17 September 2009

from the Wick of Skaw to the Golden Valleys

17 September 2009

Septemberrrrr

Octoberrrrrrrr

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Thursday 17 September 2009--Overcast, but dry this morning. We decide to visit the broch at Culswick, in an obscure corner of western Mainland. There's a phonebox next to a ruin of a building out near the end of the road. Culswick might have been a village at one time, and this its center, but there aren't a half a dozen inhabited houses here now. It's a longish commute from here to Lerwick, quite a way even to the nearest shop in Walls...are these houses occupied full-time, by local crofters, perhaps, or are they secluded holiday cottages? Some of each, maybe. In any case, the phonebox is dead.

It's just over a mile along a farm track to the broch, which sits on a hilltop overlooking Gruting Voe. I've been here in sunny weather, which is nicer, of course, but even on a gray day it's a stunning spot. As usual, we see no other humans--in fact, this is the first time I have not been utterly alone here. I don't know why this place is not better known. If the broch itself is not in the best of condition (it does have an excellent triangular lintel over the entrance), its fine setting ought to be a draw in itself.

After a trip to the shop in Walls, we visit Staneydale Temple. Despite the commonly accepted name, its purpose is not known, the mystery of it heightened by its situation so far from water.

We're back in town by midafternoon. Nap time...I'm feeling more lagged than I was in the first week of the trip. Take a walk around the Knab, a scenic little peninsula at the southern end of town, before dinner. A nice freshener, to be repeated.

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