Wikipedia

Fair Isle

island at the south of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, UK

The Fair Isle, sometimes known as Fairisle, is the southernmost Shetland island.

Fair Isle
Norse nameFriðarøy[1]/Friðarey[2]
Meaning of name"fair island" or possibly "far-off isle"[1] or "sheep isle".[3] The Norse form Friðarey means literally "calm/peaceful isle" or "island (ey) of tranquility (frið(u)r)".[4]
Fair Isle viewed from the west
Fair Isle viewed from the west
Location
Fair Isle is located in Shetland
Fair Isle
Fair Isle
Fair Isle shown within Shetland
OS grid reference25
Coordinates59°32′30″N 1°37′21″W / 59.54167°N 1.62250°W / 59.54167; -1.62250
Physical geography
Island groupShetland
Area768 ha (1,900 acres)
Area rank61 [5]
Highest elevationWard Hill 217 m (712 ft)
Administration
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryScotland
Council areaShetland Islands Council
Demographics
Population65[6]
Population rank51 [5]
Population density7.16/km2 (18.5/sq mi)
Largest settlementStonybreck
References[1][7]

Fair Isle is known for its bird observatory, shipwrecks, music, and knitting. The island has been owned by the National Trust for Scotland since 1954.

History

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Fair Isle on the 1539 Carta Marina

Fair Isle has been occupied since Neolithic times. There are two known Iron Age sites: a fort at Landberg, and foundation of a house.

Most of the place names date from after the 9th-century Norse settlement of the Northern Isles.

Between the 9th and 15th centuries, Fair Isle was under Norwegian possession.


 
Croft houses

Fair Isle was bought by the National Trust for Scotland in 1954 from George Waterston.

The population decreased from 400 in 1900. The island has 14 scheduled monuments.

The island houses a series of high-technology relay stations carrying vital TV, radio, telephone and military communication links between Shetland, Orkney and the Scottish mainland. Many television signals are relayed from Orkney to Shetland.[8]

Wartime military role

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During the Second World War, the Royal Navy built two radar stations on top of Ward Hill, which played an important role in finding German bombers on 8 and 10 April 1940.[9] A narrow gauge railway still lies disused, once to send supplies.

On 17 January 1941, a German bomber, crashed on the island. The wreckage remains on the crash-site.[10] Two of the crew died, and the rest survived.


Geography

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West cliffs, looking southwest towards Malcolm's Head

Fair Isle is roughly equidistant from Sumburgh Head, some 38 kilometres (24 mi) to the northeast on the Mainland of Shetland[11] and North Ronaldsay, Orkney, some 43 kilometres (27 mi) to the southwest. Fair Isle is 4.8 km (3 mi) long and 2.4 km (1.5 mi) wide. It has an area of 8 km2 (3 sq mi).

Ward Hill is at 217 metres (712 ft) and is the highest point of the island.

Climate

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Fair Isle experiences a climate with cool summers and mild winters.

On 19 July 2022, the maximum temperature of 22.6 °C (72.7 °F) was registered in Fair Isle.[12][13]

The lowest temperature recorded in recent years was −4.6 °C (23.7 °F) in February 2010.[14] Rainfall was at under 1,000 millimetres (39 in).

Economy

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Over the centuries the island has changed hands many times. The rent paid was in butter, cloth and fish oil.

Fishing is an important industry for the island.

Fair Isle is famous for its woollen jumpers, with knitting giving an important source of income for the women of the islands.

In January 2004, Fair Isle was given the Fairtrade Island status.

Bird life

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Many rare species of bird have been found on the island, with at least 27 species found on the island that were the first British records. Fair Isle has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports large colonies of seabirds and waterbirds, as well as being a stop-over site for migrating land birds.[15]

Bird observatory

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In 1948, George Waterston created a bird observatory on the island, and was very important.

In 2010 the building was built, and it accommodated around 30 people. In 2019, it was destroyed by a fire, and rebuilt, costing around £7.4m.[16]

Infrastructure

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Sunset over the South Lighthouse

Other than the restaurant of the bird observatory, and its small bar, there are no other pubs or restaurants on the island. There is one shop, one school and a community hall used for meetings and social events. There is no police station on the island; the main station is Lerwick and a section station is located in the village of Brae.[17]

To get to the island, service is provided by SIC Ferries on the ship Good Shepherd IV[18] or by a passenger aeroplane from an airport near Lerwick.

Electricity supply

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Fair Isle is not connected to the National Grid; electricity is provided by the Fair Isle Electricity Company. From the 1980s,[19] power was generated by two diesel generators and two wind turbines. In October 2018, they finally had a 24-hour electricity supply.

Communication

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Fair Isle is home to two GSM 900 MHz base stations operated by Vodafone and O2.

Emergency services

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Fair Isle has a fire station equipped with a single fire appliance, and staffed by a retained fire crew of local volunteers. The first purpose-built fire engine was stationed to the island in 2002.[20]

A contract for the construction of a £140,000 purpose-built fire station was awarded to Shetland company Ness Engineering,[21] who completed the construction and equipping of the fire station, including its connection to the island power and water supplies, and the installation of a rainwater harvesting system within the building.[22] The new fire station was officially opened on 14 March 2013.[23]

There is a small Coastguard cliff-rescue team on the island. Like the fire service, the Coastguard is a retained (volunteer) emergency service.[24]

There are no emergency medical services on Fair Isle. Routine medical care is provided by a community nurse. In the event of accident and emergency the community nurse provides first aid until casualties can be removed to Shetland Mainland.

