Aith, is a village on the Northern coast of the West Shetland Mainland

Shetland Mainland

The Mainland is the main island of Shetland, Scotland. The island contains Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick, and is the centre of Shetland's ferry and air connections....

 at the southern end of Aith Voe, some 21 miles west of Lerwick

Lerwick

Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...

.

Aith lies on the B9071 that runs south to the junction with the A971 (which links Lerwick to the west of Shetland) at the village of Bixter

Bixter

Bixter is on the west side of the Shetland Islands, found more than off the north coast of mainland Scotland.Bixter is a group of houses in a large reign of area. Council houses belonging to Hjaltland Housing Association & the Shetland Islands Council , lie next to the main road. The Bixter...

 and North East via East Burrafirth to the junction with the A970 (which links Lerwick to the North) at the village of Voe. A single track road leads north from Aith along the west shoreline of Aith Voe to Vementry

Vementry

Vementry is an uninhabited island in Shetland, Scotland, on the north side of the West Mainland, lying south of Muckle Roe....

History

The modern settlement occupies an area originally named Aithsting during the period of Norse

Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...

 occupation. The surrounding Parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 is still known as Aithsting as 'Aithsting'.

Buildings and structures

• Aith Lifeboat Station is most northerly in Britain, established in 1933.
• Aith Junior High School is situated in the centre of the village. The school has nursery
  Nursery school
  A nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...
  
  , primary, and secondary
  Secondary school
  Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
  
   departments with a combined roll of around 190 - 200. The secondary roll includes pupils from Sandness
  Sandness
  Sandness is a headland and district in the west of Mainland, Shetland. The "d" is not pronounced locally.The headland flanks the south side of Papa Sound near Papa Stour leading into St Magnus Bay and the district includes the headland and forms the mainland part of Walls parish...
  
  , Skeld
  Skeld
  Skeld, is a village on the south side of the West Shetland Mainland. The main village is also referred to as Easter Skeld, while the western end of the settlement, about a mile away, is known as Wester Skeld. The council housing estate in Skeld is called Grindybrecks.it also has a school on a...
  
  , Happyhansel and Aith primary schools. The original school building, which opened in 1922 and became a Junior High in 1970, was located on the east of the main settlement, below the junction of the B9071 and Whitelaw Road. The school relocated to a new building in the more central location in 1982 60°17′02"N 1°22′39"W
• West Mainland Leisure Centre, opened 07/09/2002 and operated by Shetland Recreational Trust. Facilities include a main hall, squash court, swimming pool with paddling pool, fitness suite and health suite.
• Aith Marina
• Aith Community Hall, incorporating the Rankin Lounge

Notable residents

John Nicolson; prolific 20th Century writer and political activist. His first book was entitled Sprigs o' Aithsting Heather and he wrote the words for The Galley Song which is sung annually at Up-Helly-Aa.

Notable events

20/02/2008 - Several houses in Aith were evacuated due a fire in the local garage prompting fears that oxyacetylene canisters stored there may explode (the garage was destroyed and the site later cleared).