Scalloway – a village building a bright future

Scalloway is more than a harbourside village in Shetland's Central Mainland – it is a community actively building its future while honouring its past.

There is a lot to the village. From a new caravan park attracting visitors year-round and ambitious waterfront plans looking a century ahead to the annual ceremonies celebrating the village's wartime links to Norway and a museum delving into the village's long history.

Mark Burgess lives in Scalloway. As a photographer, he notices things others might miss. But there's one view that stops him every time: approaching the village from the Scord corner, overlooking the voe and harbour.

"The view of fjord-like hills and sheltered harbour is iconic and ever-changing," he explains. "A one-time visitor and a life-long resident are almost equally likely to stop and take in a particular light-crafted vista."

That sense of discovery, of a place that constantly reveals something new, runs through everything happening in and around Scalloway.

Scalloway Caravan Park opened with a simple aim: to provide that kind of visitor accommodation in an area that had lacked it for years. What's emerged has exceeded all expectations.

"It's been busy since it started," says John Hunter, treasurer of Scalloway Community Development Company (SCDC).

Open 365 days a year, the four-star facility draws visitors even during Shetland's shoulder seasons, a crucial boost for local tourism.

"We've had a number of repeat visitors as well that have come up and really enjoyed it and come back again," adds Diana Abernethy, the development manager.

The success stories keep building. Shetlanders from other islands use the park for weekend breaks or to avoid the journey home after time in Lerwick. Visitors discover a base that puts them within easy reach of both Scalloway's amenities and the wider West Side landscapes.

But the caravan park is just one piece of SCDC's work. "We've brought well over a million pounds of external funding into the village in the short time we've been in operation," Mark notes.

All of this, driven entirely by volunteers working alongside Diana and the small development team.

As a working harbour village, the biggest project currently underway in Scalloway is the waterfront development: a plan that looks not just at today but at fifty or a hundred years ahead. It is a bold plan to enhance the whole village, improving commercial opportunities and amenities.

"We've secured the funding to do this next phase, which is developing the plans and the business case," Diana explains. The vision encompasses improved amenities and flood defences, building on the spirit of those who developed the waterfront for commerce a century ago.

Funding comes together in pieces: a few thousand here, a hundred thousand there, half a million from another source.

"You kind of make sure that they all kind of fit together and you can make it work," John says. It's patient, determined work that requires both vision and pragmatism.

What strikes visitors about Scalloway is how much exists within such a compact space.

"It's probably twice the size of some places with half the population," John observes.

Two well-stocked shops with excellent opening hours. Hairdressers, barbers, beauticians. An architect’s firm. Shellfish processing. Fish processing on the pier. A garage. Home bakers. Plumbers. Self-employed fishermen with boats in the harbour. The list goes on.

Joanna Hunter's Ninian Knitwear is manufactured in the village, and she hosts tour groups in her workshop space.

QA Fish operates their shellfish processing unit on the pier, having expanded multiple times. These are more than mere businesses: they are employers with deep roots in the community.

Public transport connections to Lerwick are excellent. The school serves nursery through to primary seven. The private nursery, Hame fae Hame, draws children from all over Shetland, with childcare starting at breakfast time so parents can work in Scalloway, Lerwick or elsewhere nearby.

For artist Sarah Kay, the relationship between place and business is inseparable. "Scalloway isn't just where my business is based, it's the reason it works at all," she says.

"Everything I do is rooted in place. The chalets, my art studio, and even the garden all grow out of this hillside in Scalloway. We have wide skies, no trees to block the light, huge shifting weather systems, and those extraordinary sunsets and auroras that stop you in your tracks.

“The landscape is dramatic and exposed, and that rawness feeds directly into my artwork and the experience visitors have when they stay here."

The rugged reality is something that visitors find appealing, says Sarah,

"They appreciate that this isn't a polished resort setting, it's a working, living place.

"In Shetland, and especially in Scalloway, businesses aren't separate from the community; they're part of it."

Every May 17^th, the Scalloway community gathers for a memorial ceremony marking Norwegian National Day. The connection runs deep.

Scalloway was the base for the Shetland Bus operations during World War Two and the museum documenting this history draws visitors year-round, including coachloads from cruise ships.

"There's quite a few [residents] that are descended from people from the Shetland bus," John explains.

The museum, run entirely by volunteers, hosts major events and visiting boats, keeping this important history alive.

Mark's involvement spans multiple community groups: SCDC, the Youth and Community Centre, Community Council, and Public Hall. His enthusiasm for what volunteers achieve never dims.

"The Youth and Community Centre is an extraordinarily good amenity, entirely created through volunteer efforts," he says. "It would be the envy of anywhere in the UK."

The building offers a games hall, cafeteria, snooker, pool, darts, multiple gaming systems, and a music production suite, all in a village of 1,300 people.

It hosts everything from Rainbows and Brownies to Over 60s, Youth Cafe and family parties. The Scalloway Fire Festival galley and Jarl's Squad is first revealed to the public there each year.

The British Legion runs monthly events for younger crowds, "heavy metal punk type" nights, as John describes it. The Boating Club puts on live music. The hall hosts Halloween parties and Valentine dances for children.

"From simple things like a community Halloween party for the bairns, to the massive logistics operation that the Scalloway Fire Festival achieves each year in the depths of winter, when folk work together creatively, it is both gift and reward," Mark reflects.

Walk Scalloway's streets and you'll find that errands take longer than expected, because there's always someone to chat to!

"Spend time walking the streets, and you find people friendly, and getting things done can take longer than you expect when you take time to chat to folk," Mark says.

Step over a stile and you're in open hill land. The castle draws countless photographs, but it's part of the village fabric, not a standalone destination. The harbour constantly shifts with fishing boats heading to market and leisure craft coming and going.

Mark says: "The local marinas are packed, and leisure boating is like a hunger that is woven into the heart of Shetlanders, new and old."

New housing developments behind the school have brought young families to the village. The colourful Nordic-styled buildings contrast with the mix of architectural styles from two centuries of commerce and occupation, a charm that could never be planned.

Mark's photography captures aspects that even long-time residents might overlook. "Visitors often comment on the ease of walking to well-stocked shops, while also enjoying the tranquillity of the leafy lanes and views that we take for granted."

In winter, state-of-the-art smartphone cameras capture the aurora from village doorsteps, a regular spectacle that brings "a buzz of excited wonderment" to lucky visitors.

Diana and John are clear-eyed about the reality: more volunteers are always needed. But the momentum is real.

Six major projects are underway. The caravan park thrives year-round. Waterfront plans are taking shape, offering employment opportunities, and services and amenities that punch well above the village's size.

For newcomers considering the move, Mark offers this perspective: "Scalloway retains the blend of a small rural community while also being a growing population centre... A door left unlocked is not an 'opportunity' for those with ill intent here, it is a passive statement that the likelihood of wrongdoing is almost negligible."

He adds: "It is what you make of it, and when people come here and take time to 'get it', the rewards can be great.

"A three-day visit is fun, but making time to live here, even for a holiday, can be life-changing."