Bilna Stanes

Taken from a plane just after take-off from Sumburgh Airport.

Taken from a plane just after take-off from Sumburgh Airport. The Lochs of Spiggie and Brow are obvious in the distance.

The abandoned remains of a radio navigation station, operational between 1961 and 1978.

The abandoned remains of a radio navigation station, operational between 1961 and 1978.

This headland to the west of the Bay of Quendale was once the sight of a military radio navigation station but is now a lonely spot. Fair Isle can be seen on the horizon.

From a plane about to land at Sumburgh Airport.

Taken from a plane coming in to land at Sumburgh Airport.

Taken from a plane just after take-off from Sumburgh Airport. There is snow on the west Mainland of Shetland in the distance.

This what was left of the MV Braer by July 1994. the surrounding landscape had made a remarkable recovery due to the rough nature of the weather in this area. The following is from Wikipedia: At 05.19 hrs on Tuesday 5 January 1993, Lerwick coastguard were advised that the tanker, Braer, en route from Bergen, Norway to Quebec, Canada, laden with 85,000 tonnes of Norwegian Gullfaks crude oil, had lost engine power but was in no immediate danger. Her estimated position then was 10 miles (19 km) south of Sumburgh Head and she was drifting in predominantly southwesterly winds of force 10–11. The coastguard alerted rescue helicopters from Sumburgh and RAF Lossiemouth, and made enquiries about the availability of local tugs. At the Coast Guard's suggestion, the master agreed that non-essential personnel should be removed from the vessel—14 of the 34 crew were taken off by the coastguard helicopter from Sumburgh at 08:25. At 08:50 it was feared that the ship would run aground near Horse Island, and the experience of Aegean Sea which burst into flames shortly after grounding led the coastguard to persuade the Greek Captain Alexandros S. Gkelis to abandon ship. However, because of strong northwest local currents, Braer moved against the prevailing wind and missed Horse Island, drifting towards Quendale Bay. With the arrival on scene of the anchor handling vessel Star Sirius, it was decided to attempt to establish a tow. The master and some personnel were taken out by helicopter and were put back on board the vessel. Efforts to attach a heaving line were unsuccessful, and at 11:19 the vessel was confirmed as being grounded at Garths Ness, with oil being seen to flow out into the sea from the moment of impact. At this time, the would-be rescue team were rescued by the helicopter.

Looking out from the Northlink ferry to Aberdeen as cloud covers Fitful Head on a beautiful sunny evening.

An absolute mystery when first located, but close investigation revealed its identity. It turns out to be a Protective Wall for a Target Zone on an old disused firing range (some evidence here HU3513 : Blitzed Target Zone. It faces another Target Zone (down-range) about 450 metres away; see - HU3613 : Unmarked Feature. The platform (maybe planks) on which the targets stood, is missing.

This is the protective wall at a Target Zone on an old disused firing range. There are no names, nor designations, on the map, nor references (that I could find) on the Internet. Looking from this protective wall, across the valley, one can see another obvious Target Zone HU3613 : Unmarked Feature - centre and to the right of the quarry. This Fire Wall but not the Target Zone is shown on the OS map.

The front edge of the protective wall, behind which, on a raised platform I assume, targets stood. The 'blitzing' suggests that a lot of 'incoming fire' had raked the wall, as the rear edges and the protected front ones appear as sharp as new. The whole area must have been used for weapon training.

In the field I could find no direct evidence on the OS maps for such an obvious feature (unlike the one mentioned below). A later desktop search found a small trace-mark on the larger-scale maps. It is the sheltered Target Zone on a rifle range and linked to - HU3513 : Mystery Feature.