What you are looking for is a calm, clear summer's night, and preferably one of the 14-hour overnight sailings from Aberdeen via Orkney. Then, if you're lucky, the ferry trip to Shetland will be a mini-cruise, including dolphins, orcas, a sighting of the Orcadian sea-stack called the Old Man of Hoy and a sailing into the ‘simmer dim' - Shetland dialect for the midnight sun of midsummer, when twilight lingers through the short night.
The morning arrival in Lerwick never fails to touch my soul with gratitude that I live in such a place. True, sometimes a delayed, rough trip cannoning into a big north-easterly can bring a more physical relief when you finally step on to dry land, but watching the morning sun glitter off fishing boats as they hustle for landing space fairly warms the heart. The Old Rock: it's home.
A RICH CULTURE
It's Shetland, by the way, never, ever 'The Shetlands'. And you're in it, not on it. There are about 100 islands, 16 inhabited. Almost half of Shetland's population of 23,000 live in and around Lerwick, which is on the biggest island, known as Mainland. The two next biggest isles are Yell and Unst. Regular ro-ro ferries connect them. At around 110 miles north of the Scottish mainland, you are well on the way to the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway - the Shetland capital Lerwick is further north than Oslo - and the Scandinavian influence here is strong.
The name itself comes from Viking days: the Old Norse 'Hjaltland' is generally thought to mean 'the hilt of a sword'. The Vikings displaced most of the native Picts in AD900, and Shetland only became part of Scotland in the 15th century. Up Helly Aa, an annual series of fire festivals marking the start of winter's slippage into spring, celebrates the Viking heritage with galley burning and committed partying into the night and beyond dawn.
Denne historien er fra February 2022-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra February 2022-utgaven av BBC Countryfile Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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We Are an Island Nation - So Let's Protect Our Seas - Living in the UK makes us islanders and personally I'm proud of that definition - not in any political or jingoistic sense, but simply because I love the sea and in this country we are totally surrounded by it.
Living in the UK makes us islanders and personally I'm proud of that definition - not in any political or jingoistic sense, but simply because I love the sea and in this country we are totally surrounded by it. We live inside thousands of miles of coastline, in a nation whose borders were created by nature and made us what we are.
Discover Jurassic Coast - With its towering cliffs, sweeping beaches and pretty seaside towns, the shoreline of Dorset and east Devon is spectacular.
With its towering cliffs, sweeping beaches and pretty seaside towns, the shoreline of Dorset and east Devon is spectacular. Jo Caird fossicks for fossils and dramatic rock formations. It's an auspicious start to my journey along the Jurassic Coast. This 95-mile stretch of shore mostly in Dorset, but nudging just into east Devon - is blessed with awe-inspiring geological formations and fossil deposits that have garnered it recognition as England's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Snaking east from Orcombe Point near Exmouth to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage, it's studded with monumental rock arches, seemingly endless shingle beaches and fossil beds from which treasures were prised that altered our understanding of prehistory.
Viking shores
We picture Vikings marauding coastal settlements, looting and raiding. But what was life really like in the Viking Age? Historian Eleanor Barraclough reveals what the ancient artefacts found on Britain's shores tell us about our formidable forebears
Sea horses
On Cornwall's coastal clifftops, Melanie O'Shea meets the hardy grazing ponies that are helping to restore the land, so nature can flourish once more
A wing and a prayer
From their desks at Boulmer, 1,000 RAF personnel watch the skies for airborne threats to the country. Yet beyond the concrete of the base, vulnerable birdlife flourishes - thanks to the hard work of a small team
Cast in bone
Cuttlefish bones washed up on our shores have been used to make jewellery since ancient times. Jo Caird meets a craftswoman who's keeping the art alive on the Kent coast
EDIBLE SEAWEEDS
An ancient food harvested by humans for millennia, seaweeds bring an intense and rich flavour of the sea to a wide range of dishes, as well as essential mind-and-body-boosting nutrients
Spines and sulky faces
Watch where you put your feet at the beach - a weever fish could be lurking
Sea stars
The playful performances of Britain's bottlenose dolphins attract avid fans - but they deserve personal space
Harris's wildly beautiful beach
Cornwall may pull in the crowds, but one Hebridean strand stuns visitors
