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Lerwick is the capital of Shetland and lies 100 miles north of Scotland and 50 miles north of the Orkney Islands. Over half of the population live here in Lerwick and the link to Viking ancestry in the Shetalnds is strong - fire festivals, boat races and the burning of Viking Galley Boats. For somewhere so far north, Shetland has a remarkably mild climate - in winter it’s the warmest place on earth at this latitude influenced by warm waters of the Gulf Stream.
Shetland was first settled in the Neolithic times, about 3000 BC. Since then, the Picts, Vikings and Norse have all come and gone and stayed, leaving their marks across the landscape. Scattered about the islands you can see the remains of various structures, including rochs, roundhouses and cairns.
The museum in Lerwick depicts a long harsh life for those who lived here in earlier times. Fishermen, whalers, crofters and farmers, and the Clearances. Many Shetlanders have had to find a life elsewhere and have made their mark across the world. New Zealand has many Shetland descendants, as has the USA, Canada and Australia.
