8 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORERNOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016
I
fancied I needed a haircut. I only had a few hours
in Lerwick, the wind was ‘fresh’ and my mop wasscattering indiscriminately. en I saw it; ‘Britain’s
most northerly barber shop’. It seemed like an invita-
tion I couldn’t pass up.
Everything about Shetland’s capital is northerly, its
being over 100 miles from the coast of mainland
Scotland. For somewhere supposedly so remote, it is
surprisingly busy, a bustling, cosmopolitan seaport.
Here is Shetland’s industrial and commercial hub,
with Lerwick Harbour its principal port.
It is a key to the local economy and Britain’s
northernmost commercial port, handling 5,
vessels annually, including cruise ships, with around
50 behemoths berthing each year. We arrived in said
fashion and paid homage at ‘Böd of Gremista’, the
house one-mile north, where Arthur Anderson, co-
founder of P&O was born.
Today’s High School
is building was once a fish-curing station and
Anderson himself once worked on the beach,
preparing fish. He endowed his eponymous
educational institute in 1862, which became today’s
High School, with some 900 pupils. As Shetland has
15 inhabited islands, it would be impractical for some
pupils to travel to school each day and so Anderson
High has a student hostel.
Down on the waterfront bob a myriad of cra;
pleasure boats, yachts, historic cra and fishing boats,
adding a touch of colour to what might, otherwise,
be a grey scene. Lerwick’s building material is
predominantly grey, so a sunny day should be ordered
if possible. Bars and clubs abound.
The fishing heritage is strong, of course. Hay’s
Dock, once the centre of Shetland’s fishing
industry and boatbuilding, is now home to the
Shetland Museum and Archives, recalling 5,
years of human activity. The town’s population is
7,500 and the islands have around 22,
residents, about half of whom live within ten miles
of the burgh.Long, Chequered History
e name literally means ‘muddy bay’ (‘Leir-vik’ in
Norse). Founded originally as an unofficial market
for 17th Century herring fleets, and developed on
that trade, Lerwick had a long, chequered history.
Every June, from 1602, saw the Dutch fishing fleet
gather in Bressay Sound, the sheltered stretch
between Shetland’s Mainland and the island of
Bressay, for migrating herring.
Native Shetlanders set up temporary huts along the
shore to trade with the Netherlanders. e fact a
harbour developed here is unsurprising, as Bressay
Sound looks an eminently sensible place for a safe-
haven. e only surprise is it took so long to get
established. Until 1625 there were just a few huts,
but with the deep water harbour and fishing
interests, its growth was inevitable.
Lerwick was not always the ‘main-man’ though. In
an interesting juxtaposition of old and new, the
village of Scalloway, six miles west with 1,
residents today, was the ancient capital. is is why
it has a fine castellated mansion, built in 1600 by
Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney, who succeeded his
father to the earldom and Lordship of Shetland
eight years before.Lerwick
Stephen Roberts traces its development
from Shetland backwater to commercial centre