Textile Journeys SHETLAND GLOBALYELL LTD 4 SELLAFIRTH, YELL ZE2 9DG TEL: +44 (0)1957 744 355. EMAIL: [email protected] Textile Journeys 2020 dates Spring in the isles: Arrival May 12th/ Departure May 17th (four days/ five nights) £1194 (single supplement) Tour creatively with workshops: Arrival 13th July/ Departure 19th July (five days/ six nights) £1400 (single supplement) Late summer in the isles: Arrival 15th September/ Departure 20th September (four days/ five nights) £1194 (single supplement) Shetland Isles - a world treasure for textile lovers These small islands in the North Atlantic have been centres of creative endeavour for millennia. Join us to discover, explore and create your own memories of this special place... • TEXTILE JOURNEYS • ARRIVING IN SHETLAND • Arriving in Shetland • Getting to Shetland Introduction There are a few ways to get to the town centre, and this is a good way to see Lerwick, the islands and more The first day on any new adventure is always exciting giving you a different view of how the capital has grown. information can be found at and it is lovely to share it with others. We will arrange visit.shetland.org or on the transport from the airport or ferry to your accommodation A walk along the harbour front past the Lodberries Visit Scotland site at curves gently around the base of the hill around which www.visitscotland.com to settle in before we start the tour. Lerwick has grown, and onto the Knab. Have a look at The tour will take in Lerwick but there is so much to the fine Victorian building that was once the High School Flights are operated by see that there simply is not time to do it all. Here are LoganAir as a codeshare with (the new school is near Clickimin broch) as you go past, some of the things we aren’t scheduled to do on the British Airways. If you are and a little further along, on the grassy Knab, you will be flying from elsewhere into tour but which you may enjoy doing anyway. able to see emplacements for guns that guarded the Aberdeen, Edinburgh or The main settlement in Shetland and the capital of the harbour entrance during the War. The town cemetery is Glasgow before coming up to islands, Lerwick, is where the majority of the shops and on the Knab, and there is a path that meanders along Shetland, check prices on a outlets are. A walk along Commercial Street, “Da Street” the cliff tops before going down to meet the shoreline at ticket all the way through in dialect, and into the Lodberries takes you past yarn the south end of town. from your chosen airline. shops, knitwear outlets and galleries, while the charity Flights arrive in Sumburgh shops can turn up unexpected bargains such as knitting at the south end of Shetland. In the town centre belts or, occasionally, jumper boards. The Lodberries is the oldest part of Lerwick, the name meaning houses Visit Vaila Fine Art where fine organic blankets from the The ferry is a good way to see privately owned island of Vaila are sold, and Jamieson’s the islands in the summer and stores with their own piers, originally built so that Spinning shop for yarns, knitwear and blankets. Have a months. You can book onto goods could be unloaded directly from boats in the Northlink at harbour. look at Ninian where local designers sell knitwear and woven fabrics, and open the drawers in Anderson & Co www.northlinkferries.co.uk The town is easily walkable, although, if you are heading to see knitwear from local makers. Aurora is another further out of town, taxis are available from the Victoria Bring your walking boots, a Pier. There is a ferry across the island of Bressay from raincoat and a jumper. The weather is always fun in Shetland! 3 shop which has woven and knitted pieces for sale, and for interesting books Shetland dialect about Shetland go into the Shetland Times bookshop. You may not hear much dialect on “Da Street” but it is an intriguing and Further out, the Shetland Museum has a fine collection of textiles, with pull- wonderful experience to hear someone speak with the accent, using words out drawers of lace knitting and Fair Isle, and art featuring the textiles of the that simply do not exist in English. For starters, try peerie, said “pi” as in islands.This is one of the stops on the tour but it is worth visiting more than piquant, and “ree” as in “real”. Peerie means small. There is a fantastically rich once! In the Museum are displays of dictionary of dialect which is very hard to find, but weave including the famous Adies of smaller dictionaries are available at Shetland Times Voe collection, and equipment One tour