A stroll round Lerwick

August 21, 2015 23 Comments

We spent our first few nights on Shetland in Lerwick, its main town. Our hotel (Kveldsro – pronounced Keldro, meaning “evening peace” in Old Norse) was very centrally placed, so let me take you on a clock-wise tour of the town from there.

A shortcut takes us down onto Commercial Street. Turning right, we first pass The Knowe, with an upturned boat for a garage roof, and continue along a coastal path to a rocky out crop known as the Knab.

Garage roof at The Knowe

The Knab

From there, we head towards the edge of town to visit Clickimin Broch. Last time I mentioned a broch (c 2000 year old tower home) I got some questions, so I’ve included the information board for this one.

Clickimin Broch

From Clickimin, we head for Hay’s Dock, site of the Shetland Museum. This has relocated since our last trip to Shetland, and is one of the best museums I have visited for a long time. It also has an excellent café – we enjoyed our meal so much we booked to go back for dinner the following night.

Hay’s Dock

Boat Hall

Heading back into town, I can’t resist visiting the Library. Any library-lovers amongst you can find out more about it and its beautiful banners on my other blog, Adventures of a Retired Librarian, but a couple of photos will do here.

Shetland Library

Banner

Across the road from the library is the Town Hall. Dating from 1883, it has some rather unwelcoming fish at the entrance and some beautiful stained glass inside.

Lerwick Town Hall

Entrance

Stained glass

Heading downhill, we come to Fort Charlotte, built in the 1660s for Charles II.

Below that, we are back on Commercial Street and its associated Lanes. Coffee and Keetchin is a lovely stop for lunch.

Coffee and Keetchin

Commercial Street

Lanes

Tourist Centre

From there, it’s a quick hop down to the harbour. What an assortment of crafts! A Viking boat, static ocean-liners housing the workers at a massive gas plant being built at Sullom Voe, and tourist boats.

Abovewater / Underwater Shetland

Viking boat

Accommodation ships

Shall we take a trip on the Galathea with Underwater Shetland? Why not? Alan and Robbi are fabulous hosts and introduce you to wildlife both above and below the water with their underwater video camera. Here’s Charlie, a veteran seal, and a bonxie (Great Skua) which flies in to take a biscuit from Robbi’s hand.

Charlie

Bonxie

Back on dry land, head along Commercial Street again past the lodberries (jetties) and Bain’s Beach where (allegedly) smugglers’ tunnels run under the street, then return to the Kveldsro.