Listening to the howling of the wind and watching the rain lash against my window in my small room at the Baltasound Hotel on the intriguing island of Unst in the Shetland Islands, I was very glad to be where I was.
It wasn’t just that he was avoiding the gale. It was a feeling of being far away from the hustle and bustle of normal life: alongside fulmar petrels, gulls, gannets, guillemots, gulls and puffins (and not much else) at the northernmost hotel in Britain.
The Baltasound Hotel opened in 1939 on Britain’s northernmost inhabited island. There are 22 rooms, a restaurant and a bar serving whiskey (naturally) for a ‘little drink’ after an invigorating walk along the rugged coastline near the entrance.
That’s the big attraction of remote Unst, population 632, about a dozen miles long and five miles wide: hitting the trails to explore the spectacular landscape with its cliffs and arid interior reminiscent of a lunar landscape.
Here, it is further north than Oslo, the Norwegian capital, and roughly level with Bergen in Norway and its famous fjords, just 200 miles east of the North Sea.
MailOnline Travel’s Tom Chesshyre checked into the Baltasound Hotel, which opened in 1939 in Unst. The main part of the hotel dates back to the 1860s.
Baltasound Hotel has 22 rooms, a restaurant and “a bar that serves whiskey, naturally.” Tom’s room is shown above.
The image above shows some of the attached cabin-style rooms at the Baltasound Hotel.
Tom says the big attraction at Unst is “hitting the trails to explore the spectacular landscape with its cliffs and arid interior reminiscent of a lunar landscape.”
Unst is above the 60th parallel, not far from the Arctic Circle, which is around the 66th parallel (closer to the island than London).
But aside from its location, there’s another reason to head to Unst and the Baltasound Hotel: it could be the real Treasure Island of local literary legend Robert Louis Stevenson.
The story goes like this: Stevenson visited Unst in 1869, when he was nine years old, to see the lighthouse being built on the uninhabited island of Muckle Flugga, little more than a barren rock jutting out of the sea just north of Unst. It had been brought by his father, the renowned lighthouse engineer Thomas Stevenson.
This impressionable visit is said to have remained in the writer’s imagination and when it came time to write Treasure Island, his classic tale of buccaneer pirates published in 1883, some believe he was inspired by Unst. The “proof” of this is that the shape he describes of his fictional island–“like a fat dragon standing up”–corresponds remarkably with the outline of the little-visited Scottish island.
True or not, and Stevenson never let on, it is nice to imagine you are on Treasure Island, as you set out on a morning walk from the Baltasound Hotel at the northern end of Baltasound village, after a hearty Scottish breakfast served by the friendly staff. Relaxed (excellent bacon and eggs).
In Unst “you’re further north than Oslo, the Norwegian capital, and about the same level as Bergen in Norway,” reveals Tom.
On the northeast coast you’ll find “the fine white sands of Skaw Beach (above), Britain’s most northerly beach,” explains Tom.
The highlight for some, Tom writes, is the island’s quirky bus stop, Bobby’s, equipped with a sofa and a television and redecorated from time to time to suit annual themes such as the World Cups or the Coronation.
As the sign explains, this is the northernmost church in Britain. The extreme geographic location has been adopted as an unofficial local motto.
The view from Britain’s northernmost castle, Muness Castle, built in 1598
The hotel rooms are in an annex connected to the old stone main building dating from the 1860s (mine was in this part, a comfortable single room with an elegant tartan bedspread, wood paneling and a colorful carpet caramel), as well as a series of wooden cabins on the grounds. They feature larger rooms that include a “family cabin” with bunk beds for children.
On a walk you’ll soon pass fields of sheep (and some Shetland ponies) to Britain’s northernmost church, Haroldswick Methodist Church, as well as Britain’s northernmost post office, Great Britain’s northernmost tearoom. Brittany (Victoria’s Vintage Tea Rooms) and the austere remains of Britain’s northernmost castle, Muness Castle, built in 1598.
On the northeast coast you will find the fine white sands of Skaw Beach, Britain’s northernmost beach, close to Britain’s northernmost house.
The population of Unst, Tom reveals, includes fulmar petrels, gulls, gannets, guillemots, gulls and puffins, and not much else.
The uninhabited island of Muckle Flugga and its lighthouse, located off the coast of Unst. Robert Louis Stevenson visited Unst in 1869, when he was nine years old, to see the lighthouse being built.
Unst is above the 60th parallel, not far from the Arctic Circle, which is around the 66th parallel (closer to the island than London).
Steve, the owner of the Baltasound Hotel, says: ‘This is a place to escape in a difficult environment. A wonderful place. Authentic tourism’
Unst has a population of 632 and measures approximately a dozen miles long by five miles wide.
Tom Chesshyre’s book Lost in the Lakes
Numerous tourist signs mention the extreme geographical location, which has been adopted as an unofficial local slogan.
The highlight for some is the island’s quirky Bobby’s bus stop, fitted out with a sofa and TV and redecorated from time to time to suit annual themes such as the World Cups or the Coronation. The name comes from a six-year-old local boy, Bobby McCauley, who saved the shelter from being removed in 1996 and started the quirky tradition of it.
‘Oh yes, that’s within sight of the hotel. You can get a bus from Lerwick (the capital of Shetland), via ferries between all the islands, for about £8,” says Steve, owner of the Baltasound Hotel, adding that many of the guests are birdwatchers and photographers. heading to the Hermaness National Nature Reserve to see the puffins and the ‘Hamar Keen Nature Reserve’.
Recent celebrity guests include TV adventurer Ben Fogle and politician Hilary Benn. The prominent American sociologist Erving Goffman stayed there in the mid-20th century, and some American academics come on pilgrimage to see his hideout in Scotland.
For a couple of years, the hotel has been attracting holidaymakers from as far away as Switzerland and Italy to beat the heat, says Steve (who prefers not to give his last name). “What attracts people is the location,” he says. ‘It’s a wild place in a busy world – a genuine place. Virgin.’
Sometimes you can also see the Northern Lights, says Steve: ‘This is a place to escape in a difficult environment. A wonderful place. Authentic tourism.’
A true island treasure.
Tom Chesshyre’s book. Lost in the Lakes: notes from a 379-mile walk around the Lake District It is now available.