Fair Isle - Living On the Edge s01e01 Episode Script
Episode 1
1 Fair Isle.
Britain's most remote inhabited island.
It is an extraordinary place to live.
There are so many moments when you walk outside, or even stand in the window on a stormy day, and just say, "Wow".
But life here is not for everyone.
Scott, come.
Come.
There is no power at night.
The weather never seems to stop.
Until the snow goes, there's really no flights.
This is the ferry information service for Fair Isle.
Today, Thursday 3rd, there's no sailing.
Thank you.
It can be impossible to leave the island for weeks on end.
There is no pub, and just one small shop.
Splendid.
OK.
- Cheers.
- Bye.
Every able-bodied adult holds down several jobs just to keep the island going.
But its population is at a critical point.
If we lose two or three more families, then the population crashes.
And that would be utter disaster for a remote place like this.
Once, almost 400 people lived here.
Now, there are just 55.
But a new couple are moving here.
The first on Fair Isle for five years.
The island needs them, and others like them, if it's going to survive.
You can't want a better place to wash your car than this, really, can you? I never really imagined myself doing this as part of my way of life.
But will they suit Fair Isle? And will Fair Isle suit them? Some people have come here to try and get away from life or whatever.
But you needn't do that, because what happens here is that life is very much in your face, you know, so there's nowhere to hide.
No place to hide! It's just an amazing place.
And it's so small.
It's so small.
And in the middle of nowhere.
Fair Isle is this very small island at the top of the United Kingdom.
It is halfway between these two groups of islands called the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands.
It is three miles long and 1.
5 miles across.
And it is Britain's most remote inhabited island.
And it's our home.
The National Trust for Scotland bought Fair Isle in 1954.
But unlike most of their other properties, Fair Isle is actually inhabited.
People live on the island as crofting farmers.
They maintain the long tradition of the famous Fair Isle knitting patterns, and run all the essential services themselves.
This is a working island.
It's not a museum.
It's a place where we live, and if we want anything doing here, we have to do it for ourselves.
And that means that just two more pairs of hands would make a real difference.
How do you feel about leaving the rope swing, Rachel? Sad.
HE LAUGHS Last words for the rope swing? I love the rope swing.
Shaun and Rachel could be exactly what Fair Isle needs.
They are young, in their 30s, and both ex-military.
They already know Fair Isle, and now they're packing to return.
This time as permanent residents.
Shaun and I have been together about ten months, which I know isn't that long.
People think, "Wow, what a big thing to try and do," but, you know We both met working at the bird observatory on Fair Isle last year.
Shaun was a domestic assistant, I was assistant cook.
Saw dashing me at the bar.
That was it.
- "Who's that gorgeous chap?" - Yeah.
- A bit bald, but I like that, though.
- INTERVIEWER: - Are you married? No.
Not yet.
I've never been married before.
And kind of, you know, time is getting on.
I'd You know, I'd like to experience it once in my life.
- Before it gets too late! - Fair Isle is a good setting.
It is.
After just three months as a couple, Shaun and Rachel heard that one of the crofts on Fair Isle had become vacant.
Barkland Croft comes with a four-bedroom house, 25 acres of land and 24 sheep.
Despite having no farming experience, Shaun and Rachel convinced the National Trust for Scotland that they were cut out for life on a remote island.
We had the advantage in that Shaun and Rachel had worked here on Fair Isle for six months prior to coming.
And that was really nice.
And that gave them a sort of understanding of Fair Isle life and what they might be faced with.
Ever since the island's population has declined, Fair Isle has depended on incomers from all over the world.
So of the 27 households, less than half are Fair Islanders born and bred.
Wish you were here Neil's family have lived on Fair Isle for over 400 years.
He met his wife Pat while working in London.
I met Neil in the Met Office when we were both on training courses.
And .
.
we fell in love at first sight, didn't we? And then, after a brief few months, came up to Shetland, fell in love with Shetland, and came to Fair Isle and fell in love with Fair Isle, too.
So we've never really looked back since then.
How's this for romance? I proposed to Pat about ten o'clock on a rainy night.
Outside Terminal 3 in a bus shelter at Heathrow.
Yeah.
We have fantastic wildlife.
I mean, where else would I go and get to play with a big boat?! It's a bit thick to do with clippers, but never mind.
- No hairdresser on Fair Isle, then? - No.
No hairdresser on Fair Isle.
And if you've got short hair, you know, it needs doing regularly, then it's basically You can't just fly out just to get your hair done.
OK, well, this is just a wall of Just a random wall of photos of the children mainly.
All four of them since they were little.
When did you have your first child? Lachlan, he was born in 1993 when I was at university.
And the other three were born after we moved to Fair Isle.
Get the gate, they'll just follow me in.
Hollie and Deryk Shaw have lived here for 15 years.
All right, open the gate.
Ythan is the youngest of their four children.
And the only one who's still at home.
- This one's snowball.
- Snowball! That one's Napoleon.
Hollie and Deryk first came here to run the bird observatory.
Now, they both work on their croft and turn their hand to a couple of other jobs, too.
Yeah, so that's fine.
Should keep it clean in here.
Dust and any dirt.
Here we are.
It's just after 7.
30 in the morning.
We are ready for off, finally.
Cleared for Cleared for take-off.
The dogs are somewhere in the back, there.
They've got their houses and baskets.
I'm the pilot today.
So far.
There's Nanny.
Bye, Nanny.
Nanny in her dressing gown.
- PEEPS HORN - Bye.
Bye.
