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Between Weathers: Travels in 21st Century Shetland
The Shetland Islands sit where the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea meet, closer to the Arctic Circle than to London. Over the centuries they have been a vital staging post for Vikings, Hanseatic traders and merchant sailors from faraway lands. Yet somehow, the same islands remain `off the map' of British consciousness.
Ron McMillan spent weeks on the unbeaten Shetland tourist path, braving the weathers to explore scenic landmarks, archaeological treasure troves and remote islands so under populated that for centuries they have lived with the threat of abandonment. A travel writer for more than twenty years, McMillan cast an inquisitive and witty eye over present-day Shetland to interweave the Islands' history, archaeology and 400-million-year-old geology with observations of a remarkably hospitable society that remains intricately connected to the outside world.
His warm and generous narrative is the first original Shetland travelogue since 1869. Set amidst fascinating locations and soaked in history, filled with stories skillfully told, this is a book for lovers of lyrical travel writing delivered with informed authority and irresistible humor.
Ron McMillan spent weeks on the unbeaten Shetland tourist path, braving the weathers to explore scenic landmarks, archaeological treasure troves and remote islands so under populated that for centuries they have lived with the threat of abandonment. A travel writer for more than twenty years, McMillan cast an inquisitive and witty eye over present-day Shetland to interweave the Islands' history, archaeology and 400-million-year-old geology with observations of a remarkably hospitable society that remains intricately connected to the outside world.
His warm and generous narrative is the first original Shetland travelogue since 1869. Set amidst fascinating locations and soaked in history, filled with stories skillfully told, this is a book for lovers of lyrical travel writing delivered with informed authority and irresistible humor.
284 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 12, 2017
Between weathers is a Shetland term that seems to refer to a fine day. McMillan spent a number of weeks exploring the geography, history, landscape and people of the Shetland Islands, a place that locals simply call Shetland. It is a remarkable place. There are off shore islands, such as Foula, which are easily visible from shore, and very difficult to reach. There are islands where local feuds undermine community unity.
McMillan also shares a great deal of local history. Before the oil boom, Shetland was a poor place. In past centuries, lairds ruled over their lives, and were often merciless. I have been to Shetland twice, and it is a place I plan to visit again. MacMillan shares just how much there is to see in Shetland. Much of what MacMillan accomplished is not for the faint hearted, as he describes climbing up to sea cliffs in order to experience the unparalleled views that Shetland provides.
As a lover of Shetland knitting, Shetland sheep and wool, and the whole history of Shetland fiber, this was one aspect of Shetland that I missed in his book. However, I do have a number of books on those topics. MacMillan's book is a must-read for anyone interested in Shetland, Scotland, and islands.
McMillan also shares a great deal of local history. Before the oil boom, Shetland was a poor place. In past centuries, lairds ruled over their lives, and were often merciless. I have been to Shetland twice, and it is a place I plan to visit again. MacMillan shares just how much there is to see in Shetland. Much of what MacMillan accomplished is not for the faint hearted, as he describes climbing up to sea cliffs in order to experience the unparalleled views that Shetland provides.
As a lover of Shetland knitting, Shetland sheep and wool, and the whole history of Shetland fiber, this was one aspect of Shetland that I missed in his book. However, I do have a number of books on those topics. MacMillan's book is a must-read for anyone interested in Shetland, Scotland, and islands.
August 18, 2021
McMillan is a journalist plain and simple. Not a naturalist, geologist, sociologist or even a lover of birds or sheep dogs—definitely not the dogs. Those specialties are the usual things that writers of travel books normally zoom in on with Scottish islands. McMillan has a modest sense of humor and probably didn’t really offend the Shetlanders. You get the impression that they have seen and heard it all before.
Like many people now I am truly disgusted with how people have such a terrible time getting along with each other. Slightly divergent beliefs can bring out the claws and sharp teeth. The Shetland Island of Papa Stour (population of under 12 when this book was published) demonstrates this is nothing new. They even made world news. Several times. One neighbor shot another neighbor’s collie in the leg. He claimed the dog bit his wife’s ponies. Others claimed it was a very well behaved dog. The shooter was a minister from a church that wasn’t usual to Papa Stour and considered difficult. A person in the collie camp dumped a bucked of dog shit on the minister’s head. Some people block the road to drivers of “the other side.” Some are hostile to outsiders although only a couple of families are truly born and bred. In spite of the loss of the school, threat of loss of jobs and ultimately complete depopulation and mortifying publicity they continue. The feud goes on. The outlook is better on most islands. Other places seem far more welcoming. He shows how life can be and always was hard. One resident of Fair Isle says people don’t have six jobs because they feel they are equally good at six different things. They need six jobs to get by and help keep their fellow islanders employed and kept in necessities like stores, schools and air fields.
Many businesses are tourism related, which is always a double-edged sword. So is assistance from oil companies and the National Trust. They need the money but have to tough out the regulations, disruption and higher prices.
