 Hoswick from the East |
Sandwick is an area of the east coast of Mainland Shetland which extends from the main A970 out towards the promontories of No Ness and Cumlewick Ness. It lies approximately half way between Lerwick and Sumburgh, and forms part of Shetland's South Mainland.
Some 800 people live here, and the area is characterised by scattered settlements, the distinctions between some of which have been blurred by recent house building. There is actually a village called Sandwick at the head of Sand Wick and in the shelter of No Ness, but many people refer to "the village" as the collection of the settlements within the area of Sandwick.
Many visitors see part of Sandwick as they travel from the main road to the jetty for the ferry to the island of Mousa and to Mousa Broch. But having made the trip, most will then simply head back to the main road. They will at least have seen Sand Lodge, near the jetty for the ferry, parts of which date back to the 1600s, and which was used for many years as a home by the Bruces of Sumburgh.
Those who take the trouble to explore the rest of Sandwick find somewhere with considerable character, if perhaps never quite conventionally pretty. The village of Sandwick itself is home to a nice beach, and there is another at Cumlewick, while for those wanting to get away from it all, the far end of No Ness has no roads, but cliff scenery in abundance.
Sandwick's community facilities tend to be distributed across the various settlements: the new leisure centre and swimming pool in one spot, the youth club in another. Perhaps the most recognisably conventional village in the area is Hoswick, which is home to the Barclay Arms Hotel, as well as to the Hoswick Visitor Centre and to a knitwear factory complete with factory shop.
 Leebotten from the North |