Fair Isle is in Britain, but it takes Shaun and Rachel three days by road and ferry to get themselves, their dogs and a removal lorry's worth of possessions to the south end of mainland Shetland.
Here, they are met by Fair Isle's ferry and crew, who will take them the final 24 miles across the North Sea.
But first, they must load up all their worldly goods.
Right, Andy, in a bit.
That's it.
Off to the left, you're clear.
There's nothing else in there then.
- What's that? - This is the baby grand piano.
Rachel's baby grand piano.
It's sentimental to Rachel as well but also she can play, play very well.
It's literally all our life in a lorry.
I'm looking forward to seeing this one coming out.
I think it would have made the logistics a hell of a lot easier had we not brought the piano but, you know, I wanted it, so I've caused all sorts of chaos! Fair Isle's lifeline, the Good Shepherd IV, is the only way to get heavy goods on and off the island.
And everything must be craned on.
Hello.
Could we please have two one-way tickets to Fair Isle? Fair Isle, times two.
£10.
60, please.
I think moving to Fair Isle, it offers us the opportunity to grow our own vegetables.
I'd like to have chickens.
You know, we'd like pigs.
A real Good Life.
There is, I think, you know, that sense of community that hasn't been around probably since our grandparents' day.
It's the old-style community where people look out for each other, help each other, and generally care about each other.
- Did you have a good trip? - Yeah.
You all right? - Thank you.
- Good to see you.
Hello.
Hello.
- Hello, sweetheart.
- Good to see you.
- You too.
Are you all right? Good to see you.
Are you all right, matey?! It's a splendid place to be yourself.
You can't really pretend to be anything because everybody kens you and it's splendid.
How many people do you know really, really well? I know all these people really, really well.
I love them all.
It's fantastic! It's been so nice.
So many people turned out to see us.
It's slightly overwhelming, to be honest, but it's lovely, nevertheless.
Ah, you got me! Oh, my gosh! Have you seen this? Oh, my word! - No, sweetheart, they're from me! - From you? I arranged this with Mati.
- Did you? - Yeah.
- Aw! Come here, you wally.
- Welcome to our new home.
- That's awesome.
- Right? - Yeah.
We've got to go round the other side.
I'm coming round this other side - we're going in.
All right? - It's not very wide.
- It's going to go.
Push up, guys.
Push up.
We're going to need to go single file.
- OK, Martin? - OK? It's a step up for you guys, a step up.
Thank you, guys, so, so much.
You have gone above and beyond.
Thank you.
The average rental on Fair Isle will be round about the £500 a year mark.
That's way below market value but it's done to make sure the burden of housing is kept to the minimum for islanders.
We could never afford the size of house or land we will get in Barkland.
It is a family house, it's a four-bedroomed house.
Follow me, Sebastian.
I'm going to the utility.
How come you chose Shaun and Rachel, and not people with children already for Barkland? That was actually quite easy because nobody applied with children.
- Hi, Mum! - Hi, love! Dining room.
You can see I've not got far to go if there's a fire.
The Fire Service.
Or to take the kids to school when we have kids.
Working on that one.
Thank you for all your help, all of you.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
We're in ish.
The dog has sicked on your sleeping bag, though, so On the boat? Amazing! - My one's fine.
- I might want to like Urgh, and in the corner of the car.
SHEEP BLEA Today, Hollie and Deryk's middle children, Raven and Fyntan, are coming home from school.
- Hello, darling.
- They have no transport.
- No.
What are you doing? There is no high school on Fair Isle.
So, when children turn 11, they must board on the Shetland mainland.
Youngest son Ythan is in his final year at primary school.
After the summer, he will be the last of their children to leave.
- INTERVIEWER: - Do you think it's too young to go? - Ah yeah.
- Realistically, yes.
Yes, it probably is.
It would probably be better to go when they're 13 15 would be great but it's not an option.
So Everyone has a choice.
We have a choice to live here or not live here.
No-one's forced us to do this.
And there's lots and lots of upsides to our situation.
We get to live in this amazing place.
The children This is where they The younger three, this is where they were born.
They don't know anywhere else.
This is home to them.
This is their rite of passage - going to the high school is a rite of passage to them.
But it's hard.
You miss a lot of them.
And it is a really difficult decision.
There have been plenty of people over the years who've decided to leave for that very reason.
As their child reaches 11, then they've left the island for that reason.
So, it's not easy.
Ythan is one of only five pupils at the island's tiny primary school.
If no new kids are born or come to Fair Isle, the school could close.
An island without a primary school is not a place for young families.
OK.
Next thing you're going to do is you're going to go back to doing your Kandinsky circle pictures.
I think Ythan will be fine at high school.
I think he will enjoy it.
I'm sure he's quite scared at the moment.
He'll enjoy it after a while.
It's just difficult, very difficult at the start for them, adjusting to lots of children.
After the summer holidays, Ythan will board at Anderson High School on mainland Shetland.
But Fair Isle's tiny plane and boat can only bring the children home from the school's hostel if the weather permits.
We only come home once every three weeks and just for three days.
Are you looking forward to it then? Yeah, definitely.
What sort of things are you looking forward to? Just being with Fyn and Raven more and just more people to play football.
Anything you're going to miss from here? The playground.
And that we all know each other really well.
I'm starting the fire because there's certain, erm, things that you don't want in the normal rubbish.
Penny and Sue, they come round once a week and they take away our plastic bags which go out to Shetland on a skip, on the boat.
And then we've got Jimmy, who, erm, gets the glass and tins and they go off separately.
