Uyea

North Wick

Looking across to Uyea from The Ness

On the very edge of Uyea - the UK's north-west corner

Looking south

At last

Big Nev Geo

The Haa

Uyea is the small island off the north-west corner of the mainland and an 8 or 9 kilometre walk from North Roe. I had heard much about its splendid isolation and I had little difficulty persuading two Shetlanders, Jeff and Ann to join me for a Sunday jaunt. The track from North Roe was through the remote hill country and, on an overcast day with added showers, it was a walk to be done rather than enjoyed. After passing the croft at Uyea, the walk down to the Ness revealed more of the rolling descent to Uyea. We were mesmerised as we watched a lone cyclist pedalling his mountain bike along the edge of the horizon on his way back from Uyea. It was a surreal image but he had cycled off the edge of the world before I could rescue the camera.  We stood above the beach connecting us with Uyea and gazed in awe at the blue seas and near white sand with the emerald green island of Uyea beyond.  Negotiating our way down the cliffs was not too difficult.  We figured that we would probably get across the sand bar and back before the tide cut us off but I could think of far worse places to be exiled.

Climbing onto the island was relatively straightforward by circling to the north of the cliffs and pulling ourselves up on tufts of grass. And then we entered the last bit of land in the UK. There was a real sense of isolation - arctic terns wheeled above us, the views were constantly changing as the skies performed their full Shetland repertoire. We arrived at the most distant point and tentatively walked out on the narrow headland for a photo. The highlight of the tour was on the return when a bull otter charged across in front of us and disappeared down a burrow.  Looking over the cliff edges there were dozens of puffins set against the translucent blue seas.

It had taken an hour to circumnavigate the island and every minute brought a new perspective.  The tide was not yet in so we stopped for some food on the beach. It was cold in the strong sea breeze so we dallied not before making an exit over the sand bar. We clambered up the cliffs and joined the track for the long walk back to North Roe.  We got most of the way back before the next shower and Ann, who was hoping to acquire the running habit jogged back to the car.  It had taken less than 4 hours but the 90 minutes on the island and the beach will remain long in the memory.