Transport

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Air

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A Britten-Norman Islander of Directflight at Fair Isle Airport.

Fair Isle Airport serves the island with flights to Tingwall Airport near Lerwick, and weekly to Sumburgh Airport, both on Shetland Mainland. There is a small terminal building providing limited services.

There are two helipads on the island; one at the South Fair Isle lighthouse and used by Northern Lighthouse Board and HM Coastguard helicopters, and the other at the North Fair Isle lighthouse.

Sea

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There are two main harbours, north harbour and south harbour; both formed naturally, being sheltered by the headland of Bu Ness. The north harbour is the main route for goods, provisions, and Royal Mail postal services arriving at and departing from the island. In summer only, the ferry also runs from Lerwick once every two weeks.[25]

Road

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A road connects the populated areas of the island, along its full length.

Education

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Fair Isle has one primary school, with two classrooms. There is a full-time head teacher, and a part-time assistant teacher.[26] The number of pupils varies over time, but has generally been between five and ten. Islanders of secondary school age are generally educated off-island.[27]

Religion

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Christianity is the only formally organised religion on Fair Isle. There are two churches, one Methodist, and one Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). The Methodist Church was constructed in 1886.[28]

The Church of Scotland church was built in 1892. The congregation's minister is Reverend Charles H. Greig.

Conservation designations

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Most of the island is designated by NatureScot as both a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SCA).[29]

The seas around Fair Isle are designated as a Marine Protected Area (MRA).

Notable people

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  • Ewen Thomson (born 1971 in Fair Isle), a Scottish luthier, specialising in violins, violas and cellos
  • Inge Thomson (born 1974 in Fair Isle), a singer and multi-instrumentalist
  • Chris Stout (born 1976), a Scottish fiddle/violin player from Shetland; grew up in Fair Isle
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  •  
    Good Shepherd IV at Fair Isle
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    North Haven, Fair Isle, 1974
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    Da Sherriff
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    100 kW Aerogenerator, Fair Isle
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    Fair isle fire station
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    Fair Isle Kirk interior
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    Burkle, Fair Isle - Croft houses

See also

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  • List of lighthouses in Scotland
  • List of Northern Lighthouse Board lighthouses
  • Foula
  • List of Shetland islands

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Template:Haswell-Smith
  2. ↑ Template:Orkneyinga
  3. ↑ Template:Gaelic Placenames
  4. ↑ The form friðar is the genitive singular.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Area and population ranks: there are c. 300 islands over 20 ha in extent and 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census.
  6. ↑ "Tiny Scots island with population of just 65 self-isolating in bid to beat coronavirus". Daily Record. 31 March 2020. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  7. ↑ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 4 Shetland (South Mainland) (Map). Ordnance Survey. 2014. ISBN 9780319228104.
  8. ↑ See reference at Fairisle.org.uk Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Brown, Ian (2022). Radar in Scotland 1938-46. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. pp. 126–131. ISBN 978-1-90833-221-9.
  10. ↑ "Deutsche Luftwaffe Heinkel He111 H-2 / T5+EU". Air Crash Sites Scotland. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  11. ↑ "Unknown: Atlantic" Archived 20 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Canmore.
  12. ↑ "03008: Fair Isle (United Kingdom)". ogimet.com. OGIMET. 19 July 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  13. ↑ Hirst, Andrew (19 July 2022). "Fair Isle records its hottest temperature ever". www.shetlandtimes.co.uk. The Shetland Times. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  14. ↑ "2010 temperature". Tutiempo. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  15. ↑ "Fair Isle". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  16. ↑ "Shetland star's video plea to bring world-leading bird observatory back to life". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  17. ↑ "Shetland Island Area Commander". Poileas Alba. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  18. ↑ "Ferry Timetables". Shetland Islands Council. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  19. ↑ Johnston, John (12 October 2018). "The glory of 24-hour power finally reaches Fair Isle". BBC News. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  20. ↑ History of the service and the appliance recorded in The Scotsman Archived 21 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine newspaper.
  21. ↑ Contract award and value recorded in The Shetland Times Archived 21 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine newspaper.
  22. ↑ Construction and design outlined by Ness Engineering Archived 21 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  23. ↑ Link to photographs of the opening ceremony Archived 21 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  24. ↑ Photographs Archived 21 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine of Fair Isle Coastguard team members receiving long-service awards.
  25. ↑ "Tiny Scots island with population of just 65 self-isolating in bid to beat coronavirus". Daily Record. 31 March 2020. Archived from the original on 4 April 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  26. ↑ School website Archived 30 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  27. ↑ "Scotland's most remote school seeks new headteacher". BBC News. 27 August 2021. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  28. ↑ Date referenced at Undiscovered Scotland Archived 21 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  29. ↑ "Fair Isle SSSI". NatureScot. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
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Template:ShetlandTemplate:Islands of ScotlandTemplate:Lighthouses of the Northern Lighthouse BoardTemplate:Marine Protected Areas in Scotland

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