Royl Field

East and West Burra and Foula beyond

West Voe and West Burra



From Royl Field looking east to Bressay and Noss


Tuesday, 3 May 2011

Royl Field  293metres,  distance 8km, ascent 170metres, time 1hr 12mins

Arriving at Sumburgh is not normally a balmy summer evening experience but it was today. I was torn between making the short drive down to Sumburgh Head to see the Puffins or driving north towards Lerwick and crossing the peat and heather moors to Royl Field with the promise of a sunset over the Burras emerging as the ridge was breached.  The Puffins could wait, there are too few days like today. Inverness had been resplendent in the pristine sunshine and the views of the Caithness coast and the Orkney Isles had made Google Maps seem like a badly printed comic.  The plane had landed at Sumburgh as if the tarmac were eggshells, a far different experience than the usual rough landings.  Needless to say, I headed north up the A970 and parked on a track leading in the direction of the Ward of Veester near Sandwick.

The walk was waymarked towards the memorial to a Mosquito aircraft that had run out of fuel and glided into the steep slopes of Royl Field whilst making its way to Sumburgh on the return from a U-boat sortie off the Norwegian coast in November 1944.  The boggy heather and peatlands were unusually dry and as the apex of the ridge was reached the sun was low in the sky and lighting up the spectacular coastline of East and West Burras. Away to the East, the hooloovoo horizon was interrupted by the outlines of Bressay and Noss. I had now completed 10 of the 19 Marilyns on Shetland and some of the best yet to come. Time was at a premium so I did not descend to the memorial but breathed in the views, listened to the birdlife, and enjoyed the serenity and company of the best of Shetland.  I managed to get down in time to collect some food at the supermarket and be in residence by 10:00 p.m.