Hamnavoe is a Viking word meaning "safe harbour"; any coastal settlement with a pier might have taken the name at the time. Stromness, on the Orkneys, was the main known hamnavoe, but several villages in the Shetlands are old safe harbours with the same name.
Now this one Hamnavoe is on West Burra islet, west of Scalloway. Right on the Ultima Thule route from the north of the British Islands upwards to the Arctic.
Hamnavoe, Burra, Shetland Islands
Coordinates: 60 06' N, 01 21' W
Population: 300 - 400
Hamnavoe is the main settlement on Burra, but there is no historic heritage, and nor specially rich architecture or picturesque sights. The hamlet had just a few cottages in 1890, but in the 1920s, when access was still by ferry from the Mainland, it was expanded with rows of fishermen cottages, as part of an urban planning policy. It's common to see fishing boats outside someone's home.
The fishing community, built on the site of an older small sheltered harbour, grew rapidly: around 1920, there was even a family of boatbuilders, the Duncans of Hamnavoe.
The cottages are typically single storey with two rooms, a central front door and a porch, often highly decorated.
Hamnavoe is 5 km from Scalloway and 9 km from Lerwick, with regular bus service. Those provide all the shops and services. In Hamnavoe there is only a Community Hall, a Primary School, and a grocery shop that is also the Post Office: Andrew Halcrow's store.
Andrew Halcrow is a quite renowned lone yachtman from Hamnavoe who attempted twice to sail round the world, in a boat he had built himself - the Elsi Arrub (that's Burra Isle backwards). But that's a long story, to be found elsewhere.
One of the most iconic cottages is a small shed whose walls are covered with natural seashells:
The heart of Hamnavoe is its harbour, complete with its pier. Sheltered from the ocean by a granite promontory, that's the reason for the village to exist.
The haven is suited to small boats that can be harboured close inshore.
Large scale fishing ended long ago, nowadays only fishermen's boats and leisure boats are moored at the marina.
Recently, a local resident, Anne Eunson, started making fences for the garden around her house with fishnet strings, knitted in an artistic manner that ravished everyone who saw.
It has been a success - transmitted by the social media they became widely known.
Around Hamnavoe
The Fugla Ness lighthouse
There is a lighthouse at Fugla Bay opposite Hamnavoe. It was built by David A. Stevenson in 1893 and rebuilt by Charles and David A. Stevenson in 1936.
Meal Kirk and beach
A small grey-harled church with white painted window surrounds. Improvements are planned to increase use of the building by the community.
Meal Beach
So, a kind and southerly (!) Ultima Thule, more a stopover to higher latitudes.