They, too, go off on a boat to Shetland.
I've been fitting some new windows and there's a couple of foam containers and I know not what will happen to them but, at some stage, they will no doubt make a noise.
Are you supposed to burn those, John? I don't know what else to do with them.
Ian, my son, looks after the water scheme.
When I first came here, we operated with wells.
Then we built a dam and pumped the water from out of what the dam had held.
Later they put down boreholes.
It'll go down to 300 feet until they get the right rock layer and there will be water they can extract from there.
POWER STARTS The power comes on 7.
30am and goes off at 11.
30pm.
There we go.
They bring in diesel from Shetland on the boat.
One of the team pumps it up and the generators keep going after that.
Obviously, the generators are much more expensive than the wind power.
John's daughter, Fiona, manages the Fire and Rescue team.
Another of her six jobs is running the island shop with her husband, Robert.
Did you see that Thursday night? The shop, I think, plays quite a vital role, it does provide a bit of a hub for what's going on in the island.
- Hiya.
- When we unload the boat, there's other people It's not just us collecting the shop goods and putting it into our van.
It is an instinctive thing that people will come and help, which is great.
We're very reliant on the wholesalers and all the people we're in touch with in Shetland to, I think, understand the difficulties of getting stuff to a remote island.
But you can go for several weeks when there's no gap There's no gap in the weather that allows the boat to go, so that can go on.
The longest maybe is about five or six weeks we've experienced whilst we've had the shop.
It's not too bad there but then kind of SHE PLAYS NOTES It starts going a bit.
That's an especially lovely note there, right now.
No, it's just a beautiful piano.
When it's in tune, it has such a lovely, warm, kind of rich sound to it.
I just really enjoy playing it when no-one's listening.
Shaun and Rachel have been here a week.
Until they arrived, crofter Ian Stout had been looking after their sheep.
But now it's time for the new farmers to take over.
Remember, your land just runs out along this fence here, to the rough grazing at the far end there.
- You can see the change in the ground type.
- Yeah.
Then to this fence that runs along there.
OK.
Just now you've got 24 ewes on here.
- 24? - Then there's a bit this side too.
Goes up along the dyke, here.
Is it where the trailer is? Out to the trailer there and another smaller part out there as well.
I have got the pleasure in welcoming Shaun and Rachel.
They have come and they've been worshipping with us all last year whenever they were not on duty at the bird observatory.
They've got to know us.
Our good points, our bad points, all those sorts of things.
We've had a good look at them and thought, "Well, we can put up with them, "if they want to come.
" We just wanted to give you the right hand of friendship and say, welcome.
Thank you so much.
We'll enjoy you and I think you're going to enjoy Fair Isle.
- I think so.
Yes.
- Great blessings upon you.
- Thank you.
- And you, Shaun.
- Thank you so much.
- Thank you.
Well, the cooker's in now, so at least we can get that on.
Well, the house is always open, you know that.
Big push, big push this afternoon for more stuff.
We only got up 20 minutes before.
We were like, "Oh, my God!" - See you later, John.
- Cheers.
- Bye now.
- Are you all right? - Yep.
So this is what we are famous for, Fair Isle knitting.
We don't know how long it's been going on.
We do know they were producing knitwear to sell, or to barter, with ships as early as the 1690s.
So it is obviously a skill that's been here for a very long time.
Knitting has survived for hundreds of years because of a community that puts a lot of emphasis on passing on the skills and their tradition.
I'm proof of it.
Foreigner, you know, only eight years on the island and everyone here helped me to learn.
We kind of do it quite similarly to how the ladies would have done it in the past because they would fit it around their lives.
They would go out, feed their hens and they would make their children a meal or whatever, and what spare time they got, they would do some knitting to sell to some visitors.
That's very much what we do.
When people come and they buy knitwear from me, I have to go and do my shopping at the shop and I often go and say, "What comes in one hand, goes out the other," because what people pay for my knitwear here helps to keep the shop and the shop family going as well.
We are just setting up for the first cruise ship of the season that's coming tomorrow.
It's pretty important for the knitters, because it is quite a high percentage of our sales goes to cruise ships.
We've brought all the stock from the observatory shop.
I brought all of Elisabeth's knitwear down as well, while she's away.
Mati is actually going to be away tomorrow, she's off island, so she's asked if I could step in and help to kind of mind her stall.
- INTERVIEWER: - Are you going to start knitting, Rachel? - I would like to.
I will make sure she does! No, it is one of the things I'm really, really excited about doing, is getting more involved Hopefully helping out Mati in the future, doing some finishing work for her and getting involved that way, sort of get some experience before I can start doing my own sort of stuff to help out.
Every year, sea birds and migrant birds arrive on Fair Isle in their hundreds of thousands.
Following on behind come cruise ships full of bird-watchers.
People with binoculars that point, and money to spend.
Welcome to Fair Isle.
So what we are planning to do here is do some bird-watching.
And if you want to do that, we have Doug and Mark taking the bird-watching groups.
If you want to walk on your own, there is one single road that takes you to the community hall, so enjoy.
- Thank you.
- OK, you are welcome.
Yes, it suits your eyes, that one.
Goes with your coat as well.
- Thank you very much.
- You are very welcome.
Number 17.
Would you like a bag? - No.
- OK, thank you very much.
- Lovely.
Nearly always the cruise ships are a very good day for sales.
This one is a small/medium.
You've got basically 100 people who've come off a ship, who want to buy Fair Isle knitwear, so every store tends to do pretty well.
So it is very important.
