Trondra is one of the Scalloway Islands, a subgroup of 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 shelters the harbour of

Scalloway Scalloway (, name of the bay) is the largest settlement on the west coast of the Mainland, Shetland, Mainland, the largest island of the Shetland, Scotland. The village had a population of roughly 900, at the 2011 census. Now a fishing port, u ...

and has an area of .

History

Trondra was becoming rapidly depopulated until 1970, when road bridges were built to neighbouring Burra (

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

) and to the southern

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

of the Shetland Mainland. Since then the population has recovered from a low of 20 in 1961. A local community hall was opened in 1986.

Composition

Settlements on the island include: * Burland - Burland houses one of Shetland's most popular tourist attractions - the Burland Croft Trail. * Cauldhame * Cutts * Glendale * Scarfataing

Geology

Trondra is made up of steeply inclined dalradian rocks; mainly quartz and mica rich schists but with some crystalline limestone in the north which provide fertile soils around Cauldhame and Cutts. The hills are covered in grass and heather, with trees being few and far between, much like the rest of the Shetland Islands.

Wildlife

Trondra supports a number of seabirds including many

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

s and

black guillemot The black guillemot or tystie (''Cepphus grylle'') is a medium-sized seabird of the Alcidae family, native throughout northern Atlantic coasts and eastern North American coasts. It is resident in much of its range, but large populations from the ...

s. There are many fields of sheep and a few of Shetland ponies throughout the island. There is a variety of other wildlife present on and around the isle, such as hedgehogs, sparrows, starlings, seals and porpoises.

Leisure activities

Trondra has 2 rowing teams, male and female, which compete in the summertime rowing regattas around Shetland and the annual 'Round Trondra Race'. "Da Peerie Neep" ("The Wee Turnip") is a recently founded annual event which takes place in the Trondra hall and involves various neep related events such as "Toss the Neep". Trondra usually enters a male and female squad in the Scalloway Fire Festival, which takes place in early January each year.

Footnotes

External links

Google Earth view
Islands of Shetland Scalloway Islands {{Shetland-geo-stub