A day in Skerries
Earlier this summer, I enjoyed one of the most memorable day trips I’ve had in a long time – so much so that I went back and did it all again a few weeks later!
It’s not often that I feel that pang of raw excitement setting out on a day trip – not because I’m not excited for the adventure ahead, but because, for the most part, these are places I already know well. Skerries is different, it had been at least 14 years, to my shame, since I last set foot on the island, and I was keen to get back and explore more.
Out Skerries, known locally as Da Skerries or just Skerries, is a small low-lying trio of islands – Housay, Bruray and Grunay – that lies 13 miles off Shetland’s east coast and four miles northeast of Whalsay. I always think the map of Skerries looks like a mermaid with a long tail going for a swim, but that’s by the by. The coastline is a patchwork of small rocks and skerries that rise uncertainly from the sea on Shetland’s eastern horizon.
The island is home to around 30 people who largely depend on the fishing industry. Bruray and Housay are connected via a road bridge, and Grunay, which offers protection for the harbour, is now uninhabited. However, the remains of the lighthouse buildings associated with the dominating Bound Skerry Lighthouse can still be seen across the harbour.
The name Skerries is thought to have come from the Norse word austr, meaning east. To the west of the Shetland Mainland, the Vee Skerries are the west skerries.
We chose to travel in on a Friday, catching the 11 am ferry from Vidlin, a journey that takes around an hour and a half and must be booked in advance. We took the car. However, it is unnecessary as the island road is only a mile long. Our return ferry was at 4 pm, giving us about three and a half hours on the island. The ferry also operates from Lerwick twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday) but does not return to Lerwick that day, so you must bring a car to travel back from either Vidlin or Laxo Ferry Terminal.
* Book the Skerries ferry by calling the Ulsta Booking Office on +44(0) 1595745804 or visit the Shetland Ferries website at https://www.shetland.gov.uk/ferries/ferry-booking for more information.
The ferry crossing is one of the longer ferry journeys you can take in Shetland, although Fair Isle and Foula are longer, and we travelled in on the Fivla – the usual Skerries ferry, Filla, was getting a refit when we travelled, so the fleet’s standby ferry was operating the route.
Fivla approaching Vidlin to take us to Skerries
Once onboard, we were invited into the wheelhouse where the captain, Ivan Reid, showed us around the bridge and entrusted us with steering the vessel – apologies if you were onboard when we made a somewhat ‘wiggly’ passage around Skerries towards the harbour.
The view from the bridge was fantastic, and as we watched the low-lying hills of Shetland disappear, the cluster of islands that make up the Skerries came into view on the eastern horizon. Away from the shelter of the land, it was easy to see why this could be a notoriously bumpy crossing in the winter months.
Photo: Ivan Reid
Skerries is blessed with a relatively good natural harbour, and the island itself sits amongst some of the most prolific fishing grounds in the North Sea, meaning that the islands have always depended on the sea and have supported a thriving fishing industry over the years – even today, this is the mainstay industry.
As the ferry edged its way around the island towards the north-east entrance to the harbour, we passed the imposing Bound Skerry, the easternmost point of Scotland, topped by the impressive Bound Skerry Lighthouse, built in 1858 by the famous ‘Lighthouse Stevenson’ family. Grunay, now uninhabited, sits alongside Bound Skerry and offers protection to the harbour from the south. Grunay was once home to the lighthouse keepers and their families, whose cottages can still be seen on the island as you pass on the ferry.
As the ferry docked in Bruray, we couldn’t wait to get ashore. The houses lay sprawled across the two islands of the East and West Isle, and the picture-perfect view from the pier reminded me of the Shetland of my early youth, with whitewashed cottages straddling the skyline and lines of washing drying in the stiff westerly breeze. It felt real, authentically Shetland, without the pretence that can creep into communities as tourism grows. Skerries is an island on the edge that remains proudly rooted in its heritage. It’s a living, breathing community that I couldn’t wait to step ashore and enjoy.
Our first stop was the beautiful new Ferry Terminal Waiting Room, where visitors can relax or use the kitchen facilities that include a kettle, cooking hob, microwave and sink. Inside, a tourist information point has plenty of information about the island and a visitor’s book. Public toilets are available next door, and a shop at the end of the pier is open at various points throughout the day on every day other than Sunday and is well-stocked with everything you expect from any good rural shop.
Skerries Ferry Waiting Room; a lovely, modern facility for visitors
What to do in a day:
At no more than two square miles in size, Skerries is an island where you are never more than a stone’s throw from the sea. With several of Shetland’s most notable historic shipwrecks found here, it’s no surprise that the maritime history and diving opportunities draw in most visitors to the island. Given its remote location, Skerries is also a welcome haven for migratory birds blown off course by strong winds, and the chance to tick off rare migrants draws in ornithologists and birders each year. Skerries is a walker’s island. The coastline feels like a Shetland in miniature, with some fascinating coastal scenery, all manageable and easy to hike on a day trip.
Bruray (East Isle)
Filla at the pier in Bruray
Skerries airstrip sits nestled under Bruray’s Ward Hill. Once used by the inter-island air service, it is only occasionally used by private charter flights to the isle. On the hill, evidence of the island’s water supply is seen in concrete ditches that meander around the slope, boreholes and water storage tanks. Due to the impermeable rocks, small catchment area and lack of freshwater loch, the island’s water supply has always been an issue.