We're only getting about a dozen a year, so it is not like there are lots of them.
The detail on this is just amazing.
Beautiful.
If you know you've got something that is a little bit difficult to get hold of, then it keeps that specialness.
There is a cachet to something that is bought on Fair Isle.
- Do I rock it? - Absolutely.
No-one can't rock a Fair Isle hat, everyone rocks a Fair Isle hat.
- Of course, everybody should have one.
- Absolutely.
One, two, three Yeah! This is where we live.
And play.
And this is where people come and stay at the guesthouse.
Henry was five, almost six when we moved here.
He's been here most of his life, that he can remember.
Me too, almost.
I can't remember anything else! Tommy is originally from upstate New York.
In here is where I paint and make sculptures and listen to tunes.
He came to Fair Isle ten years ago with his wife and son, Henry.
The thing that made me learn about Fair Isle was a radio programme on the National Public Radio.
It was like, "If you want to get away from it all, "there is a house to rent on the remote Fair Isle.
" It was something that really appealed to my wife at the time.
She was the driving factor at the beginning.
Even though my wife has moved on and lives in Shetland now, I still love the island and it is still Henry's home.
The first few weeks I was here I could do nothing but just stare out the window.
It was amazing.
I think this is a unique place on Earth.
I don't think I'll ever regret the decision to move here.
Within two weeks of his arrival, Shaun has started working on the Good Shepherd, as a relief crew member.
Which means other ferry staff can now have a much-needed day off.
What do your duties entail, then? I am deckhand.
So basically what I have to do is, I help load, secure.
So as you've seen, secure the stuff into the hold, get stuff into the hold, make sure it is strapped down securely so it doesn't move.
Today is not a bad day, really, not got any real motion, but on a bad day, if you can imagine the boat is pitching, rolling, stuff inside out.
Usually by that stage I've gone to my bunk.
Do you get sick? I have been.
It is slowly getting better.
This can be a very rough journey.
A journey that It enters into people's psyche, haunts their dreams.
Quite literally.
And Yes, we've had an admiral of the fleet, who's been around the world four times, and he came on our boat and was sick for the first time in his life.
That is true.
The admiral.
It's about the second worst stretch of water in the UK.
And it is where we have our bay.
Most folk avoid it.
After decades of unreliable mail boats, the first Good Shepherd came into service in 1921.
Each new boat has seen vast improvements for the islanders' lifeline to the Shetland mainland.
The Good Shepherd IV is now over 30 years old.
The islanders need a ferry that carries more cargo, and makes them less seasick.
The community are pressing Shetland Islands Council for a replacement.
But for now, they have to make do.
- SHIPPING FORECAST: - .
.
Fair Isle, south-westerly, veering westerly, five or six, occasionally seven When is the boat going to be here? 25 past.
Now.
- No, it's 20 past.
- A few minutes' time.
Children are coming home from school and they are supposed to come in the plane, but the plane was cancelled due to low cloud and rain and so they've opted for the four-hour Lerwick to Fair Isle, four and a half hours on a boat in bad seas.
So the kids are desperate to get home, and willing to endure that for the weekend, for their families.
- It's a long trip.
- I think she'll have probably been sick.
Yeah! She's almost certainly been sick.
But she really, really wanted to come home, so that was She knew that before she got on.
- Yes.
- She's quite stoic, really.
- I wasn't sick.
- She wasn't sick.
- Were you not? - No.
Hardcore.
- She said other people were sick.
- Hardcore.
- It was disgusting.
Been on that for five hours now.
Going up and down, and up and down, and up Was the boat rocking from side to side? Yes.
Did you see the waves in the window? Yes.
HE LAUGHS Rachel had hoped for a few more weeks to unpack and settle in.
But at short notice, the cook at the bird observatory has left.
So she's had to step in, working full-time, catering for up to 40 full-board guests at the Observatory Lodge.
And like all the other islanders, she's already taken on another job.
Two, three weeks after we moved here, I started coming down to Mati's a few days a week, just for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
And she's been teaching me, and I'm quite slow but I'm really enjoying it.
- INTERVIEWER: - Are you doing this on your break, then? Yes, I tend just to dash home, get changed, come back here and it doesn't feel like work, I find it very relaxing.
It is very nice.
Have you found yourself giving Rachel advice about island life? I have always said that Fair Isle is a testing ground for marriages! You are both 24 hours a day with each other and when you go out to do a job, you're doing it with the same people you are seeing every single day.
Which your partner is seeing as well, so there are no networks, outside networks, for you to release any tension.
You can't go and bitch about your partner with your girls, because they will tell that to their partners.
It all goes round.
It is very difficult, it is like a big family.
In a way.
And nothing passes unnoticed.
Yes, you can do nothing here without everybody knowing about it.
I went running once this year outside, never doing that again.
Because everybody wanted to talk about it.
Two days later.
"Oh, I saw you running.
" Yes, you can do nothing here without everybody knowing, and also what you've bought.
If you order something and it comes in on the boat, it's lifted up on the crane and put on the pier, everybody is like, "Oh, you've got a new whatever.
" Yes, if you wanted to keep something secret, you'd have to make an effort.
There's no anonymity here because it is a glasshouse.
If you .
.
throw something in the air then it lands back on your head.
So, if you want anonymity, go and live in London, Glasgow, somewhere like that.
Some traditions are unchangeable.
For as long as Fair Isle has been a crofting community, a hill gathering has happened three times a year.
Sheep must be sheared, and whether they run a croft or not, everyone comes together to help out.
There are more coming now.
