Fair Isle makes top five of islands in the world
IT may be Britain’s most remote community, but Fair Isle has just been placed fifth in a list of the top 10 islands in the world, ahead of Tahiti and Capri.
Famous for its knitting and bird life, it is also the only island in Scotland to feature in the survey and is joined by just one other from the UK, the Scilly Isles, which was in second place.
The list – taken from the National Geographic book, The 10 Best of Everything – was chosen by travel writer and author Leslie Thomas.
He wrote the 1966 novel about British national service, Virgin Soldiers, which spawned another two books and two films.
Over 40 years he wrote more than 30 novels and several travel books, such as Some Lovely Islands, My World of Islands and The Hidden Places of Britain.
Thomas writes of Fair Isle, which has been in the care of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) since 1954: “Fair Isle is the most isolated inhabited island in Britain. It is home to only about 7 0 people, but hundreds of thousands of birds reside here as well. Most of the visitors to this wild and wonderful place are bird-watchers. Sheep placidly graze on the steeply angled meadows.”
NTS group manager for Countryside and Islands North, Alexander Bennett said: “This is an amazing accolade for Fair Isle – a place of outstanding natural beauty, supported by a thriving and committed community. We hope this exposure encourages more people to make the trip north to sample Fair Isle’s unique charms, wonderful wildlife and wa r m welcome.”
Kathleen Coull, who runs residential spinning courses on the island, said: “I am delighted, but not totally surprised. I would say the island is certainly worthy of such recognition.”
Fair Isle is located halfway between Orkney and Shetland, but administratively comes under Shetland Islands Council. It is one of Britain’s most remote inhabited islands, only three-miles long and oneand-a-half miles wide. But it has had a human settlement since the Bronze Age.