Lerwick

Lerwick is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago in Scotland. It is the only burgh in Shetland and had about 7,000 residents in 2010. Lerwick is the northernmost big settlement in the United Kingdom.

Lerwick is located 123 miles (200 km) off the north coast of Scotland. It sits on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland. Lerwick is 211 miles (340 km) north-by-northeast of Aberdeen. It is 222 miles (357 km) west of Bergen in Norway. It is also 228 miles (367 km) southeast of Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands.

One of the UK's coastal weather stations is in Lerwick. The local climate changes little through the year because of the sea nearby. Lerwick is further north than Saint Petersburg and three of the four main Nordic capitals. It is at the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska. This means Lerwick has very long summer nights with only twilight. In winter, it has short days with less than six hours of full daylight.

History

Lerwick's name means "bay of clay." People have lived in the area since the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Ancient buildings like the Broch of Clickimin from the Iron Age show this.

The first settlement called Lerwick started in the 17th century. It was a seaport for trading herring and white fish with Dutch fishermen. Stone buildings replaced wooden huts, and Lerwick became the capital of the Shetland Islands in 1708. The town grew with sea trade and fishing. It expanded again during the North Sea oil boom in the 1970s.

Climate

Lerwick has a cool climate with mild temperatures all year. It is often cloudy and gets about 1,158 sunshine hours each year. February is the coldest month, with average highs around 5.8 °C. August is the warmest, with averages around 14.7 °C. The town gets more rain from October to January and less in May and June. Snow may fall from December to March but does not usually pile up. Strong winds are common because Lerwick is near the North Atlantic.

Because Lerwick is far north, its days change a lot with the seasons. In winter, the town gets only about 5 hours and 49 minutes of daylight. In summer, daylight can last nearly 19 hours. The sea helps keep the climate from becoming too harsh.

Demography

Lerwick has 6,958 residents, based on information from 2011. Most people in Lerwick are White Scottish. A few residents are from Asian or other backgrounds. More than half of the people work full-time, and about one-fifth have part-time jobs.

Industry and economy

Lerwick is a busy fishing and ferry port. The harbour also helps ships that work with the offshore oil industry.

Power supply

Lerwick gets its main power from the Lerwick Power Station in Gremista. This power station helps keep the town’s lights on and everything running.

Notable buildings

Lerwick has many important buildings. Some of them are Fort Charlotte, Lerwick Town Hall, the Böd of Gremista, Shetland Museum, and the Broch of Clickimin. Some scenes for the BBC’s Shetland were filmed in Lerwick because it is a historic place.

Transportation

Lerwick is connected by Tingwall Airport, which is a short distance away, and Sumburgh Airport, which has flights to some places in Scotland all year.

Ferry services are also important for transportation. NorthLink Ferries run a daily overnight ferry between Lerwick and Aberdeen, often stopping at Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands. The Shetland Islands Council has a car ferry service, called a ro-ro ferry, to nearby islands like Out Skerries and Bressay from a terminal in the town center. Local bus travel is managed by the Regional Transport Partnership, known as ZetTrans, with several bus companies operating routes across the town, including a central Viking bus station.

Schools and education

Lerwick has one main secondary school called Anderson High School. The town is also home to Shetland College, which is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands. This college offers degree programs and other courses.

Hospitals and healthcare

The Gilbert Bain Hospital provides important health services for people in Shetland. Nearby, the Montfield Hospital is an older hospital that also helps care for the people of Lerwick.

Sport

Lerwick has four football teams: Lerwick Spurs, Lerwick Thistle, Lerwick Celtic, and Lerwick Rangers. The Clickimin Leisure Complex opened on 30 March 1985. It has sports facilities such as a swimming pool and an open court for the town's residents to use.

Media

Television in Lerwick comes from the Bressay TV transmitter. There is a local radio station called SIBC that broadcasts every day from Market Street. Another station, BBC Radio Shetland, is part of BBC Radio Scotland and works from Pitt Lane. The area also has a weekly newspaper named The Shetland Times, located in Gremista just outside Lerwick. There is a media company called Millgaet Media Group based at the North Ness Business Park.

Culture

Lerwick has strong ties with Scandinavian countries, especially Norway. The town has a friendship agreement with a place called Måløy in Norway. This shows that the people of Lerwick and Norway share similar traditions and interests.

Events

Lerwick hosts many important events for the Shetland area. The most famous is the Up Helly Aa fire festival. This happens on the last Tuesday of January every year. People come together to enjoy music, dancing, and special fireworks.

Places of worship

Lerwick has several churches. These include the Adam Clarke Memorial Methodist Church and the Baptist Church on Clairmont Place. There is also St. Columba's Church, which is one of three buildings of the Lerwick and Bressay Parish Church. Other churches are St. Magnus' Church on Greenfield Place and St. Margaret's Roman Catholic Church. In the 1800s, Lerwick had a Free Church on South Hill Head.

Lerwick does not have a Muslim place of worship now, but there are plans to change the old Lochside Stores building into a mosque.

Notes and references

This section has notes and references used in the article about Lerwick. It includes sources and extra information that back up the facts here. Readers can see the references listed here for more details.