[meaning rocky outcrop often on the side of a hill]
Instead of continuing down the hill we walked north from the school to where we could see a rocky area of sloping ground.This is the Hamar. On Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation Day every pupil at the school received a New Testament to mark the occasion. A bonfire was lit on the top of the Hamar in the evening and most of the Herra people turned out to celebrate.
Here on the Hamar Chas located the wells where water was piped into houses in Gremister before the water was supplied from the mains. Rarely the well dried up but when it did the water had to be carried from wells near the area of the fishing station or from Hamarsgarth. By 1923 wells were being lined with concrete and given lids. Before that most wells were left as open springs and could easily become contaminated.
Beyond the Hamar lie the crofts of Hamarsgarth and we went to see where the houses had stood. One is completely in ruins.
Chas suggested the best route was to keep high up as we walked over the field. Although the ground has been drained it was still very wet.
Hamarsgarth
I knew that Hamarsgarth started as an outset. We saw where two crofts were.
'House very bad, rent not too high at £3. These lands cannot divide unless some of the houses were moved, but I think it might be farmed and the water carried in drains. The soil is light and lying on a rising ground. The water coming down carries much of it away. There are two small houses inside the town and one outside – 1878'
Between the Hamar and the old fishing station lies Peerie Hamarsgarth. This croft was given the name Marlbourgh by Herra children because the occupant dressed like the Duke of Marlborough.
Our discovery of the remains of an old wooden stile beside the fence indicated that this had been a route towards the fishing station and the noosts for some of the Gremister boats. This is the route the people from Gremister and the Wester Side of the Herra would have taken when they worked at the fishing station. Several Herra men worked at the station and women at the gutting.
We happened upon the remains of small huts and runs for hens put out near the old fishing station in the past from spring until autumn while the corn was growing to hinder it from being destroyed by their feeding. Hens were also put to the hill dykes and to the beach to keep them away from growing crops.
Keeping along the shoreline we then made our way back towards the beach. This is a difficult route to negotiate and it is near cultivated ground so care must be taken.
We managed to make our way down the bank to the shore and while walking among the rocks below Lower Hamarsgarth I found a broken, unfinished knocking stone which can be seen when the tide is out. Chas showed me a rock in the shape of a chair where fishermen sat when fishing.
Close to here is where several Norwegians sailed to land their boat. They had decided to escape from their country during the second world war. They were later taken to Lerwick to meet and be helped by the authorities.
Although Chas had heard about the Norwegians he had forgotten how exceptional their journey had been.