day is spent in Lerwick, exploring the bookshop. showing the various stages of town and its textiles. If you are out and about Each area of Shetland has its own accent. The manufacture. Opposite, Mareel, the make your way to the Museum (entrance is island of Yell has a particularly strong accent while cinema and music venue features lace arguably the strongest of all is from Whalsay. In this free), go upstairs and pull open the drawers in knitting as patterns of light on the brochure, we have used poetry extracts from walls. the textiles displays. There are some Christine De Luca, a poet from Shetland who now If you are an avid walker, it is worth astonishing things to find... lives on mainland Scotland. Christine’s poem cycle going the other way, past the Tesco Makkin Sooth Aeshaness is particular to one area of supermarket and along the shore. This Shetland but the three poems together are area of Lerwick has some fine old wonderful evocations of how the landscape affects houses set back and, if you continue along the seaside road, it eventually people and the art of the islands. There is a translation of the poem at the leads onto another grassy area of emplacements. This is a good place to stop end of the booklet. and watch boats and ships using the harbour because it overlooks the South entrance and the island of Bressay. Finally... Shetland is home to many beautiful and colourful flowers, including orchids. - On the following pages are itineraries for each day of the tour. Depending on The flowers tend to be small and hug the ground to escape the winds that weather and circumstances, some of these may change, and the information blow across the land, but there are so many in some months of the year that given is not comprehensive. We want to keep some surprises for you! they colour the hills. It is worth having a close look at them and the wonderful shades that nature boldly puts together. A note on accommodation. Out of town centre If you would like to spend more time exploring Shetland then you can book extra nights with your accommodation provider. Please ask us where you are A little along the north road out of town, Jamieson and Smith, aka the Wool staying. Grace at the Cornerstone can be contacted through Brokers, has a superb shop, full of enticing yarns and handcrafted articles, www.thecornerstonebandb.com and Pat at Valley Bed and Breakfast can be while on the outskirts, the Textile Museum is open in the summer months for contacted through www.valleybandb.co.uk. visitors to see the collection and to speak about textiles with the volunteers who run the organisation. Both of these are stops on the tour too. 4 • DAY ONE • SOUTH MAINLAND The South Mainland is home to artists, craftspeople and industry, and many of Shetland’s wildflowers. We will visit factories and museums and a lighthouse, and have a picnic on a tombolo... Shetland’s beautiful South Mainland is very easily family (of Robert Louis fame) built a lighthouse which The itinerary reached from Lerwick and the first day of the tour has been restored to include interpretive displays, a will be spent exploring the industrial past and museum, wartime artefacts and a cafe with a splendid 9 am - Leave accommodation present of textiles view across the landscape of and head down to Sandwick, in the isles. Shetland . Sumburgh Head is also a centre for textiles an great place to see the production. The South Mainland abundant birdlife of the islands - has been settled for puffins especially in the height of 1 pm - picnic lunch on the millennia and there the summer season. dramatic tomobolo that joins is plenty to see and St Ninian’s Isle to the do on the way to Heading back northwards to Mainland. visit Sandwick and Lerwick we will pass ancient Hoswick, historically settlements and modern 2pm - Head on to Sumburgh important places for townships, each with stories of where the restored lighthouse the production of their own. We will have our is open for visitors on the textiles and enjoying evening meal in Lerwick before lookout for puffin spotting, a new revival. heading back the bed and coffee and cake! Hoswick has two breakfast for a well-deserved rest! companies engaged in knitwear, Laurence Odie is the 5:00 pm - Return for dinner. older of the two, while Nielanell has made a name as a Blendin colours designer. Nearby the Hoswick Cafe showcases some Nae winder Stenness is da name here: of the old looms that used to operate in the factory ness o stane. Der iverywye you luik building and there are displays alongside the some aert-fast, some lang vaeged.