ANN CLEEVES’ SHETLAND FAVOURITES
Favourite hotel
For atmosphere and the look of the place, Busta House, near Brae, is gorgeous. It’s an old laird’s house (it is said to be haunted) and has beautiful gardens leading to the sea. It’s a lovely place and I stay there sometimes. The Scalloway Hotel on the east coast is where the cast of the drama usually stay.
Favourite restaurant
The Scalloway Hotel has the best reputation. The Hay’s Dock café in the Shetland Museum at Lerwick is lovely and uses local produce. The Fjara café bar is a very popular new place attracting good reviews. Shetland doesn’t really have pubs, but it does have bars. The Arts Centre at Mareel is great. The Pier Head restaurant and bar, overlooking the harbour in the village of Voe, is lovely too.
Favourite view
Loads. I was recently at the Westings Inn near Wormadale which has wonderful views over Whiteness. It’s on the west side and you can see the village of Voe, islands, water and more islands. It’s glorious.
Favourite bird
The iconic Shetland bird is the raven. You see them everywhere, including on the galley used in the Up Helly Aa procession. Puffins are tremendous because they’re so comical and they chatter away – it’s like listening to old women gossiping.
Favourite season
Summer, because it is light nearly all night and you can do some fantastic things, such as getting the ferry from Sandwick to the Isle of Mousa, which is uninhabited. It has an almost perfect Iron Age broch (stone tower) at one end. Leave Sandwick at about 11pm, and because it’s midsummer, it’s still light on Mousa. Make your way to the broch and sit and listen to the tiny, bat-like storm petrels that come in to breed in the stone walls. When you get back into Sandwick at about 2am, it’s just starting to get light again. It’s magical.
Ferry or plane to Shetland?
I like the ferry – it’s easy to get the train to Aberdeen and then it’s a short walk to get on the ferry. There is something wonderful about going to sleep in one place and waking up somewhere else.