Undiscovered Scotland

 

The road to Vidlin leaves the main A970 from Lerwick just south of Voe, before heading west. At Flugarth it meets the sea and you drive past the ferry terminus for Whalsay before turning north towards Vidlin itself.

Vidlin is an attractive village that wraps around the head of Vidlin Voe, a narrow fjord pointing south. This has an ayre at its end, crossed by the road leading round to the east side of the Voe. Vidlin's fortunes have always been closely linked to the sea, and there was a fishing settlement here well before 1600. Fishing remains important to the village, and it is also now home to a large marina.

Vidlin is the terminus for the ferry to Out Skerries. The ferry terminus, complete with a very modern waiting room, lies to the north side of the village, close to the school and in the shadow of a recently constructed wind turbine.

Back up the hill from Vidlin Voe and the harbour is the village shop and the public hall built, according to the inscription on the side, in 1910. A number of houses and cottages are gathered here, and other crofts are scattered over the hillsides east and west of the harbour.

North from Vidlin a minor road leads along the eight mile finger of Lunna Ness. A little less than half way along, this is almost cut in half by East and West Lunna Voes. Overlooking East Lunna Voe is Lunna Kirk, a fascinating church dating back to 1753 and one of the oldest in Shetland still in use. Nearby is Lunna House, parts of which date back to the 1660s.