GETTING THERE
On 8 April 1940, on the eve of the invasion of Norway, a pack of German bombers set off to destroy the British Home Fleet based at nearby Scapa Flow in Orkney. It could have been Britain’s Pearl Harbour, but a young man on duty at Sumburgh Radar Station picked up the deadly aircraft, swiftly notified the fleet at Scapa, giving them 25 minutes warning and enabling the Scapa anti-aircraft fire to fight off the
THE overnight ferry from Aberdeen to Lerwick costs from £21.60. northlinkferries. co.uk
Boat trips to Mousa cost £16, from April to September, dependent on the weather. mousa.co.uk
Up Helly Aa next takes place on January 29, 2019. uphellyaa. org
More info at visitscotland. com (left)
attack. The gunfire was apparently heard in Lerwick, 125 miles away.
This small radar station safeguarded countless Allied lives. The radar operator who saved the day, George Clifford Evans, summed it up, “I told my crew that if the station never made any other contribution to the war we had already justified the entire enterprise”.
Not only is Shetland proud of its wartime history, it also revels in older Norse ties, including its ancient Viking heritage. The most celebrated example of this is the Up Helly Aa fire festival, held every January in the depths of winter. ‘Guizers’ parade by torchlight through the streets, led by the celebrated parade leader ‘Guizer Jarl’ in full Viking dress, followed by his ‘Jarl Squad’.
It’s a raucous day of parades and community visits, culminating in the iconic burning of a Viking longship. Each year a ship is lovingly built and decorated over several months, only to be set alight, brightening the Shetland winter in a triumphant fire ball. For those who can’t manage a January visit to Shetland, there’s a mix of Norse sights and sounds to discover all year round. Many sights in Shetland are rich in Norse history and storytelling. One example is Mousa Broch on the small island of Mousa itself, just east of mainland Shetland.
Its name comes from Old Norse Mósey, meaning mossy island, and after a 15-minute boat trip, passengers reach an island renowned for diving gannets and storm petrels. Walk in an anti-clockwise route around the island to discover the Broch (a distinctly Scot- tish building, in the form of a roundhouse or tower).
Mouse Broch features in two historical documents: Egil’s Saga tells the AD900 tale of an eloping couple from Norway, shipwrecked and seeking shelter within the walls of the broch; and the Orkneyinga Saga tells of the abduction of Margaret, the mother of Earl Harold, in AD1153. She was held captive in Mousa Broch, until her son launched an attack to recover her.
As visitors ascend the narrow, dark staircase, clutching torches and watching their step, the Norse tales add atmosphere to any visit.
For a more serene experience drop by the beautiful St Ninian’s Isle. This strip of land is linked to mainland Shetland by a ‘tombolo’: a stretch of perfect, white sand with the tide coming in at both sides. It’s an eye-catching and tranquil spot, but its beauty belies the anxiety faced by the inhabitants and the precautions they took when the Vikings ruled the seas.
In 1958 a Shetland schoolboy found a hoard of Celtic silverware dating from the 700s. It’s thought that these valuable, treasured pieces were buried to protect them from Viking raids, which were once a terrifyingly real threat, so far removed from the restfulness of St Ninian’s today.
Today, Shetland’s Norse past and Scottish present comfortably intermix, its multicultural heritage is celebrated across the islands from Viking legends and uplifting wartime legacy to spiritual folklore, rich wildlife, stunning natural beauty and pagan fire.