and let you know how proud they are of where they live. Roja and I walked down to Ham beach, stony, but as it gets more exposed, the stone size is considerably reduced. One day, maybe not soon, it will be sand.

The castle though, which attracted several five minute visits from motorists during the evening, was quite underwhelming, as no access to its interior was possible. It dates to 1573, when Laurence Bruce, half brother of Robert Stewart, Earl of Orkney, built it on being exiled from Orkney after abusing his position after several warnings for petty, though apparently very annoying, offences.