Happy Wanderers: August 10, 2023

August 10, 2023 - Thursday - Lerwick, Shetland Islands

The passage from Aberdeen was almost calm. It was certainly peaceful. we arrived with a sunny sky full of puffy clouds. We were ready to walk when we boarded the shuttle into town. Our stop was at the foot of town near the visitor center. we stopped there for a map and discovered that the map provided on the ship was very good.

We started out and when Alice stopped to take some pictures, I returned to the visitor center to ask how old the building was. The young man who helped me said it dated back to the middle 1700s. He then went on to tell me some of the history of the old city. He talked about Arthur Anderson who founded P & O Shipping. He earned his wealth in the shipping industry and gave back to the town in gratitude. He built a school, employee housing and a widows home for wives of employees lost at sea. He told me where to look for these and I went on my way.

As Alice and I set out to find the Anderson sights we met a passenger who told us that if we were interested in seeing the Lodberries we should go to the left and not up the hill. We did not know what Lodberries were but they were in our desired direction. We made our way past buildings on the water that were hundreds of years old. We passed the Lerwick Boating club and then we saw an older gentleman taking a long ladder to his van. After setting it down he returned to lock the tall gate to his property. We watched him load the ladder into his van and then Alice asked if she could take his picture. He had a beard, a ruddy complexion and a cheery smile. He asked why we would want his picture and then he agreed. We talked about where he lived. He said he owned a Lodberry and he asked if we would like to see it. What good fortune.

Before we returned to the gate we exchanged names. He was Alexander Fox but was always called Xander and he preferred that. He unlocked the gate and opened it into a small court. His house was at the other end. This was a Lodberry. Xander explained that originally this was vacant ground with water access used for loading and unloading products from ships that came right up. One day one owner decided to build his house on the lot to be closer to his work. That started the others to build also. Xander’s story came slowly, but it did come as he showed us around.

He unlocked the door to the house and led us in. We stepped down into a carpentry shop. Xander was a jointer and set up his shop on this ground floor. The upstairs was a living unit that he rented out to a man. Xander had purchased the Lodberry in 1986 with plans to live here. He was one of four children and unbeknownst to him his siblings had a meeting with their parents and all agreed that Xander would get the family home. So, Xander lived there and never moved into the Lodberry. He did keep it for his shop.

Next he took us out a side door into an open space that he owned between his Lodberry and the Lerwick Boating Club. This gave him access to the club’s pier. We went out and took in the view. The whole time Xander was filling us in on the history of what we were seeing. We went back through his shop to the courtyard and he locked the door. As we walked toward the gate to leave, he explained that the man who owned the three story Lodberry next door had a business during the war to dive and recover armament for the navy. He took us into a small shed at the rear that still had the beams and pulleys used to hoist the heavy diving gear.

Xander's Lodberry

Water view to town center

Again we headed toward the gate. He told us that his neighbor was Swiss and married to a Swedish woman. They lived in Switzerland but vacationed in the small flat here. Xander looked after it for them and had a key. He said that they had a copy of a history of the Lodberries inside. He went back to his shop to get the key and led us into the neighbor’s house. While we admired the small place he looked for the book but he could not find it. We went out and he locked up. Now we exited the courtyard and he locked the gate.

Flat above the workshop

Diver's shed

His neighbors' Lodberry

Thank you, Xander

Live Long and Prosper

As we walked toward his van he told us that below the cemetery was a concrete platform that the navy had used to store and launch torpedos for the protection of the harbor. It was testing here that led to the need for the diver and recovery of the fired torpedos. We thanked each other for the time spent together and he went on his way. So did we.

Farther down the lane we came to the widow’s home. It is still in use today, perhaps as a hotel. Next was the Anderson School. It is no longer used as a school. The current school is some distance away around the bay. Around this school are horrid apartment buildings built for public housing. . As we continued our walk we discovered that the ugly buildings are now being torn down. It appeared that a developer had acquired all of the land around the Anderson property. The historic site remained with ugly housing built right up to the property line. Horrific!

We continued walking until we reached the top of a hill overlooking the bay and more housing on the opposite side and the cemetery on this side. There was also a WC here. After using the necessary room we walked into the cemetery. We finished our survey and then looked for the torpedo platform Xander had told us about. This cemetery is huge and extends down the hill to the water. We could not see the platform from here. We walked back to the road and followed it out to a point that is a kind of land’s end. From there we could see the concrete torpedo platform quite a way down the hill and almost half a mile away. We turned around and headed toward town.

Our new objectives were the library and then the town hall. They were across the street from each other. We went to the library first to see if they had a copy of the Lodberry history. They did. They also told us we could buy it at the bookstore near our shuttle stop. We asked if we could visit the children’s section. Of course they said yes. It was very attractively decorated and very inviting. We spent some time admiring it before we crossed the street to Town Hall.

The special feature of Town Hall was the stained glass windows. As we entered the building a sign told us that only the ground floor windows were available for viewing because the upstairs room was closed to set up for a wedding. We were disappointed but started to look at the windows available. They were beautiful and we were sorry we could not see the others. As we were about to leave we met the couple who had directed us toward the Lodberries earlier. We took the time to thank them and explained our good fortune with Xander. We all continued toward the exit when we met an employee coming down the hall. He stopped us and said he would check to see if the wedding setup was done. He did. It was. He told us we were welcome to proceed upstairs. This was another stroke of good luck today. If we had not stopped to thank this couple we would have missed the attendant. All four of us went up and viewed the windows. They were even nicer than those downstairs.

Having viewed all of the windows, Alice and I set out to find the bookstore. This led us through the quaint central business district. It was small but interesting and we did find the bookstore. They had several copies of the Lodberry history. We bought one and found a reference Alexander Fox on page 13. This is what Xander was looking for when he took us into his neighbor’s house.