“Between weathers “ is a local saying describing the intermittent good weather between storms and harsh wet conditions. McMillan tries to walk or hitch as much as possible and experiences plenty of “weather.” My favorite bit that he wrote about his time on the Shetlands was definitely the description of coming over by ferry in a category 9 or 10 storm and the agony of a night of sea-sickness.
Like many people now I am truly disgusted with how people have such a terrible time getting along with each other. Slightly divergent beliefs can bring out the claws and sharp teeth. The Shetland Island of Papa Stour (population of under 12 when this book was published) demonstrates this is nothing new. They even made world news. Several times. One neighbor shot another neighbor’s collie in the leg. He claimed the dog bit his wife’s ponies. Others claimed it was a very well behaved dog. The shooter was a minister from a church that wasn’t usual to Papa Stour and considered difficult. A person in the collie camp dumped a bucked of dog shit on the minister’s head. Some people block the road to drivers of “the other side.” Some are hostile to outsiders although only a couple of families are truly born and bred. In spite of the loss of the school, threat of loss of jobs and ultimately complete depopulation and mortifying publicity they continue. The feud goes on. The outlook is better on most islands. Other places seem far more welcoming. He shows how life can be and always was hard. One resident of Fair Isle says people don’t have six jobs because they feel they are equally good at six different things. They need six jobs to get by and help keep their fellow islanders employed and kept in necessities like stores, schools and air fields.
Many businesses are tourism related, which is always a double-edged sword. So is assistance from oil companies and the National Trust. They need the money but have to tough out the regulations, disruption and higher prices.
“Between weathers “ is a local saying describing the intermittent good weather between storms and harsh wet conditions. McMillan tries to walk or hitch as much as possible and experiences plenty of “weather.” My favorite bit that he wrote about his time on the Shetlands was definitely the description of coming over by ferry in a category 9 or 10 storm and the agony of a night of sea-sickness.
May 23, 2016
If you have ever had the good fortune of visiting the Shetland Isles you will undoubtedly enjoy this book. If you have ever had an inkling of visiting these northern isles you also will enjoy this book. If you enjoy enquiring, lyrical travel writing then get a copy of this most enjoyable travelogue by Ron McMillan. My wife and I were enchanted with Shetland where we recently enjoyed a holiday. I purchased a copy of this enthralling book in the Shetland Tourist Office in Lerwick. An evocative read with McMillan visiting many of the locations that we enjoyed and far more that we didn't, like Fair Isle (a must for a future visit), Papa Stour and the island of Foula.
McMillan enjoys flights on the Loganair Islander, sitting up front in the co-pilot's seat, this stubby little aircraft able to fly in most of the weather that Shetland has to throw at it. If ever a phrase was made for Shetland: "It's a day atween waddirs"... Between weathers.
This wonderful account of his travels brims with insights into the islands' wildlife, archaeology and geology and most of all it casts a warm and engaging light on Shetlanders themselves.
If you read this book and you haven't been to Shetland - you will want to.
McMillan enjoys flights on the Loganair Islander, sitting up front in the co-pilot's seat, this stubby little aircraft able to fly in most of the weather that Shetland has to throw at it. If ever a phrase was made for Shetland: "It's a day atween waddirs"... Between weathers.
This wonderful account of his travels brims with insights into the islands' wildlife, archaeology and geology and most of all it casts a warm and engaging light on Shetlanders themselves.
If you read this book and you haven't been to Shetland - you will want to.
April 5, 2024
When I was in primary school I had a teacher that told us about a friend of hers who didn't have money to travel around the world and would instead read travel books at home. I think this is the exact kind of book that would alleviate the wanderlust of anyone not being able to travel to Shetland and wanting to immerse themselves with its people and history. Written by someone with good intent, the book takes you through all the islands of the archipelago and introduces you to its inhabitants and ways of thinking. I could argue about how reading it is certainly better than stepping off a gigantic cruise ship and strolling aimlessly through the streets of Lerwick for a few hours. It shows exactly how a responsible and fulfilling trip should look like, and the real (but most times forgotten) reason why anyone should ever set out to travel.
December 23, 2016
Other than a few days in London, I have never been anywhere in the north Atlantic, least of all the isolated far northern islands of Shetland. And other than a sweater made from the wool of the sheep of these islands, I've no connection to them and little reason to be curious. That was before I read "Between Weathers", the kind of travel writing that simultaneously keeps you in your seat turning the page and leaves you itching to get out and see this world. This book hooked me from the beginning, as it put me in a cabin of a ferry boat while a force-8 gale raged outside. The author then goes on to deftly weave descriptions (and color photos) of the physical majesty as well as mortal dangers of the islands of Shetland with the history of the people who have struggled to live there. He brings us into the lives of sheepherders, fishermen, pilots, deep-sea divers, innkeepers, birders, and even brewers who make their homes on islands in the farthest reaches of the UK, most of which are further north than Oslo, Norway. By turns comic, touching, and sad, this book helps you see what makes people want to go to Shetland and live there, and also what can force them away. But more than just describe what he saw, the author manages to bring the reader, through a keen sense of the forces of history, a wit both charitable and at times caustic, and a photographer's eye for detail both of landscapes and of faces, to an understanding of this far away land and the people who love it. That is no mean feat. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I truly hope the writer goes somewhere else soon because I'd love to read about it.
