Aith Ness, Bressay

Previously we took a walk around The Bard at the south end of Bressay. This month we’re going to take a wander around Aith Ness on the North end of Bressay on Access Route ARB02.

 

 

 

 

This is a much less challenging walk at 6.5km on road, track and narrow sheep paths. There’s still a climb up the hill towards ‘the guns’, but it’s far easier and circular.

You can download a PDF here or a GPX for use with mobile GPS devices or apps here.  

As always take care near cliff tops and keep well back from any edges as they may be lose or undercut.

The Shetland Islands Council Inter-island ferry times can be found here and there is one general store and the Speldiburn Café at the old school.

The walk starts from the small parking area in an old quarry on the road to Setter from where we head directly north towards Aith Ness. As the track ends we start to pick up sheep tracks as we pass the remains of the settlement of Aith and look out across the Minni of Aith to the top of the ness where we will walk to.

You can take a route either side of Erne’s Hill to the guns, but make sure you come down the valley to the west of the hill and see the remains of the quarries that provided roofing for much of Lerwick in the past.

From Aith Ness you’ll get great views across to Lerwick and south towards Noss National Nature reserve.

Of course you’ll also get to see the old WWl gun emplacement that over looks the northern entrance to Bressay Sound and Lerwick. Not far from it is the ‘n’ shaped remains of a skyway that was used to haul supplies up from boats in Elvis Voe below.

If you’ve come to the hill top via the east side of Erne’s hill you’ll now want to go down through the valley to the west of the Loch of Aithness past the quarry remains and towards Aith Voe and the remains of a Herring Station. If you look carefully you’ll see narrow rail tracks that were used between the jetties and the buildings.

Keep an eye along the shore as you follow the coast and back up to the main track as there are often otters in this area.

Until next time, take care in the countryside and enjoy #shetlandoutdoors!

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