A small island between the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands of northern Scotland. Fair Isle is famous for its knitted woolen garments with distinctive colored patterns.
Fair Isle
Dictionary:
Fair Isle (fâr) 
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A small island between the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands of northern Scotland. Fair Isle is famous for its knitted woolen garments with distinctive colored patterns.
| 5min Related Video: Fair Isle |
| Columbia Encyclopedia: Fair Isle |
Fair Isle, island, c.3 sq mi (7.8 sq km), off N Scotland, southernmost of the Shetland Islands. It is known for its knitted hosiery of bright, many-colored design and for its bird sanctuary.
| Wikipedia: Fair Isle |
This article is about the physical island. For the knitting technique, see Fair Isle (technique).
| Fair Isle | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
  Fair Isle
|
|
| Fair Isle shown within Scotland | |
| OS grid reference | HZ209717 |
| Names | |
| Gaelic name | Eileann nan Geansaidh |
| 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 (2001) | 69 |
| Population rank | 50 out of 97 |
| Groupings | |
| Island group | Shetland |
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| References | [1][2][3][4][5] |
| If shown, area and population ranks are for all Scottish islands and all inhabited Scottish islands respectively. | |
Fair Isle (from Old Norse Frjóey) Scottish Gaelic Eileann nan Geansaidh is an island off Scotland, lying around halfway between Shetland and the Orkney Islands. The most remote inhabited island in the United Kingdom, it is famous for its Bird Observatory and a traditional style of knitting.
Contents |
Geography
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 miles) in length and 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles) 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.
History
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.
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.[8][9]
Bird observatory
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. The first Director of the observatory was Kenneth Williamson.[10] 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 identified, 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 Winter Wren, the Fair Isle Wren Troglodytes troglodytes fridariensis.
Economy
Fair Isle is famous for its knitted jumpers, with knitting forming an important source of income for the women of the islands. The principal activity for the male islanders is crofting.
Since 1982, two thirds of the community's power has been supplied by wind turbines, and just one third by diesel generators. The island has a distinctive double electrical network. Standard electricity service is provided on one network, and electric heating is delivered by a second set of cables. The electric heating is mainly served by excess electricity from the two wind turbines that would otherwise have had to be dumped. Remote frequency-sensitive programmable relays control individual water heaters and storage heaters in the buildings of the community.
Ward Hill (712 ft) played host to a hastily built RAF radar station during WWII, the ruins of which are still present today. There are also substantial sections of a crashed Heinkel He 111.
On 29 January 2004, Fair Isle was granted Fairtrade Island status.
Communication
Fair Isle is home to two GSM 900MHz base stations operated by Vodafone and Telefonica O2[11]
Transport
- Fair Isle Airport serves the island with flights to Lerwick and Kirkwall (Kirkwall only seasonal).
- The Good Shepherd IV plies between Fair Isle and Grutness.
See also
Footnotes
- ^ 2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland
- ^ Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 1841954543.
- ^ Ordnance Survey
- ^ Iain Mac an Tailleir. "Placenames". Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/language/gaelic/pdfs/placenamesF-J.pdf. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
- ^ Anderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) Orkneyinga Saga. Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint). ISBN 0-901824-25-9
- ^ a b Hughes, Mark (5 May 2008). "Rare bird sends twitchers on a wild plover chase". London: The Independant. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/rare-bird-sends-twitchers-on-a-wild-plover-chase-821129.html. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
- ^ "Fair Isle". fairisle.org.uk. http://www.fairisle.org.uk/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ "Case Study: Wind Power on Fair Isle". National Trust for Scotland. http://www.ntseducation.org.uk/students/case-fairIsle.html. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ Nicolson, James R (1972). Shetland. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 27.
- ^ "The History of Fair Isle Bird Observatory". fairislebirdobs.co.uk. http://www.fairislebirdobs.co.uk/history.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ Sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk reference 6840 and 6983
External links
- Fair Isle community website
- Fair Isle bird observatory
- Latest bird sightings
- Fair Isle Electricity Company Ltd
- Details of its airport
- Photographic tour of the island
- Examples of Fair Isle Knitting
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 | Complete Video Guide to Scotland: Fair Isle and the Highlands (1995 Travel Film) |
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
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- Complete Video Guide to Scotland: Fair Isle and the Highlands (1995 Travel Film)
- North Sea
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- Fair Isle Airport
- George Waterston Memorial Centre and Museum
