Day 13–Freedom to Roam

Here in Canada, well as far as I know for most of Canada, privately owned property is just that, private. No trespassing at all without the owner’s permission and even if you even dared to ask if you could go on someone’s property to have a look at something like say a gorgeous view they may have, rude looks may ensue.
So why might I be bringing this up?? WELL, in Scotland there is the Freedom to Roam Act. I am being totally serious. You are allowed to roam onto anyone’s land as long as you left the land the way you found it. Of course you aren’t allowed in their houses or barns but you are allowed onto their fields and acreage to walk as you please. To leave it the way you found it doesn’t just mean don’t do anything bad, it also means closing gates behind you when you enter and exit. Most fields and land in the countryside have some sort of livestock whether it be cows, sheep or llamas (ya I saw one just outside Lerwick). So you of course have to make sure you haven’t left the gate open or else the landowner might night be too pleased when their animals have escaped!
One of the most gorgeous day trips we took on Shetland was to the town of Scatness. It is on the southern end of the main island and the bottom of the town is a huge property that includes a peninsula. I would guess the peninsula is about two kilometres long. It has many cliffs and even a section where a metal guardrail was installed so that people have something to hold onto on a rocky passage.
I just was amazed at such a trusting law such as this one. Scotland is definitely the type of country where if you don’t go off the beaten path you miss the best parts.
Here are some pictures from our walk in Scatness…





…told you I saw a llama!
- Michelle