Photos and the City

Slow travel & photography

The White Wife 35

Gloup memorial

On the very top of Yell is the village Gloup and the Gloup memorial, remembering 58 fishermen who died in a summer storm in 1881.

The White Wife 36The White Wife 37The White Wife 38

My next stop was in the middle of Yell, I wanted to visit a broch which sounded like a nice hike along the coastline.

The White Wife 39

The start was pretty easy, I just had to follow a track and enjoyed the view.

The White Wife 40The White Wife 41

The map said to walk across the remains of this farm, but I just couldn’t find the way, maybe it was blocked on that day or I just wasn´t looking good enough. So I turned back.

The White Wife 42

I love these little flowers I saw all over Shetland, they reminded me of little pieces of cotton.

The White Wife 43

The white wife of otterswick

I already went looking for the white lady on my first day in Yell, but couldn´t find it. But in the meantime I found a map for a hike going to the lady and that made it a bit easier, it still wasn´t easy to find places in Yell.

The White Wife 44

Somewhere down there should be the White Wife – the story of the statue is a sad one.

Da Wooden Wife, is a sad one. She is the reconstructed figurehead of the Bohus, a German sail training vessel which sank at the Ness of Queyon in 1924, with a crew of 39, many of them young cadets, and the loss of 4 lives. (Northlinkferries.co.uk)

The White Wife 45

In April 1923 the ship Bohus set sail from Goteburg to Chile, but a navigation error brought her 60 miles off course. During a storm, the skipper mistook the Out Skerries lighthouse for the Fair Isle light and the ship was dashed on the rocks. She sank within one hour.

The White Wife 46The White Wife 47

Men from Yell tried to help and threw a line towards the ship to save the crew members. The surviving men were taken into homes in Yell but four men perished this day.

A few months later the figurehead of the Bohus came ashore, in surprisingly good condition and was erected on the shore above the wreck site as a memorial. In 1986 the statue was completely restored.

The White Wife 48The White Wife 49The White Wife 50The White Wife 51

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *