Round Britain day 34

[Blueboatman]

I had a hurricane rebuild project boat some years ago where I used ex marina cleats as the four new deck cleats.
Plenty strong for a 28ft, lovely S shaped cast alloy things about 8 inches long. And not too heavy?

My pet hate at Brighton marina was that the berths were laid out athwart the prevailing winds. Given that it is one of the most exposed marinas in the S coast, it was plain daft that a relatively normal 50kn blow was very hard on pontoon fingers, topsides,fenders and warps.

 

[Concerto]

What an interesting time I have had today relating to the Shetland Bus.

Looking out this morning, the marina was shrouded in mist and with rain forecast for later, I decided to leave as soon as possible. The mist quickly lifted to give a couple of miles visibility. Extracted my folding bike from the quarter berth without any mishaps and popped it into the cockpit, followed by the other bits and pieces I needed to go over to Lunna. After carefully lowering the folded bike on to the finger and moving to the pontoon to open it out. Back onboard for the battery, chain, seat and my backpack containing some drinks and sandwich plus some snacks. Once I left the marina entrance, off I went heading up the rise to access the Lunna road.

Yes, it was a tarmac road but a single track with passing places. There were numerous undulations in the road so there were periods of pedal assistance alternating with freewheeling. There were plenty of sheep with lambs wandering across the road and to keep them in sections there were quite a number of cattle grids which the bike took in its stride. The final approach to Lunna was a slow descent and I turned toward the Lunna Kirk as this was mentioned a few times in the book. Standing high and proud is the Lunna House, used for the planning and accomodation for the Norwegian crews, and the office and bedroom of David Howarth, author of the book "Shetland Bus".

I decided to cycle up and past the house to see if I could get a good view of the bay showing the quay. Then I cycled back to the quay and had a walk arround and on to the quay. As I returned, a pickup drove in and the driver started walking towards me. After greeting him, I explained I was fascinated in WWII history and was currently reading the book on the Shetland Bus. It turns out he was the owner of the pier and was a useful font of information, in the past he met many of those who participated in the activities of the Shetland Bus. He even undid the shed to show me a placque inside the building with some naval personnel names inscribed in 1943. He then asked me if I would like to have a look at Lunna House, you bet. He then phoned the current owner and he would be happy for me to visit. So back on the bike up to the house.

Tony, the owner was very friendly and explained a lot about the history of the house and how it had been extended over the centuries with the last extension completed in 1910. He showed the main room used for the Norwegians to eat and relax in. Then upstairs to the room that David Howarth used as his office and bedroom. After WWII ended, the house remained empty for about 20 years before a family decided to buy it and then spend 18 months renovating it to become a bed and breakfast. This closed in 1997 and a family bought it and lived there for 4 years before deciding to move away. Tony and his wife bought it in 2001, moving from Fleet in Hampshire. Having moved they soon realised that the summer weather they were used to on their holidays was totally different in winter, but the have remained. They ran it as a B&B until 2017 and only recently decided to reopen this year with fewer rooms. For those who are interested, you can stay at Lunna House as they have the room David Howarth used with a double four posted bed and connecting to a twin bunk bed room for 2 children. (Lunna House Shetland Bed and Breakfast Accommodation) We chatted about lots of different things and I must have been there for over an hour. Finally I left to go and take some drone shots, but Tony advised the oystercatchers tend to feign attacks on his drone. I can certainly agree, there were about a dozen who kept buzzing my drone.

Finally I decided it was time to leave Lunna. Now I was cycling into a strong breeze up many rises in the road, then misty drizzle started. Back in Vidlin I decided to cycle to the small ferry terminal and this allowed me to take a couple of photos of the marina from a the opposite side. It certainly was more necessary to use the pedal assistance on the way back, but even after covering 8 miles I still had an almost full battery. When using high power the battery showed 3 bars out of 5, but once back to the boat it was still showing 5 bars. So the range is certainly going to be further than my legs can cope with at present.

To sum up, my visit to Lunna exceeded my wildest expectations. Hope you have enjoyed this post as much as I have writing it. Today I was going to move Concerto but dedided to stay another night as it has been raining hard and the place I am planning to visit has a museum that is closed on Fridays.


My new bike.


The quay at Lunna.


A closer view of the quay.


Lunna House. The room to the top left was David Howarth's room.


Plaque at Lunna House.


Vidlin Marina with Concerto being the nearest boat.


Vidlin Marina with the ferry terminal in the distance astern of Concerto.

 

[Blueboatman]

Fantastic read
You are supplementing my reading of the book Roger, with its B and W pics
That bike looks even neater than a Brompton ! Great asset

 

[dunedin]

Fantastic reports

My only advice when cycling on remote islands is when on the single track roads cycle up the centre. The roads are generally very quiet, but have had a couple of frights with vans coming up behind (unheard due to headwind) and trying to squeeze past with no width and at speed. Better to block the road entirely, but moving aside at overtaking spaces or pulling over to let the rare traffic past.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

My only advice when cycling on remote islands is when on the single track roads cycle up the centre. The roads are generally very quiet, but have had a couple of frights with vans coming up behind (unheard due to headwind) and trying to squeeze past with no width and at speed.

It gives you more space to manoeuvre if a haggis comes galloping across the moors not looking where he's going and nearly runs straight into you. That's a figure of speech - haggises can't run remotely straight, as we all know.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

And remember.
If the island has any traffic lights, and they turn red, continue cycling.

 

[Concerto]

So far walking and cycling, I have found the islanders on Shetland and Orkney have been very good and polite, one car the other day had to wait about 150 metres before he could overtake me on the bike on a normal road and then passed completely on the other side of the road.

On many of the other places I am planning to visit I should be able to use the bike to see places away from the coast. Even today it was nice being on a road with just sheep for quite a few miles. In all I met a Tesco delivery van by a passing place, had one car approach me again by a passing place and a Post Office van was behind and I pulled over to let him go by in an entrance to 2 properties, only to find he was going to these house. I did see only 2 other cars moving on the Lunna road whilst I was off the bike. So a very busy road.

 

[dunedin]

So far walking and cycling, I have found the islanders on Shetland and Orkney have been very good and polite, one car the other day had to wait about 150 metres before he could overtake me on the bike on a normal road and then passed completely on the other side of the road.

The vast majority are. And on the remote islands the traffic is extremely light. But the serious scares I had were commercial vans on roads with minimal traffic. North Uist for example. Quite possibly non-islanders, or rushing for a ferry.

 

[Concerto]

The next report is here.
Round Britain day 39