Guests from the observatory, children from the crofts, and the dogs from the crofts.
Every man and his dog, really.
If you pull too hard, what happens is you can pull out a bit of skin.
- Are you all right? - Yes.
How much do you normally get for a fleece? I don't think it is very much, £2 maybe, £3, something like that.
It's not a lot.
We don't clip it for the money, we clip it for the welfare of the sheep.
Because it gets too hot otherwise.
Sometimes, when it gets sunny here.
Crofting on Fair Isle involves rearing sheep and running a smallholding.
It is part of the island's heritage.
Crofters here also share the sheep which live on the north of the island, set aside for common grazing.
Is crofting a profitable lifestyle? No.
It is a very simple answer, no.
But it is a way of life.
Do you think it is important that crofting as a way of life does - continue on Fair Isle? - I don't think Fair Isle would survive.
Fair Isle, I think, works particularly well because it is community-based.
Time to eat and go to bed.
I'm up for the boat in the morning.
The National Trust for Scotland's job is to protect natural and human heritage.
Which means making sure Fair Isle remains habitable.
The Trust's area manager, Alexander Bennett, visits several times a year.
His priority right now is Midway croft house.
It could be a home for another family.
One of the priorities for Fair Isle, for National Trust for Scotland and for the community, is to grow the population.
And to do that, we need to get as many houses renovated as we can.
This is clearly an opportunity for us for the future.
We would basically want to completely renovate the house inside with a view to maybe trying to get this done within the next year.
As soon as we get things underway, we will probably advertise for a new family.
How much is it going to cost to renovate Midway? It is going to be in the order of something between 150 and 200,000.
Or thereabouts.
- Who pays for that? - Well, at the moment, we will get a grant from the government of £60,000 from Innovation Scotland.
That helps to provide housing in remote areas.
But the balance will have to be found.
That's where National Trust for Scotland will probably have to dig deep.
In about half an hour, I need to go to work, OK? There we go.
Let's go for a walk.
What time do you start work? I start work at 7.
30.
Just going to rescue the stuff that has blown off the line now! - Really? - Yeah.
Working at the obs, when I finish there, between 2.
00 and 2.
30, I go down to Mati's and do some of the knitwear stuff with her.
So that's normally a couple of hours.
Then it is time to get changed again and back to work, and then it is normally 7.
30 by the time we finish there.
I don't think I really factored in the kind of how sort of tiring I'd find it, you know, trying to do that and then wanting to come back here and get stuff done here.
So I think it is probably trying to get used to it and But at the moment it does feel slightly overwhelming that I'm there until November, until the end of the season.
There is washing out on the line.
Will you just check it from time to time because one of the dog duvets flew off already once? - No problem.
- And there's a load in the washing machine at the moment.
- Come on, Simon.
- HE PEEPS HORN Thank you very much.
Right, I will see you about two o'clock.
- OK.
- Have a good day.
- You too.
Don't forget the laundry.
"Don't forget the laundry, have a good day.
" Are they the two rules? Just don't forget the laundry if you can only remember one - of them.
- So don't have a good day? See you in a bit.
It is all long days, short nights.
There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the bed.
Even if you go to bed at a reasonable hour, you end up getting up early.
They are shearing sheep up there, we should be shearing ours, really.
Generally the rule is, we will have a look about and if we see other people put their washing out, we go, "It's got to be right, get it out.
" I've got washing in here anyway as well, so if I don't, I will get shot.
By the firing squad.
Do you know what, I'm going to give this up in a minute.
We are very, very sad to say cheerio to Ythan today.
So, I'm going to get upset more than him now.
He's been upset all morning, now it's my turn.
So we are really going to miss you, Ythan.
Thank you very much, he's been here for two years of nursery and completed seven years at primary school.
And he's been absolutely brilliant.
Haven't you? We are really going to miss you.
So, thank you all very much for coming, please stay and have some coffee and cake and it'll be time for everybody to go home, and we hope you all have a great summer holiday.
Don't we? Thank you.
APPLAUSE THEY GIGGLE - INTERVIEWER: - How does Fair Isle change in the summer when the kids come home? It is quite different to have kids around.
There's a big shortage of young people on Fair Isle.
I've got a small cushion star.
Now, what's really special about these is none of them had been seen further than Northern Ireland.
Until I found one up here.
It is in the back of my mind the whole time, this is Ythan's last summer before he goes to high school.
Every single day I'm thinking about it.
The other day we were told what time the flight would be the day they go back to school, and it kind of, you know, I know it's coming.
Because he's my last one.
It is really significant.
I'm kind of dreading it, really.
How are you going to help him? Are you going to be able to help him, you two? The whole time.
We are going to be there for him because he's got loads of people there, he's got all the house parents, he's got Mr McGhee, he's got all these different people who are just the year above him or the same year as him, or even just two years above him, which is my year.
And he's got both me and Fyn, we can play guitar every weekend.
And he's going to make loads of friends because he is really easy to talk to and he's good at communicating with people.
He won't have any trouble, he'll be fine.
It is Sunday today so we've just finished Sunday lunch service at the obs, we finished about ten past two, came home, got changed, had a quick coffee.
And we've just come out now for baling and then it is Not really sure how long it'll take to get through, we've not got a huge silage park there, so it shouldn't take too long.
And then back at work at five.
I've just been finding that I've just not really had the time that I envisaged myself having to kind of get the house straight.
And, you know, feel like I'm actually playing a part in the community by doing things like baling.
I mean, I think I only made it out for two afternoons.
