RockStanza.Info - Brochs of Shetland

Starting from Huxter (HU174572) near Sandness, we set off to the site shown on 1:50000 OS map as a Broch. It didn't look like much, although could have been heavily modified to keep grow crops inside. The inside wall is neat all the way round to a height of around 1 metre. No outside wall to speak of except possibly at one corner.

Moving south round the coast, we enjoyed the spectacular cliff views and climbed up the steep Banks Head to Ramna Vord. From here we descended to Deep Dale (working west for 5 minutes) and continued south to Dale of Walls. We found significant driftwood at the Dale of Walls beach.

From the beach, a relatively short walk took us to the Loch of Goster, where we set up camp on the west side. There was nothing in the way of shelter there, however the evening was quite still with a fair forecast.

The next morning we visited the site on the map marked as a broch at HU176507) (Watsness). This looked a bit more promising as a broch site. Heading south again, we rounded The Hamar and the coastal area marked Fidlar Geo to reach Footabrough, marked as a broch at HU201495. This site is a strong candidate broch - showing signs of a lintelled passage (collapsed) and the general layout one might associate with a broch.

Heading to our pick up point a Burrastow House, we walked on a bearing past the Loch of Breck and to the comfort of a waiting car.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera! However one of us took some shots on a mobile phone, which I hope to get hold of.