:''"Brae" is also the Lowland Scots language word for the slope or brow of a
hill.''
Brae (
Old Norse: ''Breiðeið'', meaning "the wide isthmus") is a village on the island of
Mainland in
Shetland
Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.
The islands lie about to the no ...
, Scotland, United Kingdom.
Description
Brae was historically a fishing village, but with the construction of the nearby
Sullom Voe Oil Terminal in the 1970s it grew rapidly, merging with the nearby village of Northbrae. It is located at the northern end of
Busta Voe
Busta Voe, (HU665350), in the north central Mainland, Shetland, is a sea inlet lying between the village of Brae and the island of Muckle Roe. At the head of the voe is the Delting Marina and Boating Club.
During the First World War Busta Voe wa ...
, on the narrow
isthmus that joins
Northmavine
Northmavine or Northmaven ( non, Norðan Mæfeið, meaning ‘the land north of the Mavis Grind’) is a peninsula in northwest Mainland Shetland in Scotland. The peninsula has historically formed the civil parish Northmavine. The modern Northmavi ...
to the rest of the Mainland. The village stages its own
Up Helly Aa.
The
A970
The A970 is a single-carriageway road that runs from south to north of Mainland Shetland, Scotland. The road also spurs to Scalloway and North Roe.
The road crosses the end of a runway at Sumburgh Airport
Sumburgh Airport is the main ai ...
which connects
Lerwick
Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010.
Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...
to Northmavine forms the main street of Brae. Brae's police and fire stations, schools, and NHS clinic service much of the northern part of the Mainland.
Etymology
''Brae'' is the Lowland Scots word for the slope or brow of a hill. The word 'Brae' in Shetland dialect has a different meaning; it may come from the Old Norse word ''breiðr'' meaning broad. The village may take its name from the broad isthmus between Sullom Voe and Busta Voe as opposed to the narrower one a little further west at
Mavis Grind. Alternatively the name may mean "a slope to the sea".
Notable people
Jonathan Sutherland
Jonathan Sutherland (born 1977) is a Scottish television and radio presenter and producer, currently the main presenter of BBC Scotland's Sunday night ''Sportscene'' on BBC One Scotland. He occasionally hosts the ''Sportscene'' Results show on S ...
, television and radio broadcaster and main anchor of
Sportscene, is from Brae.
Erraid Davies is a member of the
Delting Dolphins swimming club
based in Brae, which claims to be "the most northerly active swimming club in the UK".
References
External links
Scotland - BraeCanmore - Brae Whaling Station and Jetty site recordCanmore - Busta Standing Stone site record
Villages in Mainland, Shetland
Portages
{{Shetland-geo-stub