Barn Stane

Coastal Feature, Headland, Point in Shetland

Scotland

Barn Stane

The Noss ferry on the Bressay side of Noss Sound Credit: Mike Pennington

Barn Stane is a prominent coastal feature located in the Shetland Islands, an archipelago in Scotland. It is a headland that juts out into the North Sea, forming a point that offers stunning panoramic views of the surrounding rugged coastline.

Situated on the eastern coast of the Shetland Mainland, Barn Stane is characterized by its towering cliffs and rocky terrain. The headland is composed of sandstone and shale, displaying layers of sedimentary rock that have been shaped by centuries of erosion from the relentless waves crashing against it.

At low tide, a small sandy beach is revealed beneath the cliffs, providing an opportunity for visitors to explore the area and discover an array of marine life in the rock pools. Barn Stane is also known for its diverse bird population, with seabirds such as puffins, guillemots, and fulmars nesting along the cliffs during the breeding season.

The headland is a popular spot for outdoor enthusiasts, offering excellent opportunities for hiking, birdwatching, and photography. The dramatic coastal scenery and the constant sound of crashing waves create a captivating atmosphere, making it a must-visit location for nature lovers and photographers alike.

Barn Stane is easily accessible by a coastal path that runs along the clifftops, providing visitors with breathtaking views of the surrounding coastline and the nearby isles. It is a place where visitors can immerse themselves in the raw beauty of nature and experience the untamed power of the North Sea.

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Barn Stane Images

Images are sourced within 2km of 60.13705/-1.0260023 or Grid Reference HU5439. Thanks to Geograph Open Source API. All images are credited.

The Noss ferry on the Bressay side of Noss Sound

Mike Pennington

Noss ferry approaching the Bressay shore

Mike Pennington

Gungstie, Noss, from Noss Sound

Mike Pennington

Noss National Nature Reserve

Taken from a tour boat moored in Nesti Voe, Noss, Shetland, I am looking west to Big Ness where the wardens of Noss National Nature Reserve are located. NatureScot operates an inflatable ferry boat across Noss Sound (beyond the buildings pictured) during the summer months to allow walkers to get from Bressay to Noss.

Carroll Pierce

Noss Head

Seen from the Whalsay ferry en route between Symbister and Laxo. I do not normally submit this type of 'long distance view' with no foreground, but this one seemed interesting enough to add to the site.

David Purchase

Noss from the SW, with a cruise ship on its way to Lerwick

The ship is the MV Boudicca, a cruise ship owned and operated by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, which was built in 1973 by Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard in Finland as Royal Viking Sky.

Mike Pennington

Noss from Lunning Sound

Mike Pennington

Getting onto the Noss ferry

Whilst the Bressay ferry used to get here takes vehicles and has a "proper" dock, the Noss ferry is only for very small numbers of pedestrians, so needs no more than a set of steps down to sea level. There's no timetable - when the ferryman notices that there are people waiting, he will come across to get them. Whether this works on foggy days is another question entirely, and not one we needed answered, as we were visiting in our own boats, just popping over to look at the ferry terminal out of curiosity.

Andy Waddington

Paddling down Noss Sound

Somehow, using a map, one always thinks of heading south as "down" though, of course, on average, the sea is level, and as we were going against the very start of the flood tide we might actually be going a tiny bit uphill ! Tidal flows at Noss are generally insignificant except in this shallow channel, and we were going anticlockwise round the island more to have the sun behind us on the scenic side than to take any advantage of the flow. The boat powering away from us had been stationary as we arrived, but seemed to form a sudden desire to leave as (or perhaps before) their clients realised just how much closer to the wildlife sea kayakers can get than anyone in a big boat. The Sound had already given us close encounters with Seals, Eider, Cormorants and Terns diving in just metres away. The outer side promised huge numbers of Gannets and Razorbills...

Andy Waddington

Paddling past the Point and Geos of Hovie

Although we'd picked the sheltered side of Shetland after a day of high wind on our crossing from mainland Scotland, there was still some swell setting in from the east. Across that, wind waves from the southwest made for interesting conditions round the south side of Noss, with confused water particularly around the headland ahead of us. It still seemed less work than the people on the slopes of Hill of Setter who were trekking across above us with a big camera and heavy-looking tripod. It's a bit of a toss-up as to who would get the closer views of the Gannets and Razorbills - we would certainly feel safer down here than teetering on the cliff edge in the gusty wind, and find Razorbills rafting on the surface, but then they'd probably get better photos than those below in the waves !