People keep saying, you know, "Oh, you've got to make time for yourselves.
" But then you sort of think, you know, on the odd occasion where we have had a day off together, "Actually, I need to get on with the roof," or, "I need to get on with this.
" And so it's kind of - Or baling, or - Yeah.
So I think we've identified the fact that it's not us, it's not You know, it's not going to be like this forever, this is it, this is as good as it gets.
I think we've identified the fact that one of the major things that has been making us kind of get at each other has been that, you know, I'm having no time off and I'm getting stressed and getting at Shaun.
So I've given my month's notice, which takes us up to Thursday.
All right, then.
I think you're sorted.
That's everything.
You might want to take, like, another game that you can play, rather than just electronic games.
- Mmm.
- Like a One of your little quiz games or something.
- Yeah.
- Cos you might spend a bit of time, especially at the weekends, you know, you might spend a bit of time by yourself until Fyntan gets up.
- Yeah? - I did think about taking my moon ball.
- This thing? - Yeah.
- OK.
Yeah, we can take that.
That's only little.
You've got all those big corridors you can play in when there's nobody else there at the weekend.
Yeah? Need a bigger boot, now.
Would you consider leaving? - Yes.
- Never say never.
We have considered it.
I mean, we considered it 15 years ago.
When Lachlan went to the high school, we considered leaving then.
As soon as he went.
But he said, "You can't leave Fair Isle, Mum.
"You've got to stay here.
I want you to stay here.
"I want to go.
" And that's happened every time.
They've each gone and they didn't want us to leave Fair Isle.
All right, kids.
Get in that plane! Bye, Ma.
- Look after - I will.
HE SOBS You're going to be fine, OK? Huh? - Of course you're going to be fine.
- Mum, I have to go.
- Don't cry, it's going to be fun.
- Come on, you're going to be fine.
It'll be good.
Lots of exciting things to do now.
Out in the big, wide world.
With your brother and sister to see every day.
- Yeah? - Is he getting in here? You'll be fine.
I think I think you're in here.
Now, then.
OK, darling? All right? You be good.
- Have fun.
- You'll be fine.
See you in a couple of weeks.
All right? - See you, Raven.
- Bye.
Well, that's it.
How does it make you feel, that he's gone? Oh Oh, I know, it's a bit strange.
I miss him.
Yeah, of course I do.
Anybody would.
When a child leaves home I mean, he is only 11.
Very young to be going out there.
I mean, it is effectively leaving home.
You notice vast changes when they come home, you know? They've grown up so much, you know? Become streetwise, or whatever you want to call it.
But, yeah, they do grow up fast when they go out there.
Yeah, they've not left home but they grow up fast.
I mean, they even physically grow fast, because it tends to hit Coincide with the age when they start to have growth spurts.
So they can come home, you know, three weeks since you saw them and you can physically see they've grown.
You're like, wow Well, they start to overtake me, so Quite quickly.
- Yeah.
So - Do you feel like you're missing out? Oh, no question about it.
- Oh, yeah.
- Absolutely.
Yeah, missing a lot, yeah.
And it's very hard.
It's And, again, up till now, although we're missing out, we've always had one that you've still got At least one you've still got at home to sort of fill that gap.
But, no, we're definitely missing out.
There's no question about that.
It's It's the major downside to living here.
I feel more relaxed than You know, just about life in general, than I have in years.
And I love it.
I mean I say, we've only been here five minutes and I know we've not experienced a Fair Isle winter yet, we've got that to look forward to and I'm sure, you know, ask me in kind of four or five months and I'll be kind of sobbing into my cocoa or something, but But, no, I think it's just I just feel like we're doing something here.
We're building up to stuff and, you know, we will be growing our own and we will have polytunnels and we will have the chickens, the hens and, you know, we will have the potato patch out here.
And it's We will have the 2.
4 children.
Can we not just have more dogs instead? Next time, winter descends and the festive season brings families and friends back to the isle.
Ythan will have to find his feet at school on Shetland.
He's been fairly homesick.
I think we kind of expected it.
Just because of the nature of him.
And Shaun and Rachel are finding life together on Fair Isle increasingly hard.
Rachel! You can't stand here! I know, that's why I'm going!
Britain's most remote inhabited island.
It is an extraordinary place to live.
There are so many moments when you walk outside, or even stand in the window on a stormy day, and just say, "Wow".
But life here is not for everyone.
Scott, come.
Come.
There is no power at night.
The weather never seems to stop.
Until the snow goes, there's really no flights.
This is the ferry information service for Fair Isle.
Today, Thursday 3rd, there's no sailing.
Thank you.
It can be impossible to leave the island for weeks on end.
There is no pub, and just one small shop.
Splendid.
OK.
- Cheers.
- Bye.
Every able-bodied adult holds down several jobs just to keep the island going.
But its population is at a critical point.
If we lose two or three more families, then the population crashes.
And that would be utter disaster for a remote place like this.
Once, almost 400 people lived here.
Now, there are just 55.
But a new couple are moving here.
The first on Fair Isle for five years.
The island needs them, and others like them, if it's going to survive.
You can't want a better place to wash your car than this, really, can you? I never really imagined myself doing this as part of my way of life.
But will they suit Fair Isle? And will Fair Isle suit them? Some people have come here to try and get away from life or whatever.
But you needn't do that, because what happens here is that life is very much in your face, you know, so there's nowhere to hide.
No place to hide! It's just an amazing place.
And it's so small.
It's so small.
And in the middle of nowhere.
Fair Isle is this very small island at the top of the United Kingdom.