Due to its dependence on fishing, evidence of the industry can be seen scattered across the islands. From the liver/cutch kettle at the pier in Bruray, once used for melting livers, and later for treating herring nets, to the drying beaches used in the 19th century to lay out fish for salting and drying in preparation for shipping to hungry European Markets. One of the best beaches to see how this operation was carried out is Long Ayre Beach in Bruray, not far from the airstrip, where the upper reaches of the beach have been man-made with large stones to create a greater area for drying the fish.
Long Ayre Beach, East Isle
From the beach, walk towards the Head of Bloshin for excellent views of the lighthouse on Bound Skerry and the uninhabited island of Grunay. Grunay was once home to a the lighthouse keepers and their families, whose cottages can still be seen. The Stevenson-built lighthouse stands on the outlying Bound Skerry. The first light on the Skerries was temporary, erected on the island of Grunay in 1854. The lighthouse seen today was completed in 1858 and sits on Bound Skerry. Like Sumburgh Head, the lighthouse cottages were bombed during the Second World War. The Boatman’s House was hit, and the boatman’s mother later died in hospital due to her injuries. The lightkeeper’s accommodation was also destroyed in this raid. Lighthouses were prime targets for enemy attacks during the war in the hope of disrupting shipping. The threat of attack was very real for the keepers and their families who lived in lighthouse buildings throughout the war. The lighthouse was automated in 1972, and the keepers moved out.
Bound Skerry Lighthouse from Long Ayre Beach
Housay (West Isle)
Our first stop was the Skerries Kirk at the end of the road in Housay, which was built in 1896, replacing a former church that sat within the nearby graveyard and was demolished when the new kirk was built. The kirk has beautiful stained glass windows depicting crofting and fishing in the island, tea and coffee-making facilities and toilets. The simple whitewashed building overlooks the natural harbour of West Voe and was where we began our walk around Mioness.
Mioness is a place that I have wanted to visit for many years. When I did my master’s thesis in museum and gallery studies, I catalogued a shipwreck collection from the wreck of De Liefde, a Dutch East Indie ship that was wrecked there in 1711. During the 17th and 18th centuries, trading companies were involved in the Far East’s lucrative spices and silk trade, selling to culture-hungry Europeans. The Dutch enjoyed a trade monopoly, making the Netherlands one of the most successful trading nations in the world. Often choosing the ‘achter om’ (north about) route around Britain to avoid conflict in the English Channel, they often sailed around Shetland. Many ran into bad weather, resulting in 27 losses around Shetland waters. Both De Liefde and Kennemerland (1664) were lost off the Skerries coast, with the resulting finds including gold and silver coins and Bellarmine jugs, and artefacts varying in size from the tiny peppercorns, so central to their voyage to the great cannons used to protect the ships from attack. De Liefde was lost off Mioness on the southwest tip of Housay, and Kennemerland was lost off Stoura Stack, Grunay. One of De Liefde’s cannons can still be seen outside one of the houses in Housay.
Cannon from Dutch EastIndiaman, De Liefde (1711)
Mioness makes for a fantastic walk; it’s the long ‘mermaid’s tail’ of the island, breaking free from the cluster of close-knit islands and skerries. No houses are on this long peninsula, and the coastline is peppered with interesting geological formations, including geos and caves.
South Mills
We stopped at the South Mills for a picnic and watched the seals curiously eyeing us from the bay as the summer thrift swayed on the warm, clammy breeze. Heading around the coast, we found what looked like the ideal swim spot – although this rockpool may dry out as the summer wears on. Nonetheless, we wished we’d brought a towel!
Could this be the ideal swim spot?
After turning back to avoid nesting terns at the Point of Mioness, we headed back towards West Voe, where the remains of the island’s salmon farming industry still lie as a painful reminder of the loss of this important industry.
The beautiful North Mills Beach
A walk to the North Mills from West Voe reveals a beautiful storm beach formed with great stones laid up steeply into a beach. It was calm and warm as we walked back along the coast towards the bridge that would take us back to Bruray and the ferry home.
Bridge connecting the East and West Isle, Bruray and Housay
To the east side of Housay, the Battle Pund is an interesting prehistoric, likely Bronze Age, stone circle marked out by boulders in the hillside. It’s unclear what this was used for or signifies, but it is similar to the Haltadans Stone Circle on the island of Fetlar. Up the hill are the remains of a former coastguard lookout station.
West Voe
FAQs
Can I take my motorhome or caravan?
Yes, you can bring a caravan or motorhome. Just ask someone on the isle for help! The Community Council is working on developing this.
Is there anywhere to stay in Skerries if I want to stay longer?
Yes, there are a few options for accommodation, including Rocklea, a family-run guest house.
Are there public toilets?
Yes, you will find toilets at the pier, the public hall and the church.
Is there fuel available?
Yes, fuel pumps are available at the pier but you need to ask someone for a key so it’s easiest to fill up at Vidlin before you arrive.
I hope you enjoyed reading about our day in Skerries — we had the best time! Thank you to Ivan and the crew, Marina, Alistair and Sylvia for making both trips to Skerries so memorable.
I can’t wait to get back!
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