| Fair Isle | |
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| Location | |
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Fair Isle
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| Fair Isle shown within the Shetland Islands | |
| OS grid reference | HZ209717 |
| Names | |
| Gaelic name | Fara |
| Norse name | Frjóey/Friðarey |
| Meaning of name | "Sheep island", from Norse |
| Area and summit | |
| Area | 768 hectares (2.97 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 61 |
| Highest elevation | Ward Hill 217 metres (712 ft) |
| Population | |
| Population | 69 |
| Population rank | 50 out of 99 |
| Main settlement | Stonybreck |
| Groupings | |
| Island group | Shetland |
| References | [1][2][3][4][5] |
| If shown, area and population ranks are for all Scottish islands and all inhabited Scottish islands respectively. Population data is from 2001 census. | |
Fair Isle (from Old Norse Frjóey; Scottish Gaelic Fara) is an island in northern Scotland, lying around halfway between mainland Shetland and the Orkney islands. It is famous for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting.
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Fair Isle is the most remote inhabited island in the United Kingdom.[6] The island is administratively part of Shetland and lies 38 kilometres (24 mi) south-west of Sumburgh Head on the Mainland of Shetland and 43 kilometres (27 mi) north-east of North Ronaldsay, Orkney. 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) in length and 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) wide, it has an area of 768 hectares (3 square miles), making it the tenth largest of the Shetland Islands. It gives its name to one of the British Sea Areas.[7]
The majority of the seventy islanders live in the crofts on the southern half of the island, with the northern half consisting of rocky moorland. The western coast consists of cliffs of up to 200 metres (660 feet) in height. The population has been decreasing steadily from around four hundred in around 1900. There are no pubs or restaurants on the island, and there is but a single primary school. After the age of eleven, children must attend secondary school in Lerwick and stay in a hostel there in term time.
As with the rest of the British Isles and Scotland, Fair Isle experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. This is especially pronounced due to its location far from any sizeable landmass - Fair Isle has the smallest overall temperature range (least continental) of any Weather Station in the British Isles - an absolute maximum of 20.2 °C (68.4 °F) and an absolute minimum of −5.6 °C (21.9 °F) since 1951. This 60 plus year temperature span is actually smaller than many places in inland southern England will record within a given 3 month period. The lowest temperature recorded in recent year's was −4.6 °C (23.7 °F) during February 2010.[8] Rainfall, at under 1000mm is lower than one might expect for somewhere often in the main path of Atlantic depressions, this is explained by a lack of heavy convective rainfall during spring and summer months due to the absence of warm surface conditions.
| Climate data for Fair Isle 57m asl, 1951-1980, Extremes 1951- | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 11.1 (52.0) |
10.5 (50.9) |
10.9 (51.6) |
12.2 (54.0) |
17.7 (63.9) |
18.0 (64.4) |
20.1 (68.2) |
20.2 (68.4) |
18.0 (64.4) |
15.5 (59.9) |
13.1 (55.6) |
11.5 (52.7) |
20.2 (68.4) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 5.7 (42.3) |
5.5 (41.9) |
6.0 (42.8) |
7.3 (45.1) |
9.4 (48.9) |
11.6 (52.9) |
13.2 (55.8) |
13.7 (56.7) |
12.0 (53.6) |
10.2 (50.4) |
8.1 (46.6) |
6.6 (43.9) |
9.1 (48.4) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 3.0 (37.4) |
2.9 (37.2) |
3.1 (37.6) |
3.9 (39.0) |
5.9 (42.6) |
7.9 (46.2) |
9.8 (49.6) |
10.3 (50.5) |
8.9 (48.0) |
7.5 (45.5) |
5.4 (41.7) |
4.0 (39.2) |
6.0 (42.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −4.5 (23.9) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−5 (23) |
−4 (25) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
1.5 (34.7) |
4.2 (39.6) |
4.4 (39.9) |
1.4 (34.5) |
−0.9 (30.4) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
−4.5 (23.9) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 96 (3.78) |
63 (2.48) |
81 (3.19) |
48 (1.89) |
39 (1.54) |
41 (1.61) |
54 (2.13) |
66 (2.6) |
97 (3.82) |
109 (4.29) |
117 (4.61) |
104 (4.09) |
910 (35.83) |
| Sunshine hours | 27.9 | 59.3 | 96.1 | 150.0 | 192.2 | 171.0 | 136.4 | 145.7 | 117.0 | 71.3 | 36.0 | 15.5 | 1,206 |
| Source no. 1: ScotClim[9] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: Tutiempo[10] | |||||||||||||
Fair Isle has a permanent bird observatory, founded by George Waterston in 1948, because of its importance as a bird migration watchpoint and this provides most of the accommodation on the island.[11] The first Director of the observatory was Kenneth Williamson.[12] It is unusual amongst bird observatories in providing catered, rather than hostel-style, accommodation.
