Mavis Grind ( or ', meaning "gate of the narrow isthmus") is a narrow

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

joining the Northmavine peninsula to the rest of the island of

Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

in the

Shetland Islands Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the Uni ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is just over 90 metres (295 ft) at its narrowest point. Mavis Grind carries the main A970 road to Hillswick in the northwest of Shetland and is about two miles (3.2 km) west of the settlement of Brae. It is said to be the only place in the UK where you can toss a stone across land from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. To the west of the isthmus is St Magnus Bay of the Atlantic and to the east is

Sullom Voe Sullom Voe is an eight-mile-long voe or inlet off Yell Sound in the Shetland Islands. It divides the Northmavine peninsula from the remainder of Mainland (the two are connected by an isthmus at the head of the voe known as Mavis Grind). It i ...

, an arm of the North Sea. It is a regular crossing point for

otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the Rank (zoology), subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic animal, aquatic, or Marine ecology, marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae Family (biology), family, whi ...

, which in Shetland are sea-dwelling. In 1999, local volunteers successfully helped to demonstrate whether

Viking ships Viking ships were marine vessels of unique structure, used in Scandinavia throughout the Middle Ages. The boat-types were quite varied, depending on what the ship was intended for, but they were generally characterized as being slender and flexi ...

could be carried across the isthmus, instead of sailing around the end of the island. Remains of a late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

settlement have been found close by.S Cracknell & B Smith (NOSAS), ''Glasgow Archeological Journal'' vol.10, 1983 in

In popular culture

Dorian Cope was credited as 'Mavis Grind' on the

Julian Cope Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...

albums ''

Autogeddon ''Autogeddon'' is the eleventh solo album by Julian Cope, released in 1994 on The Echo Label. According to the album's sleeve notes, written by Cope, it was "inspired by Heathcote Williams' epic poem of the same name and a little incident conc ...

'' and '' 20 Mothers''.

Notes

References

{{Northmavine Portages Isthmuses of Europe Landforms of Shetland Former populated places in Scotland Mainland, Shetland Northmavine