Scalloway Museum

27/09/2026

We are open for Wool Week Monday to Friday 11 am to 4 pm. Sunday 2 pm to 4pm.

25/09/2026

We are thrilled to announce the release of our new film, Hearts Across the Sea! 🎬❤️

We hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed bringing this story to life.

Our special thanks go to all the wonderful contributors and our producers, Claire White and Jonathon Bulter, and to Salmon Scotland for their generous sponsorship and support.

We couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you!❤️

NOTE: if you hit the CC button on bottom right of your screen it will remove YouTube’s auto captions of they are displaying on your screen 👌

Hearts Across the Sea | The Shetland BusDuring the Second World W...

24/09/2026

🎬 Hearts Across the Sea – Coming Friday 25 September

A story of the Shetland Bus, friendship and an extraordinary connection across the North Sea.

During the Second World War, the Shetland Bus created a vital link between Shetland and Nazi-occupied Norway.

Now, Hearts Across the Sea brings that story to life through the living memories of people who remember the Shetland Bus, alongside stories from those closely connected to its history.

Made for the Scalloway Museum and produced by Claire White and Jonathan Bulter, this new 30-minute documentary explores the Shetland Bus from a deeply personal, local perspective – preserving memories that might otherwise be lost.

🎥 WATCH THE FULL FILM – FREE ON YOUTUBE on Scalloway Museum's YT channel
🗓️ Friday 25 September
⏰ 7.00pm

The film will be available to watch worldwide, so we can share this remarkable part of Shetland and Norwegian history which is often forgotten.

This is a story of bravery, courage, and an unbreakable bond across the North Sea.

Hearts Across the Sea
Friday 25 September | 7pm | Free on YouTube

With thanks to Salmon Scotland for part-funding the project.

Claire White

24/09/2026

A documentary telling the extraordinary story of the Shetland Bus operation through first-hand memories of those involved is to be released to the public this week.

Read more via the link in the comments:

21/09/2026

The Museum will be closed to the public on Sunday 27 September due to a private event.

12/09/2026

A site visit to Scalloway Castle was arranged following comments from SBFS trustee Stephen Leask about the time the Castle had been shut for repairs. Stephen, chair Jim Young and trustee Charlie Grant met the HES Regional Manager, Katey Boal, local management, and site workers. They discussed informing the trustees and community of work progression, when work would be finished, and creating open safe areas for visitors if possible. Also discussed was the innovative methods being used to secure and make safe the wall head and masonry.
Scalloway castle is a prominent landmark in the village. It sits next to the Scalloway Museum. It is a tower house built in 1600 by Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney, during his brief period as de facto ruler of Shetland. It has been closed to the public since 2019 for major repairs.

09/09/2026

The Museum is flying the Norwegian flag today at half mast for King Harald's funeral.

04/09/2026

🇳🇴 Scalloway Museum is incredibly proud of our longstanding ties and connections with Norway, and we love having reminders of that shared history and friendship on display in the museum.

Among our exhibits is a beautiful bunad – the traditional folk costume of Norway, with different styles reflecting the country’s many regions and communities.

And we’ve recently been given something very special to accompany it: a bringeduk, a beautifully beaded breastplate traditionally worn over the liv (vest) as part of the bunad.

Following her visit to Scalloway Museum last summer, Grethe Losnegaard carefully created this wonderful piece especially for us. Her mother-in-law then presented it to the museum during a visit this summer.

We are absolutely delighted to receive it. It complements our Norwegian traditional dress perfectly, and we’re so pleased to be able to display it as another special link between Shetland and Norway. ❤️🇳🇴

A huge thank you to Grethe and her family for such a thoughtful and beautifully made gift!

15/08/2026

Alexandra Larsen wrote:
"I have written a biography of my grandfather, Shetlands-Larsen. It will be the first biography of Leif Larsen.
I spent a lot of time with my grandfather when I was growing up, until he died in 1990. I was 19 years old at the time. My childhood home was the house he built in Fyllingsdalen, in the small forest just between Sælen School and the Sports Hall. He was a wonderful grandfather, good and kind and patient as a grandfather should be, and I always felt that we had a special bond. His calm and warm humor were always with him, and he was the kind of person that everyone just enjoyed being around. He was a man of few words. We often sat together without saying much. But it didn't matter, even when I was a little girl. Just being with him was enough.
He never talked about the war, or about himself in general. He never bragged about anything he did or exalted himself in any way. If he told little anecdotes from the war, it was always with a twinkle in his eye.
I have the stories from Leif's life from himself, from his family and from the boys in the Shetland gang. The stories are authentic. Many of the pictures have also been privately owned by the family and have never been published before.
Alexandra Irene Larsen
A new biography of Shetlands-Larsen will soon be published in a bookstore near you. See more on this page, and follow it for updates and news about the book."

Jeg har skrevet en biografi om min bestefar, Shetlands-Larsen. Det blir den første biografien om Leif Larsen.

Jeg tilbrakte mye tid med min bestefar i min oppvekst, inntil han døde i 1990. Jeg var da 19 år gammel. Barndomshjemmet mitt var huset han bygget i Fyllingsdalen, i den lille skogen like mellom Sælen skole og Idrettshallen. Han var en fantastisk bestefar, god og snill og tålmodig som en bestefar skal være, og jeg følte alltid at vi hadde et spesielt bånd. Roen og den lune humoren var alltid med ham, og han var en slik person som alle bare likte å være rundt. Han var en mann av få ord. Vi satt ofte sammen uten å si så mye. Men det gjorde ingenting, selv ikke da jeg var en liten jente. Det var nok å bare være med ham.

Han snakket aldri om krigen, eller om seg selv generelt. Han skrøt aldri av noe han gjorde eller opphøyet seg selv på noe måte. Om han fortalte små anekdoter fra krigen var det alltid med et glimt i øyet.

Historiene fra Leifs liv har jeg fra ham selv, fra familien og fra guttene i Shetlandsgjengen. Historiene er autentiske. Mange av bildene har også vært i privat eie i familien og har aldri blitt publisert før.

Alexandra Irene Larsen

En ny biografi om Shetlands-Larsen utkommer snart i en bokhandel nær deg. Se mer på denne siden, og følg den for oppdateringer og nyheter om boken.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61593471985189

27/07/2026

All 8 Shetland Bus boat coasters are now available at Lunna Kirk.

⚓ The Shetland Bus Collection ⚓

All 8 Shetland Bus boat coasters are now available at Lunna Kirk.

Each coaster features one of the remarkable vessels that took part in the legendary Shetland Bus Operation, making them a great keepsake or gift while helping to remember this incredible chapter of wartime history.

If you're visiting Lunna Kirk, be sure to have a look!

Made in Unst by Shetland Ingrained.