Lerwick, Shetland Islands

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The sun is shining (doesn’t it always in the U.K?) and there is a large raft of cruisers (big and small) in Lerwick, the capital of the Shetland Islands. Dockage for yachts is at a premium and this time of year rafting is the norm.

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We’ve moved to a floating dock, much more pleasant than the commercial pier to which we were previously affixed.

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This is Lesley, one of the many friendly Shetlanders we’ve been meeting. They all have a smile and pleasant greeting when passing on the street, or a driver to driver wave. And they do make their visitors welcome.

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Lesley took us for a drive around the local island. High on our priority list was a photo of a real Shetland pony, to go with the polar bear photos from earlier this summer. Just to prove these are real, not mythical, Linda is feeding mom here.

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The landscape is lovely to contemplate on a sunny, windless day.

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There are the requisite ruined castles. The original owner of this edifice lost his head over some political issues.

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Peat is still cut from the bogs and used for heating by some of the locals. It is first stacked on end, and then turned horizontal for drying.

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With decent light a photographer could have a jolly time here.

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One of the problems that all small communities have is keeping the younger generations interested in the enchantment of scenes like this. The adventure of the big city is always a lure, and sometimes the youngsters need to go off island to gain an appreciation of what they have at home.

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The waterfront of Lerwick has a number of these stone buildings, now homes. We are told that prior occupants were smugglers, evading the King’s taxman.

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There are new developments, of course, but we like these older areas.

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A Scottish, or perhaps we should say Shetland thistle.

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We’ll close with a series of interesting signs.

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Posted by Steve Dashew  (July 29, 2009)




2 Responses to “Lerwick, Shetland Islands”

  1. siri Says:

    beautiful land that


  2. Jessy Says:

    Preciosa localidad nordica. espero algun dia visitarla asi como Faroes, Iceland,Aland.

    pequeños lugares de Dios.