Up north to Yell and Unst …

Our final trip in April saw us heading up to the most northerly schools in the UK, which are located on the islands of Yell and Unst, both of which are part of Shetland. We had planned to catch the overnight ferry (on Sunday 22nd APril) from Aberdeen to Lerwick , but after a long drive from Glasgow airport, missed last check-in by 20 minutes. As there is only one ferry a day, this meant a delay of 24 hours, and a chance to explore the sights and sounds in and around Aberdeen. Nothing like a bit on unexpected exploring. Thankfully, NorthLink ferries were good about re-booking, and we made it to the ferry in good time on Monday, and enjoyed a relatively benign crossing to Shetland.

We arrived at 7:30 am (23rd April) and then it was a mad 37 mile dash to catch the smaller ferry to Yell. We split up for the first day, with Scott working at Burravoe Primary school and Chris at Cullivoe. Both sets of children were a delight, very polite and full of questions. We can only hope that they benefited from the day learnt lots of new facts about the Universe. The following day saw us on another 10-minute ferry to Unst, where we visited Baltasound Junior High School … the most northerly school in the entire UK at nearly 61 degrees of latitude. Last month we were in Jersey, at just 49 degrees of latitude, so a huge difference in terms of climate. It’s safe to say the Unst and Yell get very long nights in the winter, which last a staggering 18 hours and 12 minutes around the winter solstice. Conversely, in mid-summer, the sun doesn’t go down until 10:34 pm, so it never really gets dark.

Our final day was spent back on Yell, where our hastily re-arranged (from Monday 23rd to Thursday 26th) visit to the Mid Yell Junior High School was well received, and saw us working with a wide range of ages. We were certainly lucky with the weather, and managed to see the dramatic scenery in Shetland at it’s finest. Trees are few and far between, but the open moorland and sea vistas are a breath of fresh air. So after our work was done, it was back to Lerwick for the overnight ferry back to Aberdeen, and a smoother crossing you could not have hoped for. Rest assured, we will be back in Shetland during the project, but this was a very positive first visit.