Inside Britain's most northerly hotel in the Shetland Islands

Release time：2024-05-01 14:14:57 Source：Culture Capsule news portal

Listening to the wind howl and watching the rain lash against my window in my little room at the Baltasound Hotel on the intriguing island of Unst in the Shetland Islands, I was extremely glad to be where I was.

It wasn't just that I was avoiding the gale. It was a feeling of being well away from the hustle and bustle of regular life – up with the fulmar petrels, kittiwakes, gannets, guillemots, gulls and puffins (and not much else) in Britain's most northerly hotel.

Baltasound Hotel opened in 1939 on Britain's most northerly inhabited island. There are 22 rooms, a restaurant and a bar serving whisky – naturally - for a 'wee nip' after a bracing walk along the rugged coastline near the entrance.

That's the big attraction of remote Unst, population 632, about a dozen miles long by five miles wide: getting out on the footpaths to explore the dramatic landscape with its plunging cliffs and barren moonscape-like interior.

Here, you are further north than Oslo, the Norwegian capital, and about level with Bergen in Norway and its famous fjordlands, a mere 200 miles across the North Sea to the east.

MailOnline Travel's Tom Chesshyre checked in to Baltasound Hotel, which opened in 1939 on Unst. The main part of the hotel dates to the 1860s

Baltasound Hotel has 22 rooms, a restaurant, 'and a bar serving whisky – naturally'. Tom's room is pictured above

The picture above shows some of Baltasound Hotel's cabin-like annexe rooms

Tom says that the big attraction on Unst is 'getting out on the footpaths to explore the dramatic landscape with its plunging cliffs and barren moonscape-like interior'

Unst is above the 60th parallel – not all that far away from the Arctic Circle, which comes at around the 66th parallel (closer to the island than London).

But, aside from its location, there's another reason to head for Unst and the Baltasound Hotel – it might just be local literary legend Robert Louis Stevenson's real Treasure Island.

The story goes like this: Stevenson visited Unst in 1869, aged nine, to see the lighthouse being built on the uninhabited island of Muckle Flugga, little more than a barren rock poking out of the sea just to the north of Unst. He had been taken by his father, the renowned lighthouse engineer Thomas Stevenson.

This impressionable visit is said to have lodged itself in the writer's imagination and when it came to penning Treasure Island, his classic tale of buccaneering pirates published in 1883, some believe he was inspired by Unst. The 'proof' of this is that the shape he describes of his fictional island – 'like a fat dragon standing up' – corresponds remarkably with the outline of the little-visited Scottish island.

True or not – and Stevenson never let on - it's nice to imagine you are on Treasure Island, while setting off on a morning hike from Baltasound Hotel on the northern edge of the village of Baltasound, after a hearty Scottish breakfast served by the friendly, laidback staff (excellent bacon and eggs).

On Unst 'you are further north than Oslo, the Norwegian capital, and about level with Bergen in Norway', Tom reveals

On the northeast coast you will find 'the fine white sands of Skaw Beach [above], Britain's most northerly beach', explains Tom

The highlight for some, writes Tom, is the island's peculiar Bobby's Bus Shelter, kitted out with a sofa and a TV and redecorated from time to time to match yearly themes such as World Cups or the Coronation

As the sign explains, this is Britain's most northerly church. The extreme geographical location has been adopted as the unofficial local slogan

The view from Britain's most northerly castle, Muness Castle, built in 1598

The rooms at the hotel are in an annex connected to the main old stone building dating from the 1860s – mine was in this part, a comfy single room with a natty tartan bedcover, wood panels and a caramel-coloured carpet – as well as in a series of log cabins in the grounds. In these, larger rooms including a 'family cabin' with bunk beds for children are located.

On a ramble, you soon pass fields of sheep – and some Shetland ponies - to Britain's most northerly church, the Haroldswick Methodist Church, as well as Britain's most northerly Post Office, Britain's most northerly tearoom (Victoria's Vintage Tea Rooms), and the stark remains of Britain's most northerly castle, Muness Castle, built in 1598.

On the northeast coast you will find the fine white sands of Skaw Beach, Britain's most northerly beach, close to Britain's most northerly house.

The population on Unst, reveals Tom, includes fulmar petrels, kittiwakes, gannets, guillemots, gulls and puffins - and not much else

The uninhabited island of Muckle Flugga and its lighthouse - located just off the Unst coast. Robert Louis Stevenson visited Unst in 1869, aged nine, to see the lighthouse being built

Unst is above the 60th parallel – not all that far away from the Arctic Circle, which comes at around the 66th parallel (closer to the island than London )

Steve, the owner of Baltasound Hotel, says: 'This is a place to escape in a tough environment. A wonderful place. Authentic tourism'

Unst has a population of 632, and is about a dozen miles long by five miles wide 

Tom Chesshyre's book Lost In The Lakes

Plenty of tourist signs mention the extreme geographical location, which has been adopted as the unofficial local slogan.

The highlight for some is the island's peculiar Bobby's Bus Shelter, kitted out with a sofa and a TV and redecorated from time to time to match yearly themes such as World Cups or the Coronation. The name comes from a six-year-old local boy, Bobby McCauley, who saved the shelter from being removed in 1996 and began its quirky tradition.

'Oh yes, that's within view of the hotel. You can get a bus up from Lerwick [Shetland's capital], via the ferries between all the islands for about £8,' says Steve, owner of the Baltasound Hotel, who adds that many guests are birdwatchers and photographers heading for Hermaness National Nature Reserve to see the puffins and 'Keen of Hamar Nature Reserve'.

Famous recent guests have included the TV adventurer Ben Fogle and the politician Hilary Benn. The leading American sociologist Erving Goffman stayed in the mid-twentieth century – and some US academics come on a pilgrimage to see his Scottish hideaway.

Over the past couple of years, the hotel has been attracting 'beat the heat' summer holidaymakers from as far afield as Switzerland and Italy, says Steve (who prefers not to give his surname). 'It's the location that draws people in,' he says. 'It's a wilderness location in a busy world: a genuine place. Unspoilt.'

You can also see the Northern Lights sometimes, Steve says: 'This is a place to escape in a tough environment. A wonderful place. Authentic tourism.'

A real treasure of an island indeed.

Tom Chesshyre's book Lost In The Lakes - Notes From A 379-Mile Hike Around The Lake District is out now. 

TRAVEL FACTS 

Doubles from £160 B&B (baltasoundhotel.co.uk), Heathrow-Lerwick, via Aberdeen, returns from £346 (ba.com). 

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