New museum opens doors to public

The grice is one of the models on display at the museum

Scotland's newest museum has been opened to the public.

The £11.6m Shetland Museum and Archive, which has taken 10 years to develop, was formally opened by Prince Charles and Queen Sonja of Norway on Thursday.

Local people have been consulted throughout the museum's development and many have seen the work in progress.

For most, this will be their first chance to explore the Lerwick museum properly and a number of free events have been planned over the weekend.

Extinct pig

Despite its rich history, Shetland has only had a museum since the 1960s which quickly outgrew its original premises.

Plans for a new building in Lerwick's historic Hay's Dock date back almost a decade and were delayed as the architects made sure it was completely wind and waterproof.

The museum contains more than 3,000 artefacts - from the still-working optic of the Bressay lighthouse to Fair Isle knitwear and Shetland lace.

It also contains a model of a grice - an extinct pig with tusks, which was the size of a large dog.