April 1, 2021
I would’ve never read this but for having traveled to Shetland in 2019. (Wonderful place; can’t wait to go back).
McMillan writes in a familiar style as if you’re sitting elbow to elbow with him at the bar in the pub quaffing a few pints as he walks you through his travels.
He does an excellent job of weaving historical facts in with interviews of current inhabitants, while exploring the social-economic changes over recent decades and across centuries. And he talks about his travails while traveling. One tale that resonated with me was his borrowing a car and being warned about the wind being able to blow off the doors (but what about the trunk lid?). Our rental car had a sticker glued to the dashboard in stark red type warning about strong winds and the doors- and the insurance did not cover this damage. My years of sailing came in handy, always judging the wind when parking so the front of the car was pointed into the wind.
One astute observation concerns archeology in the area. The guide “...points out an eroded slope that from time to time delivers up shards of pottery and other artifacts from a Neolithic homestead. One-hundred-and-forty kilometers to the south-west, Skara Brae in Orkney is one of the most celebrated Neolithic homesteads on the planet, while here on Foula, unexcavated and slowly giving itself up to the combined might of the climate and the ocean, evidence of Foula’s own Neolithic history sits unmarked and unexplored.”
McMillan writes in a familiar style as if you’re sitting elbow to elbow with him at the bar in the pub quaffing a few pints as he walks you through his travels.
He does an excellent job of weaving historical facts in with interviews of current inhabitants, while exploring the social-economic changes over recent decades and across centuries. And he talks about his travails while traveling. One tale that resonated with me was his borrowing a car and being warned about the wind being able to blow off the doors (but what about the trunk lid?). Our rental car had a sticker glued to the dashboard in stark red type warning about strong winds and the doors- and the insurance did not cover this damage. My years of sailing came in handy, always judging the wind when parking so the front of the car was pointed into the wind.
One astute observation concerns archeology in the area. The guide “...points out an eroded slope that from time to time delivers up shards of pottery and other artifacts from a Neolithic homestead. One-hundred-and-forty kilometers to the south-west, Skara Brae in Orkney is one of the most celebrated Neolithic homesteads on the planet, while here on Foula, unexcavated and slowly giving itself up to the combined might of the climate and the ocean, evidence of Foula’s own Neolithic history sits unmarked and unexplored.”
July 22, 2021
I'm ambivalent about the nature writing shelf for this book, because it is more of a general, people-and-history type travel book, but the place features strongly enough that I'm willing to make the categorization. McMillan is a really thorough observer, which causes me to forgive his occasional sins (some incidental, boring misogyny directed out at celebrities rather than at people he directly encounters and some weird but also incidental apologetics for Britain's colonial projects). An interesting nuance of the book is that Shetland is sustained (and has been for a long time) by some problematic through to pretty evil industries, and the ethics of those industries (commercial fishing, whaling, military outposts, and oil) are not abstract - they're integral to lifeline jobs for whole communities, and the people who have those jobs have really interesting relationships to them, which sometimes are addressed head on and sometimes only obliquely. Overall I was quite impressed.
September 17, 2023
Overall, I enjoyed this book and it certainly left me with an increased desire to visit Shetland. McMillan writes in a very engaging and down-to-earth style and seems to have a genuine respect and liking for Shetland and its people. I could have done without the schoolboy humour (e.g. he spends an entire page being 'funny' about his attempt to pee outside in cold weather, and later on, several more paragraphs are expended on different types of sheep poo) especially when it takes up valuable page space that could better be devoted to the place he is visiting - for example, Lerwick is barely mentioned. But it's still well worth reading for anyone who is interested in Shetland.
February 3, 2012
Excellent! If you never wanted to visit the Shetland Islands, you certainly would after reading this. Warmth, humour and a "Local Hero" type book. Every one of the 23 reviews on Amazon has 5 stars. Next year a film is being made on one of the islands which should promote tourism and keep the islands from being abandoned.
January 20, 2015
A looong book in the way that is a lyrical narrative (the author, besides telling us his trip, goes through Shetland history and geology). However, it is a good way to learn lots of stuff about the islands.
February 5, 2014
Read this after spending a month working in Shetland. It captures a sense of place, storytelling, history and humour in a delightful, gentle and engaging way.
December 31, 2012
Great read, humour abundant. Enhanced my trip there earlier this year.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews