Where is Fair Isle?
To most people in the UK Fair Isle is a name known from the BBC R4 Shipping Forecasts. (A map showing the location of the Shipping Forecast areas.)
Fair Isle is the most southerly island of the Shetland group (the northernmost islands of the British Isles). It lies approximately 25 kilometres south-south-west of of the Shetland mainland, and approximately the same distance north-east of North Ronaldsay (the most northerly of the Orkney islands).
In earlier centuries the weather ruled the life of the island. A poor summer and autumn meant the difference between an acceptable harvest and a failed harvest, while the sudden onset of a violent storm at any time might bring disaster to a fishing expedition.
In more recent years the unpredictability of the weather might mean a full larder or making supplies last until the weather relented enough to allow the island's mailboat the Good Shepherd to risk a trip across to Shetland for supplies and mail.
Even today, with a three or four days a week air link to Shetland, a new Good Shepherd IV and a new breakwater, the weather continues to dominate the life of the island. In January 1993 the Good Shepherd was stormbound for three weeks and even aircraft were unable to reach the island for ten days due to the high winds.
While agriculture and fishing may perhaps no longer be as all important as they once were, by its very nature crofting will continue to depend upon the land - and sea - for its very existence. In the light of this, it is therefore worth noting that the Isle is still dependent on the whims of sea and air in order that the needs of its population can be satisfied. Any adverse change in climate could well make this requirement increasingly difficult to meet.