Category: Shetlands

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Shetlands Picts, Vikings And horses

A lot of what you find in the Shetlands is Picts, Vikings and horses. Well, that’s not exactly true because most of what you see are sheep and quite a few cows but not many horses. But the Shetlands is well known for the Shetland ponies which are nasty little horses actually, speaking from experience. The Picts were Celtic people who were called “Picts”” because they tattooed themselves and the Roman people who came across them named them for the “pictures” they had on their bodies. In these islands you will find a lot of nice people but mostly sheep and beautiful countryside which has such an ancient geology, igneous and metamorphic structures with a lot of limestone as well. There are many standing stone configurations where you might want to time warp into the past. But you will also find many Viking structures and references to horses.Anyway here are some Pictures with Bill Smale Adventures.

Shetlands map with Picts And Vikings
The map of the Shetland and the interesting things you can see
This history of the Picts And their structures
The Vikings are still here
The Viking long houseS
Shetland ponies history
These horses are being favored now and there is a comeback in the population in various parts of the world
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Shetlands, Scotland day three. UNST

on this island which is almost the north most of the Shetlands group you have a chance to see what people 6000 years ago before the pyramids.

Just for fun I checked my compass with the stone and I found the stone points exactly north but I have no idea what that means and nobody else knows. The other stone is the Clivocast. This stone is 3m high and leans slightly north. It was used as a sailing mark between Strandburgh Ness on Fetlar and the entrance of Skuda Sound (between Uyea and Haaf Gruney).
It is said to mark the spot where the son of Viking Harold Harfager was killed around 900AD. Human remains and armour were allegedly found in a cairn to the south west.
There are some very beautiful beaches here which would be nice in the summer
You can see some old ruins in many places on these islands
The grazing areas are often open range so you have to drive carefully
this is a reconstruction of probably what the inside of a long house would look like. Some excavations show extensive remains but of course the wooden parts including the roofs have deteriorated completely
After World War II one family put in extensive efforts to promote and grow the Shetland pony breed worldwide. here are some of the colorations
This is a typical northern Scotland breakfast. I needed to add my soy sauce

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Shetland Islands, Scotland day 2

the main island in the Shetlands was referred to a couple people as “the mainland” even though we had a 10 hour ferry ride from the mainline of Scotland. It’s cold and very windy here with occasional rain, just the reason I came here, for the weather. It’s a great place to get away from the tropical heat.

I looked at the menu and it seems there are a lot of sweet things like cakes and stuff like that on the menu. I’ve never seen a Chinese restaurant with that kind of food but with a name like this I guess you can do anything.
More white sheep here than black sheep. I would like to talk to a farmer and find out something about sheepherding. I know something about it since when I was a kid my father gave me sheep shears to trim the edge of the lawn. They belonged to my grandfather
Of course it’s a one lane bridge
They were curious about me as I was curious about them. But then again I was whistling a Dean Martin song which they probably never heard before.
Read the black one
A lot of the old farmhouses just fell down from neglect. When large landowners took over the land and changed the rules for the tenant farmers here many of them couldn’t make a living so they left for Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand.
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shetlands – Scotland Day 1

the Shetland Islands are the northernmost part of Scotland and therefore the northernmost part of the UK. For 50 years I wanted to have the time to make it up there. So now I do it. Frankly, I am looking for windy, cloudy bad weather to fulfill my image of the islands.

No cabins were available and I really didn’t want to spend money on one so I reserved a “pod”. This large chair reclines back inside its casing and is fairly comfortable, sufficient for the 14 hour trip from Aberdeen to Lerwick. My car was also on the ferry since a car is really necessary to enjoy a small number of days in the Shetlands or the Orkneys.
Someone told me these windmills were just off the coast of the Trump international golf club
I think “Dunna” means “don’t” and I think “Chuck” means “throw” but I don’t know what”Bruck” means. if you know then please leave a comment.
They look like black Angus
The Shetlands wouldn’t be complete without Shetland ponies. I hope they are not quite as mean tempered as Welsh ponies. That’s a whole different story.
These ruins Are built on origins that are thousands of years old. The Picts first inhabited these islands
Some more ancient buildings sites
There are quite a few beautiful beaches on the islands. The water is very cold, about the same temperature as the water in Monterey California
He just kept watching me and I kept my distance just to leave him alone
The fish was not bad, the onion rings were terrible and the only sauce was vinegar while salt was also available. It reminded me of the old H Salt Esquire fish and chips franchise
You can see the inexpensive lawn mowers doing their job
I didn’t dare go close to this house. They could be descendants of the Vikings, which they probably are anyway.
most of the roads here are the width of one-way roads with little side bubbles where people can allow others to pass. Many of the bridges allow only one way at a time.
My walkway to the pub