Yell Island
http://www.scotland-placestovisit.com/twv//articles/116/1/Yell-Island-/Page1.html
By Vikara
Published on 04/30/2009
Yell is the second largest island of the Shetland group and lies just north of the mainland.
The heathery moors are a haven for a number of breeding birds. Divers
and ducks live on the swamps and small lochs of the interior of the
island. Greylag geese have recently colonised north Shetland, their
numbers increasing well over the past decade.
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Yell is the second largest island of the Shetland group and lies just north of the mainland. The heathery moors are a haven for a number of breeding birds. Divers and ducks live on the swamps and small lochs of the interior of the island. Greylag geese have recently colonised north Shetland, their numbers increasing well over the past decade.
The great skua is present but is deemed unwelcome, due to its habit of stealing the young of several species that nest on the moors. During your visit, the calls of breeding waders such as curlew, whimbrel, plover and dunlin may be heard. The merlin's call used to be a common sound, but the hawk has become increasingly rare on Shetland.
Seabird populations may have dropped over the years, but there are still flocks of guillemots, shags, razorbills, and fulmer petrels present. The sand eel numbers have dropped and kittiwake, puffin and arctic tern numbers have been affected. Shetlanders still view the terns as a herald of better days to come.
There is an old building on the island called Da Haa o’ Brough, The Hall of Brough. It was built in 1672 by Robert Tyrie, proprietor and fish merchant, who traded with merchants from Hamburg. The merchants formed a guild called the Hanseatic League. It acted as protection from pirates.
The pirates won in the end though when they attacked the Hansa merchants in their shore trading booths in 1696. The victory along with other factors, including the British 1715 salt tax, ended the lucrative trade.The Old Haa Trust formed in 1984 and changed the historic building into a visitor attraction. Twenty years later, and the ground floor area is divided into a local history museum, and a tea room, which used to be the old kitchen. The gallery and craft shop in found in the area of the Old Smithy. The old smithy is thought to have been used as a school before the blacksmith arrived.
The second floor houses the local history exhibition room. It is changed every year. This is the room where the Bobby Tulloch collection is held. Two smaller rooms house the archives. There are a number of albums of local photographs and family history on microfilm and computer.
There is a back garden with old-fashioned herbaceous borders outside the building. The monument in front of the house is a tribute to the airmen who lost their lives in a Catalina crash on the moors of South Yell in 1942.
Opening Times
Please enquire directly to the Museum.
Prices
Please enquire directly to the Museum.
The Old Haa
Burravoe
Yell
Shetland
Telephone - 01957 722 339
E mail - maryodie@btinternet.com
Visit website.
Yell is the second largest island of the Shetland group and lies just north of the mainland. The heathery moors are a haven for a number of breeding birds. Divers and ducks live on the swamps and small lochs of the interior of the island. Greylag geese have recently colonised north Shetland, their numbers increasing well over the past decade.
The great skua is present but is deemed unwelcome, due to its habit of stealing the young of several species that nest on the moors. During your visit, the calls of breeding waders such as curlew, whimbrel, plover and dunlin may be heard. The merlin's call used to be a common sound, but the hawk has become increasingly rare on Shetland.
Seabird populations may have dropped over the years, but there are still flocks of guillemots, shags, razorbills, and fulmer petrels present. The sand eel numbers have dropped and kittiwake, puffin and arctic tern numbers have been affected. Shetlanders still view the terns as a herald of better days to come.
There is an old building on the island called Da Haa o’ Brough, The Hall of Brough. It was built in 1672 by Robert Tyrie, proprietor and fish merchant, who traded with merchants from Hamburg. The merchants formed a guild called the Hanseatic League. It acted as protection from pirates.
The pirates won in the end though when they attacked the Hansa merchants in their shore trading booths in 1696. The victory along with other factors, including the British 1715 salt tax, ended the lucrative trade.The Old Haa Trust formed in 1984 and changed the historic building into a visitor attraction. Twenty years later, and the ground floor area is divided into a local history museum, and a tea room, which used to be the old kitchen. The gallery and craft shop in found in the area of the Old Smithy. The old smithy is thought to have been used as a school before the blacksmith arrived.
The second floor houses the local history exhibition room. It is changed every year. This is the room where the Bobby Tulloch collection is held. Two smaller rooms house the archives. There are a number of albums of local photographs and family history on microfilm and computer.
There is a back garden with old-fashioned herbaceous borders outside the building. The monument in front of the house is a tribute to the airmen who lost their lives in a Catalina crash on the moors of South Yell in 1942.
Opening Times
Please enquire directly to the Museum.
Prices
Please enquire directly to the Museum.
The Old Haa
Burravoe
Yell
Shetland
Telephone - 01957 722 339
E mail - maryodie@btinternet.com
Visit website.