It is halfway between these two groups of islands called the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands.
It is three miles long and 1.
5 miles across.
And it is Britain's most remote inhabited island.
And it's our home.
The National Trust for Scotland bought Fair Isle in 1954.
But unlike most of their other properties, Fair Isle is actually inhabited.
People live on the island as crofting farmers.
They maintain the long tradition of the famous Fair Isle knitting patterns, and run all the essential services themselves.
This is a working island.
It's not a museum.
It's a place where we live, and if we want anything doing here, we have to do it for ourselves.
And that means that just two more pairs of hands would make a real difference.
How do you feel about leaving the rope swing, Rachel? Sad.
HE LAUGHS Last words for the rope swing? I love the rope swing.
Shaun and Rachel could be exactly what Fair Isle needs.
They are young, in their 30s, and both ex-military.
They already know Fair Isle, and now they're packing to return.
This time as permanent residents.
Shaun and I have been together about ten months, which I know isn't that long.
People think, "Wow, what a big thing to try and do," but, you know We both met working at the bird observatory on Fair Isle last year.
Shaun was a domestic assistant, I was assistant cook.
Saw dashing me at the bar.
That was it.
- "Who's that gorgeous chap?" - Yeah.
- A bit bald, but I like that, though.
- INTERVIEWER: - Are you married? No.
Not yet.
I've never been married before.
And kind of, you know, time is getting on.
I'd You know, I'd like to experience it once in my life.
- Before it gets too late! - Fair Isle is a good setting.
It is.
After just three months as a couple, Shaun and Rachel heard that one of the crofts on Fair Isle had become vacant.
Barkland Croft comes with a four-bedroom house, 25 acres of land and 24 sheep.
Despite having no farming experience, Shaun and Rachel convinced the National Trust for Scotland that they were cut out for life on a remote island.
We had the advantage in that Shaun and Rachel had worked here on Fair Isle for six months prior to coming.
And that was really nice.
And that gave them a sort of understanding of Fair Isle life and what they might be faced with.
Ever since the island's population has declined, Fair Isle has depended on incomers from all over the world.
So of the 27 households, less than half are Fair Islanders born and bred.
Wish you were here Neil's family have lived on Fair Isle for over 400 years.
He met his wife Pat while working in London.
I met Neil in the Met Office when we were both on training courses.
And .
.
we fell in love at first sight, didn't we? And then, after a brief few months, came up to Shetland, fell in love with Shetland, and came to Fair Isle and fell in love with Fair Isle, too.
So we've never really looked back since then.
How's this for romance? I proposed to Pat about ten o'clock on a rainy night.
Outside Terminal 3 in a bus shelter at Heathrow.
Yeah.
We have fantastic wildlife.
I mean, where else would I go and get to play with a big boat?! It's a bit thick to do with clippers, but never mind.
- No hairdresser on Fair Isle, then? - No.
No hairdresser on Fair Isle.
And if you've got short hair, you know, it needs doing regularly, then it's basically You can't just fly out just to get your hair done.
OK, well, this is just a wall of Just a random wall of photos of the children mainly.
All four of them since they were little.
When did you have your first child? Lachlan, he was born in 1993 when I was at university.
And the other three were born after we moved to Fair Isle.
Get the gate, they'll just follow me in.
Hollie and Deryk Shaw have lived here for 15 years.
All right, open the gate.
Ythan is the youngest of their four children.
And the only one who's still at home.
- This one's snowball.
- Snowball! That one's Napoleon.
Hollie and Deryk first came here to run the bird observatory.
Now, they both work on their croft and turn their hand to a couple of other jobs, too.
Yeah, so that's fine.
Should keep it clean in here.
Dust and any dirt.
Here we are.
It's just after 7.
30 in the morning.
We are ready for off, finally.
Cleared for Cleared for take-off.
The dogs are somewhere in the back, there.
They've got their houses and baskets.
I'm the pilot today.
So far.
There's Nanny.
Bye, Nanny.
Nanny in her dressing gown.
- PEEPS HORN - Bye.
Bye.
Fair Isle is in Britain, but it takes Shaun and Rachel three days by road and ferry to get themselves, their dogs and a removal lorry's worth of possessions to the south end of mainland Shetland.
Here, they are met by Fair Isle's ferry and crew, who will take them the final 24 miles across the North Sea.
But first, they must load up all their worldly goods.
Right, Andy, in a bit.
That's it.
Off to the left, you're clear.
There's nothing else in there then.
- What's that? - This is the baby grand piano.
Rachel's baby grand piano.
It's sentimental to Rachel as well but also she can play, play very well.
It's literally all our life in a lorry.
I'm looking forward to seeing this one coming out.
I think it would have made the logistics a hell of a lot easier had we not brought the piano but, you know, I wanted it, so I've caused all sorts of chaos! Fair Isle's lifeline, the Good Shepherd IV, is the only way to get heavy goods on and off the island.
And everything must be craned on.
Hello.
Could we please have two one-way tickets to Fair Isle? Fair Isle, times two.
£10.
60, please.
I think moving to Fair Isle, it offers us the opportunity to grow our own vegetables.
I'd like to have chickens.
You know, we'd like pigs.
A real Good Life.
There is, I think, you know, that sense of community that hasn't been around probably since our grandparents' day.
It's the old-style community where people look out for each other, help each other, and generally care about each other.
- Did you have a good trip? - Yeah.
You all right? - Thank you.
- Good to see you.
Hello.
Hello.
- Hello, sweetheart.
- Good to see you.
- You too.
