Walls
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 Boats at Walls on a warm summer afternoon | |
  Walls Location withinScotland | |
| OS grid reference | HU240494 |
| Civil parish |
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| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SHETLAND |
| Postcode district | ZE2 |
| Dialling code | (01595) 809xxx |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 60°13′44″N1°33′54″W / 60.229°N 1.565°W /60.229; -1.565 | |
Walls, traditionally pronouncedWaas, is a settlement on the south side ofWest Mainland,Shetland Islands inScotland. The settlement is at the head of Vaila Sound and sheltered even from southerly storms by the islands ofLinga andVaila. Walls is within the parish of Walls andSandness which includes the islands ofFoula,Papa Stour, Vaila and Linga.[1]
The name is from theOld Norse:Vágar meaningvoes or bays.[2] This became Waas in theShetlandic dialect - but how this then came to be spelled "Walls" is not certain. MacBain quotesF. W. L. Thomas: "How, I ask, couldvágr come to be represented by wall? Whence came thell? Was it that Scottish immigrants finding the sound ofvá represented it in writing by 'wall,' thell at first being silent?"[3]
One form of the area's old name wasVágarland,[3] hence the pen name of local poet 'Vagaland'.
A pier was built at Walls in the 18th century, and from 1838, it was a centre for fish curing. Walls itself is a quieter place than once it was. The large houses of Bayhall, now converted into flats, and Voe House are signs of past wealth, as are the three churches visible around the head of the sound. Two are still in use, while the third bears a sign showing its later conversion to a bakery.
On June 25, 1958, theEstonian fisherman Erich Teayn (a.k.a. Erik Klaub) escaped from the Soviet shipUkrania in Walls by commandeering a motorboat. He was pursued across the countryside by 30 Soviet crewmen, but he managed to evade capture and was eventually granted asylum by the British government.[4][5][6]
Walls was the childhood home of two poets,Vagaland (Thomas Alexander Robertson, 1909–1973) andChristine De Luca (born 1947). In 1884 it was the birthplace of both Peter Fraser (1884–1966), musician and founder member of theShetland Fiddlers' Society, and William Moffatt, author.
A little to the east of the centre of the village is the marina, making this a popular base for leisure sailors. The fishing vessels that are still based in Walls tend to use the pier a few hundred yards along the west side of Vaila Sound. This is also the terminus for the ferry service to the island ofFoula, which lies 20 miles (32 kilometres) west, out into the Atlantic.[7]
Today it is home to theShetland dialect children's writer Iris Sandison, also secretary to the local history group.
Walls has long been noted for its annualagricultural show. A short film of 'da Waas Show' in the early 1960s, by the late Albert Hunter, is available at the link below.
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This article incorporates text fromthe articleWalls onShetlopedia, which was licensed under theGNU Free Documentation Licence until September 14, 2007.
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