Andy Waddington

Confused water off Feadda Ness

The rock over which the wave is just breaking (and water from the previous wave pouring off) is the southernmost point of the island of Noss at this state of the tide (lowish - early in the flood, near neaps). Turning this headland from the southwest coast starts to open up views of progressively more interesting rock scenery as well as increasing amounts of bird life. There are small caves just here, and a Geo between the first and second sections of cliff in this photo. I paddled into more sheltered water inside, where bigger caves awaited exploration, but in the rather confused water (southwesterly windwaves cutting across easterly swell) no-one seemed to want to join me and it's not a place to play without a bit of backup... The rock is a mix of sandstones and conglomerates of Devonian (Old Red Sandstone) age where layers of varying hardness have eroded into the many ledges which make the place such an attractive place for seabirds.

Andy Waddington

Guillemots rafted below Cradle Holm

A large flock of Guillemots were rafted up just below the cliffs as we turned the southern tip of Noss, so we aimed away from the coast a bit to give them some space. However, they suddenly chose to head out to sea directly in front of our group - they do take a long time bouncing off the wave tops to get airborne so we were treated to a closer view than we'd have ventured to get. The nearest cliff face, with the cave entrance, is Cradle Holm, an island at all but low tide (and pretty inaccessible from Noss even then, as there is a deep rocky cleft the same height as the cliffs). Beyond this is Charlie's Holm, with rock of a similar colour, whilst in the distance, looking much whiter, is Noup of Noss, surrounded by wheeling Gannets.

Andy Waddington

Gannets fill the air at Noup of Noss

Whilst the southern tip of Noss is home to auks, Noss Head is the summer residence of a large number of Gannets. Very few were fishing in the immediate vicinity, but both the cliffs and the air were filled with noisy bird life, especially around the headland and in Rumble Wick, the bay to its south. The Devonian Old Red Sandstone hardly dips here, and the rock has eroded into ledges and pockets bigger than those further south where the rock beds dip more, suiting the Gannets better than the smaller species who prefer Holm of Noss.

Andy Waddington

Gannets on The Rump, Noss

The prime nesting sites in any gannetry are the flatter ones in positions still inaccessible to land predators from above. Easier, safer landings are one obvious benefit (a couple of days after this photo was taken, we came across a Gannet which had got its approach wrong and was hanging, dead, by one wing from a crack in the cliff - gusty downdraughts can hit at any time so misjudgements aren't the only cause of accidents). Beyond The Rump, the cliffs return to the vertical once more at Point of Heogatoug, beyond which the coast gets lower, and the bird nesting paradise soon comes to an end. It's an exciting couple of kilometres of paddling up to this point.

Andy Waddington

Paddling past Scarfi Skerries

Paddling anticlockwise round the island of Noss, Scarfi Skerries and East Punds Geo, just beyond, are almost the last rock-hopping opportunities. After Point of Pundsgeo, the coast is a little more subdued, and our route would take us further out on our way back towards Bressay, whose easternmost point lies on the Loder Head peninsula at Rules Ness, pretty much directly in front of the most distant paddler in the photo. There are far fewer birds here than on the east coast, but inland, the island is still inhabited by heavy tripod-toting chaps in camouflage jackets. They seem to move more slowly than sea kayakers, though that might simply mean that they stop more often to take photos.

Andy Waddington

Landing on Noss

Although, coming from Voe of Cullingsborough round Loder Head, we hadn't paddled very far to reach Noss, the island offers few other landing places apart from the west side, facing Bressay across Noss Sound. Thus our group stopped for an early lunch in anticipation that we would be on the water for rather longer to complete our trip all the way round. This beach is just north of the tourist ferry landing, out of their way, and even seemed quite sheltered (we'd had a very windy 24 hours the previous day and the open sea was still quite lumpy, whilst here in the Sound it was essentially flat).

Andy Waddington

Rounding Big Ness into Nesti Voe

Big Ness is really quite a small peninsula, ending in these low shoreline rocks. Beyond to the left is Nesti Voe, with a big beach, but an onshore wind, so not what we wanted for a lunch stop. Across the Voe is Turr Ness, a somewhat rockier and longer peninsula with enough height to conceal our onward route to reach the east coast of Noss. The hill in partial shadow is Hill of Setter, rising to 181m directly above the cliffs and gannetry of Noss Head, though you'd scarcely guess that seeing it from the west. The whole island is a nature reserve, gentle slopes being mainly inhabited by chaps in camouflage jackets carrying large cameras and even bigger tripods. Must be something worthwhile to see then, so let's keep paddling !

Andy Waddington