Shetland - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 397

Mid Yell
The island's largest village, MID YELL , has a couple of shops, a pub and a leisure centre
with a good swimming pool. A mile or so to the northwest of the village, on an
exposed hill above the main road, stands the spooky, abandoned Windhouse , dating in
part from the early eighteenth century (its lodge is a camping böd; see below).

Shetland Gallery and Global Yell
Shetland Gallery • Easter-Sept Tues-Sat 11am-5pm, Sun 2-5pm • Free • T 01957 744386, W shetlandgallery.com
Two miles or so before you reach Gutcher, the ferry terminal for Unst, the main
road passes the diminutive Sellafirth Business Park, where you'll find the Shetland
Gallery , Britain's northernmost art gallery, a pleasant, modern space displaying local
artists' works. Across the car park is Global Yell ( W globalyell.org), a Centre for
Creative Industries in Shetland, specifically weaving (and singing); they're extremely
welcoming and you can have a go at a miniature loom, or sign up for one of their
longer courses.

Cullivoe and around
To the north of Gutcher, around CULLIVOE the landscape is relatively gentle, with
attractive coastal scenery. The Sands of Brekken are made from crushed shells, and
are beautifully sheltered in a cove a mile or two north of Cullivoe. A couple of miles
to the west, the road ends at GLOUP , with its secretive, narrow voe. In the nineteenth
century, this was one of the largest haaf-fishing stations in Shetland; a memorial
commemorates the 58 men who were lost when a great storm overwhelmed six of
their sixareens in July 1881.
ARRIVAL AND TOURS

8

YELL

By ferry T 01595 745804, W shetland.gov.uk. Ferries to
Ulsta (Yell) from Toft on the Mainland are very frequent
(every 30min-1hr; 20min), as are ferries from Gutcher
across the Bluemull Sound to Belmont (Unst) and Hamar's
Ness (Fetlar) - and there's free wi-fi at both ferry terminals.
By bus An integrated bus and ferry service from Lerwick
goes all the way to Gutcher (Mon-Sat 1-2 daily; 2hr

10min). On Yell, buses from Ulsta run to Gutcher (Mon-Sat
2-4 daily; 30min).
Guided tours T 01806 577358, W shetlandotters.com.
Local otter-spotter John Campbell takes groups of two or
three in search of otters (£125 a day for a couple) - book
in advance.

ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Pinewood House T 01957 702092, W pinewoodhouse
shetland.co.uk. Great option on the east coast of Yell:
rooms are plain but comfy, and the guest lounge has a real
fire, views over to Fet lar a nd lots of books on the local area.
Full board available. £70
Wind Dog Café T 01957 744321. Quirky café in a prefab
at Gutcher, offering soup, baked tatties and filled bannocks,

and hosting the odd local event throughout the year.
Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 10am-5pm.
Windhouse Lodge camping böd T 01595 694688,
W camping-bods.com. The Windhouse gatehouse, on the
main road near Mid Yell, has a wo od- and peat-fired heater
and hot showers. April-Oct. £10 /person

Fetlar
Fetlar is the most fertile of the North Isles, much of it grassy moorland and lush
green meadows with masses of summer flowers. It's known as “the garden of
Shetland”, though that's pushing it a bit, as it's still a fairly unforgiving, treeless
landscape. Around nine hundred people once lived here and there might well be
more than sixty now were it not for Sir Arthur Nicolson who, in the first half of
the nineteenth century, cleared many of the people at forty days' notice to make
room for sheep. Today Fetlar's population lives on the southern and eastern sides
of the island.