Houll, Fetlar.
The beautiful
beach at Tresta,
Fetlar.
Snowy Owl
on Fetlar.
Last updated: May 6th, 1998.
WELCOME TO SHETLAND'S FINEST HOME PAGES.
You may think this a rather grand, boastful title, but it's designed to attract attention, and it does. Besides, it's simply the truth... May we ask you to please sign our Guest Book before you leave.You are visitor number: Houll is the name of the house where we live.
I'm John Coutts and she's Jane Mack and
there's also Temmy who is 13, and a little boy named Frankie who is
about two and a half years old. (we won't mention the cat...)
Houll, (pronounced Hool),
is a very common place name in Shetland in the far north of
the UK. It comes from Old Norse
and simply means "hill". This Houll, a renovated old croft house, is situated on top of a low
hill on the east side of Fetlar, the fourth
largest island of the Shetland Isles, and the nearest neighbouring house is about a mile away
which makes it a wonderfully peaceful place to live - no traffic, no neighbour's dog barking, just peace.
Fetlar is well known for its
rich
birdlife. Last year, there were over 30 breeding pairs of Red-necked Phalaropes that nested
on Fetlar. That's almost 100% of the UK population! And they all nested within a few minutes walk from
Houll.
We also have very healthy
populations of other birds. About 15% of the UKs Whimbrel think Fetlar's a great
place to live, and the Arctic Terns
keep coming back each summer. There's Storm Petrels
by the dozen, Puffins by the hundreds and Great Skuas by the thousand, or
quite a lot at least. We used to have
Snowy Owls breeding here in Fetlar. In fact, when they first bred here in 1967 it was the very first
time Snowy Owls had bred in the UK. Between then and 1975 they turned out 20 youngsters, but
unfortunately, due to old age and natural decimation, there are no owls on the island today.
The wildlife in Fetlar is also
rich and varied. We have a healthy population of otters who live mainly around the
shores. Although they are often difficult to spot, the determined visitor is usually rewarded
with a sighting. We have two types of seals living around
Fetlar - grey seals and common seals. Both are easy to spot at almost any time. Sometimes we
are lucky to see whales,
porpoise or dolphins near the shores. They are most
commonly seen in the summer months.
About 100 people live in Fetlar. That's quite a low population compared to other communities in
Shetland, but population figures are actually rising in Fetlar at the moment so there's hope
for the future.
This page was created by John Coutts.
Photos by Jane Mack and John Coutts.
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