i was lucky enough to meet John Morrison in Lerwick, who showed me the barrels, and read in Shetlands Dialect, the Poym for Da Gutters
cycling from lerwick (mainland ) to Skaw beach (unst) to Hermeness Nature reserve, and exploring the incredible history of Baltasound the fishing port that was, During the Herring Boom of early 20th century, the temporary home to 10,000 workers, including 6000 women Herring Workers. today unst has 600 residents.
huge props to the Unst Boat Haven and its committed and knowlegable volunteers, and Unst Heritage Centre. massive thanks to Lee and Jimmy at Jamieson Buses who totally sorted us out when I damaged my hand and needed to get back to the mainland. Duncan, who took our bikes (tina and harriet muckleflugga) in his workvan and left them safely in a bus stop on Shetland. Jimmy, telling me a bit about Baltasound, Unst, which at the height of the Herring Boom had 10,000 workers descend on it. today it has a population of around 600.
Day 1: Arrive in Lerwick, we cycle 115kms north, getting Ferry to Yell, cycle, Ferry to Unst, Cycle and arrive at the top of NC1, Skaw Beach. the UK's most northernly beach. We had a tail wind for our cycle north which propelled us up the 1360metres of ascent in these beautiful far flung isles. We met very few people so far, i am gagging to ask some people bout Herring. We got caught out with no shops open on Unst, and had to dine on what we had on us : cron nuts, rivita, tomatoes and peanut butter. Good lessons for day 1!
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