Many rare species of bird have been found on the island, and it is probably the best place in western Europe to see skulking Siberian passerines such as Pechora Pipit, Lanceolated Warbler and Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler. In spring 2008 a Calandra Lark was identified in April, and in May a Caspian Plover was observed, only the fourth such record for the UK.[6] On June 6 a Citril Finch was found and identified by Islander Tommy Hyndman, a first record for Britain. September was highlighted by Brown Flycatcher, Red-flanked Bluetail and Siberian Thrush. Fair Isle can claim to be the best place to find rare birds in Britain with at least 27 first records. Spring 2009 started well with notable birds including White-tailed Eagle, Green-winged Teal, Red-rumped Swallow and a Brown-headed Cowbird (2nd for Britain). The island is home to an endemic subspecies of Eurasian Wren, the Fair Isle Wren Troglodytes troglodytes fridariensis.
Fair Isle has been occupied since the Bronze Age which is remarkable because of the lack of raw materials on the island, although it is surrounded by rich fishing waters. There are two known Iron Age sites - a promontory fort at Landberg and the foundations of a house underlying an early Christian settlement at Kirkigeo.
Most of the place-names date from after the ninth-century Norse settlement of the Northern Isles. By that time the croft lands had clearly been in use for many centuries.
On 20 August 1588 the flagship of the Spanish Armada, El Gran Grifón, was shipwrecked in the cove of Stroms Heelor, forcing its 300 sailors to spend six weeks living with the islanders. The wreck was discovered in 1970.
Fair Isle was bought by the National Trust for Scotland in 1954 from George Waterston, the founder of the bird observatory.[13][14]
Today about 60 crofters work the land on the island. It has 14 scheduled monuments, ranging from the earliest signs of human activity to the remains of a World War II radar station. The two automated lighthouses are protected as listed buildings. The island's historic role as a signal station continues today with its high-technology relay stations carrying vital TV, radio, telephone and military communication links between Shetland, Orkney and the Scottish mainland.
Over the centuries the island changed hands many times. Trading links with northern Europe are reflected in Fair Isle Haa, a traditional Hanseatic trading booth located not far from the South Harbour traditionally used by residents of the southern part of the island. But rent was paid to absentee landlords (who rarely visited) in butter, cloth and fish oil.
Fishing has always been an important industry for the island. In 1702, the Dutch, who were interested in Shetland's herring fisheries, fought a naval battle against the French warships just off the island.
Fair Isle is also famous for its woollen jumpers, with knitting forming an important source of income for the women of the islands. The principal activity for the male islanders is crofting. In January 2004, Fair Isle was granted Fairtrade Island status.
During the Second World War, the Royal Air Force built a radar station on top of Ward Hill 712 feet (217 m) during the battle of the Atlantic. The ruined buildings and nissen huts are still present. A Heinkel He 111, from the Luftwaffe's weather patrol, crashed on to the island in 1940. Its remains can still be seen. [15]
Since 1982, two thirds of the community's power has been supplied by wind turbines, and a third by diesel generators. The island has two electrical networks. Standard electricity service is provided on one network, and electric heating is delivered by a second set of cables. The electrical heating is mostly provided by excess electricity from the two wind turbines. Remote frequency-sensitive programmable relays control water heaters and storage heaters in the buildings of the community.
As Fair Isle is not connected to the national grid, electricity is provided by the Fair Isle Electricity Company. Power is generated by two diesel generators and two wind turbines. Diesel generators are automatically switched off if wind turbines provide sufficient power. Excess capacity is distributed through a separate network for home heating or if not enough energy can be dissipated through this, a dump load.[16]
Fair Isle is home to two GSM 900MHz base stations operated by Vodafone and Telefonica O2[17]
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