The Great Outdoors: From Longboat To Space Ship, Shetland's Spectacular Isle Of Unst Is Flying High

23rd October 2021

There's "up north" and then there's Unst, the most northerly of Britain's inhabited islands. Part of Shetland’s North Isles - along with Yell and Fetlar - at 19km (12 miles) long and 8km (5 miles) wide, Unst has all you could want for an island adventure.

The Vikings of nearby Scandinavia would stop at Unst and by around AD700 many had settled, with modern Unst home to the remains of more than 60 longhouses.

Anyone interested in the lives of Vikings should stop at Haroldswick for the longhouse reconstruction, as well as the longboat there - a reconstruction of the vessels in which the Vikings travelled to Unst.

Unst is spectacular – soaring cliffs looking out to sea, beautiful beaches and fantastic walks, like the stunning 2.6km (1.5 mile) coastal path at Easting Beach. Unst is also home to a vast array of seabirds, many of which can be can found at the Hermaness National Nature Reserve in the north of the island.

Gannets, puffins and guillemots can all be spotted, while the isle is famed for the number of great skua, known as "bonxie" by locals.

But it isn’t just wildlife that makes Unst so special. Indeed plans to send rockets carrying satellites into orbit from the island recently received a major boost from a legal ruling.

Read the full article at The Sunday Post