Shetland Day 1 - Garth’s Ness and Fitful Head

The first part of Day 1 of my Shetland residency (based at Sumburgh Head Lighthouse) was spent at Fitful Head and Garth’s Ness.

A trip up the long road to the radar station at Fitful Head gave panoramic views of the surrounding area. Sumburgh Head curved around to the south whilst the remains of an RAF radar station were scattered in the valley to the north.

View towards Sumburgh airstrip, site of RAF Sumburgh

Ramains of RAF Noss, a radar station, can just be seen in the middle-ground

Next was a visit to the site of RAF Garth’s Ness, a NATO LORAN A (Long Range Navigation) station.

This technology was developed by the U.S. military during World War II and although accurate only to tens of miles, it remained in use into the late 1970s and early 1980s. Garth’s Ness does not actually date from WWII but was commissioned in 1961. It was officially decommissioned in January of 1978. These kinds of navigational systems have now been replaced today by GPS. [1]

There are remains of a generator and other machines for the site’s operations, as well as barracks, latrines and kitchen facilities for personnel stationed here.

Entrance way to the north main building.

The long shadowy corridors are eerie - you are afraid to look into each room as you walk down, not knowing what you’ll find.

The American technology used here helped ships and aircraft cross the Atlantic during the Cold War.

The colours formed by decay are fascinating.

This patina also looks like scattered islands.

Processes of decay reveal the natural wood grain below this military-grey painted surface.

Cracks themselves collect green patina as time passes - a juxtaposition of split-second shattering, and processes of slow decay.

Fixtures rust everywhere, but some things miraculously survive like this red glass.

Operational centre in the south building.

The rooms in the operational building are full of debris.

The passing years of wild weather have taken their effect on this window, and the frame precariously rests below at an irrational angle.

Another detail - the lightbulb somehow remains despite the chaos in the room.

View back out towards the south operational building.

In the kitchens, with decaying fixtures and scattered equipment.

In the operational building - large ‘islands’ of green patina on the walls..

Peeling paint and green patina creates interesting patterns

More richly coloured patina-covered walls.

Ice-like broken glass contrasts with densely patterned damp green walls.

A break in the glass looks like a bullet-hole - although fighting didn’t take place here, a sinister sense of warfare lingers.

There’s changes of levels in the buildings, giving new views through dark doorways as you move around the complex.

The brutally functional concrete buildings are also strangely evocative of Modernism.

In accommodation quarters, coat hangers are still on rails.

Although it looks as though the buildings have been left to decay without vandalism, some rooms have broken down doors.

The site was surrounded by barbed wire - just the concrete posts now remain, as seen through this window. .

Patina that looks like landforms seen from above.

Light reflects from the patina-covered walls in fascinating ways, revealing further patterns.

Bright sunlight pouring in through shattered windows creates ethereal patterns and shapes.

There are many strange wires, splaying out from fixtures in chaotic lines.

As you walk around, views through series of doorways and windows open up and close again - every corner turned reveals something unexpected.

References

JENNINGS, Stephen. Site in Focus - RAF Garth’s Ness. Archeology Shetland. 2016.

Research, WWII, ResidencyAimee LabourneAugust 2, 2015#sumburghresidency