VisitShetland

North Unst

North Unst

The village of Haroldswick, a couple of miles north of Baltasound, is home to the Unst Boat Haven - a unique collection of traditional Shetland fishing craft - and the fascinating Unst Heritage Centre, where the permanent displays include geology, geneaology and the island's famous fine lace knitting and spinning.

Both centres are open daily, 2.00pm to 5.00pm, May to September.

Next door to the boat haven, the Haroldswick shop has a do-it-yourself cafe with table-top maps of Unst - a good place to watch seals, particularly at low tide. On the eastern side of the village, Britain's only working talc mine is at Clibberswick, known also for its Viking soapstone quarry.

Muckle Flugga Lighthouse

North-east of Haroldswick, a single-track road leads to the beach and dunes of Norwick and on to Britain's northerly house, at Skaw. On the nearby headland of Lamba Ness are the ruins of a wartime radar station.

Saxa Vord looks out over the fjord of Burrafirth, the stacks of Muckle Flugga Lighthouse and the Out Stack - the full stop at the end of Britain.

The side road from Haroldswick to Burrafirth opens a panorama of dramatic cliffs, the wide, sandy links at the head of the inlet, and the dark waters of the Loch of Cliff.

Scottish Natural Heritages warden for the Hermaness National Nature Reserve is based in a former lightkeeper's house on The Ness, at the end of the Burrafirth road.

The world-famous reserve covers the Muckle Flugga rocks and Out Stack as well as the seabird cliffs and moorland of Hermaness. It is home to over 250,000 seabirds in the breeding season, including Gannets, Puffins, Guillemots and Great Skuas. For more information about tours visit Shetland Nature Cruises.

*The cliffs are extremely dangerous, particularly in wet weather. Please take special care.

The view of Muckle Flugga and the northern ocean from Hermaness is breathtaking. The lighthouse, now unmanned and remotely-controlled, was built by Robert Louis Stevenson's father, Thomas, in 1857-8. The map in Treasure Island closely resembles a map of Unst which the writer saw on his visit to the island in 1869.

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