Cunningsburgh Touring Park

12/05/2024

The fantastic Guidebook is now available for order, great for anyone with a interest in Shetland. 👍🏼

Shetland: Your Essential Travel GuideAn exciting new guidebook, celebrating Shetland’s beauty and rich cultural heritage.Created by the travel writer and Shetlander Laurie Goodlad and the Shetland publisher Misa Hay, two passionate advocates for the islands’ unique charm, this guidebook is an in...

03/07/2023

Storm petrel trip
00:08 4th July 2023

08/01/2023

Looking forward to our 2023 Mousa season, this photo was taken on a Storm Petrel evening trip in June 2022. Just magical.

16/12/2022

A few options for our first issue of oysters..

£15 per dozen in mesh bag
£20 per dozen boxed with oyster knife
£35 per 2 dozen boxed with oyster knife

Sorry we have no card reader so cash / cheque on collection / delivery for now.

We will have orders available for collection here at the croft on 21,22,23 December.

Looking to offer free delivery on the morning of 23rd December within a 15 mile radius of Weisdale.

We’ve also had a few orders from the kind folk at the Sooth end so we will be delivering doon by anywhere on the morning o the 21st.

For orders / enquiries please message on here or call 07881278554.

Cheers!🤠

01/11/2022

Thought I would share this story for all you caravaners, light reading for a winters day when the van is in storage

‘Moder dy’, a Shetland dialect phrase meaning mother wave, an underlying swell of the sea, which experienced 19th century small open boat fishermen could use to guide them to land.

Here is a short story, of a time when my Great Great Great Great Grandfather read the ‘Moder Dy’ to bring the boat and crew home.

Forgive me if a little difficult to read due to place names or specific names of things, however please do ask if unsure of the meanings.

Hope you enjoy it, stay safe folks.

Darron.

————-————————

JOHN SMITH (My Great x4 Grandfather)

The 1840’s were known as the “hungry forties” when bad weather, lack of fish and poor harvests almost wrecked the local economy.

Matthew Henderson of Gord told this story in the early 1980’s when he was over 90 years of age.

The far-water was a fishing ground some 30-35 miles NE of the Bard, around 40 miles from home. For fine weather according to Robbie Smith of Aith who was probably the last person living in the district who had been on the far-water in a sixareen it took a full 12 hours steady rowing in fine weather before they shot.

John Smith was skipper of the boat when she was caught in a gale at the far-water, late in the season. The wind was from the NW or NNW so they got the sail in the starboard tack and set for home. It started to snow and as they carried no navigation instruments he navigated by means of the Möder-Dy (the mother wave), the ancient system used by the Norsemen when making long passages. The dry-card compasses available at the time would have been worse than useless in a small boat in bad weather. Deep oceans swells moving towards the land always run in the same direction, no matter what the wind blown sea on top of them is doing. Trained eyes could detect these swells and note where variations in them indicated what might be termed ocean-crossroads. This art died out with the coming of the decked herring boats although something similar still exists among the natives of islands of the Central Pacific. As they drove towards the land, Johnny found it necessary to stand up to get better visibility. He needed to see lumps of breaking water on the weather quarter to have time to take avoiding action and prevent the boat from being swamped. He dug his legs deep among the wet lines coiled in the shott and could thus stand his full height without fear of being knocked overboard. His navigations was good, as he brought the boat right to their home beach but with the wind lying on they couldn’t land, so they went into Lambigeo, a little further North, where they could get shelter and landed there.
By this time the skippers legs were completely numb and he had to be carried ashore. He never walked again, remaining lame for the rest of his life. Unable to go to sea, he lost his boat and about the same time Bruce of Sumburgh (who was in financial difficulties himself), took away the Blosta outrun and divided it into four new crofts in order increase his tenancies.

Photo credit unknown (to show traditional Shetland fishing boat) The sixareen in the picture is the Industry LK718 racing under dipping lug sail at Waas circa 1890. Photograph 02473 Shetland Museum & Archives

24/10/2022

Cunningsburgh Touring Park

https://www.ctp.holiday

Greenmow, Cunningsburgh
Shetland
ZE2 9HG

Phone: 07470899605

E-mail: [email protected]

24/10/2022

Cunningsburgh Touring park facilities are fantastic, Electric pillar hook up, Laundry, Showers and Toilets, Kitchen and Dining area
Disabled Access, Spectacular scenery.

Look at the view you can have a break from your Caravan or camper van and make a meal in the site kitchen while looking out over the marina.

