A couple of years ago, I went with a friend on a week-long trip to the Orkney and the Shetland Islands. She had been to both archipelagos before, but I knew almost nothing about them. I joined her at short notice, but she promised me wild and beautiful scenery and lots of history. Both archipelagos are of significanse in so many ways. The connection to Norway is evident wherever we went on the islands. Archeological excavations leaves evidence of settlements that goes back to the Stone Age. The vikings settled here more than a thousand years ago and left a deep impact on the islands during 500 years. During WWII Scalloway became the headquarter for the resistance movement. This movement was nicknamed "The Shetland Bus" and was organized missions across the North Sea between Norway and Shetland. Small fishing vessels carried weapons, equipment, refugees etc. during the darkest nights.
In order to get to Scalloway, we took the local bus from Lerwick. Because it’s such a small place, it’s easy walkable from one end to the other. After getting off the buss, we simply walked along the main street and went straight up to the castle that does dominate the view no matter where you are. Up until 1708 Scalloway was the ancient capital on the islands.
Scalloway castle is located near the Holm of Tingwall which was the place where the court would meet. This castle was built by the 2nd. Earl of Orkney, Patrick Stewart from around 1600 at the time when he became the ruler of Scotland. As a ruler, he had a bad reputation. He is known as an oppressor. It is said that when he had the castle built, he was using forced labour. When he died, it was by execution. That happened because he was using forced labour.
The castle itself is a fine example of a tower house. Today there isn't much left, but originally there would have been buildings and yards. The great hall is impressive. We just had to imagine how life had been. Besides being a residence for the earl, it was also used as a courthouse.
Next to the castle there is a small museum. Besides exibitions, there is a giftshop and tourist information. The museum is owned by the Shetland Bus Frienship Society and run by volunteers. Even it’s small, it covers the history from the earliest settlements to present time. The story of the Shetland Bus is one of the highlights on display. This is the story about the dangerous operations that the resistence movement carried out. Norway was invaded in 1940. Many people fled from Norway during the occupation and landed in England, but most of them found there way to the Shetlands. They mainly came in small fishing vessels. Thats how the movement started. When people could arrive in small vessels, then it could go the other way too. The fishing boats returned to Norway with weapons etc.., but disguised as fishingboats with a crew of fishermen.
This operation was based somewhere else on the island at first, but then it was moved to Scalloway. It was more suitable for reparing boats and could provide accommodation for the men. A walk along the marina made us imagine how these ships left the shores to perform their mission.
These operations took place during a period of three years which made these men become part of the local community. They carried out close to a hundred missions in these small vessels There were losses. The missions took the lives of 44 men and 10 boats were destroyed due to storms and German surveillanse. The American Navy did donate three larger boats, that then undertook another 115 missions across the North Sea. I also read somewhere that many of these many married local women in Scalloway. No wonder I thought that the small, colorful wooden houses on the outskirts of the city felt like being in Norway...
Souces:
The Scalloway Museum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shetland_bus
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