Old Photograph Springfield Hotel Baltasound Scotland

Old photograph of the Springfield Hotel at Baltasound, the largest settlement on the island of Unst, Shetland Islands, Scotland. At the start of the 20th Century, Baltasound was a fishing boom town and became one of the main centres for the herring industry in northern Scotland. Up to 10,000 people were based here at the height of the season each year. Some 600 fishing boats operated from the 46 herring stations that were dotted around Balta Sound. The Springfield Hotel, later to become the Baltasound Hotel, was well known to many servicemen from RAF Saxa Vord a radar station operated by the Royal Air Force. RAF Saxa Vord was further north than Leningrad, and on the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska, America. The station was named after Saxa Vord, which is the highest hill on Unst at 935 feet. It holds the unofficial British record for wind speed, which in 1992 was recorded at 197 mph, just before the measuring equipment blew away.





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