24/10/2022

Taken 2017 showing plenty Caravan pitches and we have even more now 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

24/10/2022

SOUTH MAINLAND EXPERIENCE (Cunningsburgh and South)
We know how difficult it can be to plan a family day out during the school summer holidays especially if you’re travelling from the other end of Shetland! so to help you we’ve put together this short guide, it's a list of some of what the South Mainland has to offer. We hope this will help you to plan and pack out a full day, taking in more than one visitor attraction which will make your long drive much more worthwhile, the list will also help you to find places to eat along the way. Now if caravanning or camping is your thing, we have well equipped sites so you can stay longer and take advantage of even more of our wonderful visitor attractions.

HAPPY HOLIDAY PLANNING!!

Visitor Attractions (starting furthest north)

• Cunningsburgh History Hut
• Mousa Boat (Broch and Wildlife)
• Sandsayre Pier and Interpritive Centre (History/displays)
• Hoswick Visitor Centre (History/Displays)
• Hill walk to WW2 mosquito aircraft crash site
• St Ninians Isle (tombolo beach)
• View Seals at the Rerwick Beach
• Quendale Watermill
• Crofthouse Museum
• Old Scatness
* Ness of Burgi (coastal walk) out past Scatness
• Jarlshoff
• Sumburgh Lighthouse

Please note in addition to the above list there are numerous beautiful coastal walks to enjoy.

Places to Eat (starting furthest north)
• MacKenzie’s Farm Shop
• Hoswick Visitor Centre
• Spiggie Hotel
• Sumburgh Hotel
• Sumburgh Lighthouse
• Bistro Volare, Sumburgh Airport

Caravan/Campervan Parks with Facilities (starting furthest north)
• Cunningsburgh Marina
• Levenwick Hall Campsite
• Ness Boating Club

There are also a few public playparks with sitting areas where you can enjoy a packed lunch while the bairns burn off some energy after their long drive. These can be found at;

* Cunningsburgh Primary School
• Sandwick Central
* Hoswick ( new play park)
• Bigton
• Boddam Football Pitch
• Virkie (Hestingott)


Please also note that a some of the visitor attractions, places to eat and caravan/camp sites have their own Web sites and pages, look them up for opening times and more Info.

Please feel free to share this useful guide also if you have any questions about the above, just ask we’ll be delighted to help.

Promote Shetland
The Mousa Boat

24/10/2022

Welcome to Cunningsburgh Touring Park –Nice relaxing break in the Shetland Islands
Welcome to Cunningsburgh Touring Park & Marina. There is a nightly charge of £20.00 for caravan and motorhomes. We hope you enjoy your visit to these beautiful islands and find our facilities welcoming.

Cunningsburgh Touring Park sits snugly alongside a small quiet marina, on the sheltered east shore of Aithsvoe, Cunningsburgh, Shetland.

A fifteen minute drive south from Lerwick, through picturesque countryside, will see you sitting comfortably in our fully serviced, four star touring park. Our heated facility building provides showers, toilets, laundry facilities and a spacious kitchen/dining area for cooking meals. Ideally suited for relaxing with friends and enjoying the splendid view over the peaceful marina and across the Voe to the village and hills beyond.

The surrounding area is steeped in local history and abundant with wildlife, offering an ideal base for both marine and land based activities. With many outdoor walks to choose from in Cunningsburgh, one idyllic picnic excursion, is the leisurely walk east from the park to the old ruins at Helliness, taking in a wonderful array of wildlife as well as giving splendid views North to Lerwick and South to the atmospheric little hamlet of Leebitton, and the island of Mousa lying closely offshore.

Authentic Shetland knitwear is produced locally in Cunningsburgh by “Barbara Isbister Knitwear” and “Shetland Designer” and can be viewed and purchased directly from them.

A short drive from the marina, adjacent and south a little from Mail beach, is the ancient Viking quarry at Catpund, here pots and bowls were carved from soapstone for both local use and export. Some can still be seen carved on the rocks, waiting to be chipped off and hollowed out.

An information board provides excellent historic details.

Further south, sitting on the Sandsayre foreshore at Leebitton, is the small award winning interpretation building, also serving as the waiting room for catching the short ferry trip across to Mousa.

West a little from Sandsayre is Sandwick Baking Company grocers, then further down the road the Hoswick Visitors Centre with café, local interpretation.

All this and more within just a ten minute drive from our Touring Park.
Look forward to seeing you.

Promote Shetland
The Mousa Boat

24/10/2022