East Mainland

The Village of Quoys

Some places are intriguing or attractive simply because of their names. Ten miles north of Lerwick is a junction on the main road where it meets the B9057 from the east. This road leads to Nesting, one of those names you just can't pass by.

Vidlin Marina Flugarth Ferry Terminus Quoy Pier

South Nesting and North Nesting are not villages, they are areas of this hilly landscape fringed by rocky shores. Not as spectacular as some parts of Shetland, but beautiful nonetheless.

Billister

Catfirth

The "B" road that runs around the area is called the "Nesting Loop". If you are coming from the south it turns off the main road in a moorland area deserted save for a stone cottage on the far side of the valley to the north. This is Catfirth, and it is difficult to believe now that in the 1914-18 war there was a naval air station here, presumably flying seaplanes from Cat Firth to the south.

The promontories of Gletness and Eswick lie off to the south of the road, a confusion of inlets and headlands that is known as a home to both the Shetland pony and the otter. North again brings you to the turning off to Laxfirth, Billister and to Quoys, perhaps the largest settlement in the Nesting area, though far from large. At the far end of the increasingly minor road is the pier at Quoys.

North again, and the Nesting Loop passes along the hillside above Dury Voe. From here you gain stunning views along the Voe to the island of Whalsay, and you can watch the ferries shuttling between the island and the Mainland terminus at Flugarth.

The Nesting Loop joins the B9071 from Voe to Vidlin at the tiny village of Laxo. From here you can finish the loop by heading back to the main road north from Lerwick, or you can explore the remainder of East Mainland by going to the pretty fishing, ferry and marina village of Vidlin, sitting at the south end of Vidlin Voe.

North from Vidlin a minor road leads along the eight mile finger of Lunna Ness. A little less than half way along, this is almost cut in half by East and West Lunna Voes. Overlooking East Lunna Voe is Lunna Kirk, a fascinating church dating back to 1753 and one of the oldest in Shetland still in use. Nearby is Lunna House, parts of which date back to the 1660s. In the early years of WWII this became the HQ of the Norwegian Resistance and boats regularly crossed from West Lunna Voe to the Norwegian fjords, before the operation moved to Scalloway.