Hnjotur (Hnjótur) Museum
Hnjotur (Hnjótur) Museum
Iceland is known for its quirky museums and this one is up in the top ten. There’s a collection of aviation memorabilia but the main exhibit is dedicated to the heroic rescue of the crew of the Dhoon, a trawler from Fleetwood in Lancashire.
Driven aground in a storm in December 1947 the ship stranded at the foot of the Latrabjarg cliff. Though their distress call had been picked up, rescue looked impossible.
Thanks to skills learned from catching cliff-nesting birds, a team of local farmers lowered themselves on ropes down the 600ft cliff and rescued the surviving 12 crew members.
Given the appalling weather, the constant danger of ice and rock falls and the inaccessibility of the shipwreck, it was acknowledged as an extraordinary feat of bravery.
After you’ve visited the museum, walk up the hill behind it to the memorial to the many shipwrecks on this rugged and dangerous coast.