Are you all right? Good to see you.
Are you all right, matey?! It's a splendid place to be yourself.
You can't really pretend to be anything because everybody kens you and it's splendid.
How many people do you know really, really well? I know all these people really, really well.
I love them all.
It's fantastic! It's been so nice.
So many people turned out to see us.
It's slightly overwhelming, to be honest, but it's lovely, nevertheless.
Ah, you got me! Oh, my gosh! Have you seen this? Oh, my word! - No, sweetheart, they're from me! - From you? I arranged this with Mati.
- Did you? - Yeah.
- Aw! Come here, you wally.
- Welcome to our new home.
- That's awesome.
- Right? - Yeah.
We've got to go round the other side.
I'm coming round this other side - we're going in.
All right? - It's not very wide.
- It's going to go.
Push up, guys.
Push up.
We're going to need to go single file.
- OK, Martin? - OK? It's a step up for you guys, a step up.
Thank you, guys, so, so much.
You have gone above and beyond.
Thank you.
The average rental on Fair Isle will be round about the £500 a year mark.
That's way below market value but it's done to make sure the burden of housing is kept to the minimum for islanders.
We could never afford the size of house or land we will get in Barkland.
It is a family house, it's a four-bedroomed house.
Follow me, Sebastian.
I'm going to the utility.
How come you chose Shaun and Rachel, and not people with children already for Barkland? That was actually quite easy because nobody applied with children.
- Hi, Mum! - Hi, love! Dining room.
You can see I've not got far to go if there's a fire.
The Fire Service.
Or to take the kids to school when we have kids.
Working on that one.
Thank you for all your help, all of you.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
We're in ish.
The dog has sicked on your sleeping bag, though, so On the boat? Amazing! - My one's fine.
- I might want to like Urgh, and in the corner of the car.
SHEEP BLEA Today, Hollie and Deryk's middle children, Raven and Fyntan, are coming home from school.
- Hello, darling.
- They have no transport.
- No.
What are you doing? There is no high school on Fair Isle.
So, when children turn 11, they must board on the Shetland mainland.
Youngest son Ythan is in his final year at primary school.
After the summer, he will be the last of their children to leave.
- INTERVIEWER: - Do you think it's too young to go? - Ah yeah.
- Realistically, yes.
Yes, it probably is.
It would probably be better to go when they're 13 15 would be great but it's not an option.
So Everyone has a choice.
We have a choice to live here or not live here.
No-one's forced us to do this.
And there's lots and lots of upsides to our situation.
We get to live in this amazing place.
The children This is where they The younger three, this is where they were born.
They don't know anywhere else.
This is home to them.
This is their rite of passage - going to the high school is a rite of passage to them.
But it's hard.
You miss a lot of them.
And it is a really difficult decision.
There have been plenty of people over the years who've decided to leave for that very reason.
As their child reaches 11, then they've left the island for that reason.
So, it's not easy.
Ythan is one of only five pupils at the island's tiny primary school.
If no new kids are born or come to Fair Isle, the school could close.
An island without a primary school is not a place for young families.
OK.
Next thing you're going to do is you're going to go back to doing your Kandinsky circle pictures.
I think Ythan will be fine at high school.
I think he will enjoy it.
I'm sure he's quite scared at the moment.
He'll enjoy it after a while.
It's just difficult, very difficult at the start for them, adjusting to lots of children.
After the summer holidays, Ythan will board at Anderson High School on mainland Shetland.
But Fair Isle's tiny plane and boat can only bring the children home from the school's hostel if the weather permits.
We only come home once every three weeks and just for three days.
Are you looking forward to it then? Yeah, definitely.
What sort of things are you looking forward to? Just being with Fyn and Raven more and just more people to play football.
Anything you're going to miss from here? The playground.
And that we all know each other really well.
I'm starting the fire because there's certain, erm, things that you don't want in the normal rubbish.
Penny and Sue, they come round once a week and they take away our plastic bags which go out to Shetland on a skip, on the boat.
And then we've got Jimmy, who, erm, gets the glass and tins and they go off separately.
They, too, go off on a boat to Shetland.
I've been fitting some new windows and there's a couple of foam containers and I know not what will happen to them but, at some stage, they will no doubt make a noise.
Are you supposed to burn those, John? I don't know what else to do with them.
Ian, my son, looks after the water scheme.
When I first came here, we operated with wells.
Then we built a dam and pumped the water from out of what the dam had held.
Later they put down boreholes.
It'll go down to 300 feet until they get the right rock layer and there will be water they can extract from there.
POWER STARTS The power comes on 7.
30am and goes off at 11.
30pm.
There we go.
They bring in diesel from Shetland on the boat.
One of the team pumps it up and the generators keep going after that.
Obviously, the generators are much more expensive than the wind power.
John's daughter, Fiona, manages the Fire and Rescue team.
Another of her six jobs is running the island shop with her husband, Robert.
Did you see that Thursday night? The shop, I think, plays quite a vital role, it does provide a bit of a hub for what's going on in the island.
- Hiya.
- When we unload the boat, there's other people It's not just us collecting the shop goods and putting it into our van.
It is an instinctive thing that people will come and help, which is great.
We're very reliant on the wholesalers and all the people we're in touch with in Shetland to, I think, understand the difficulties of getting stuff to a remote island.
But you can go for several weeks when there's no gap There's no gap in the weather that allows the boat to go, so that can go on.
The longest maybe is about five or six weeks we've experienced whilst we've had the shop.
It's not too bad there but then kind of SHE PLAYS NOTES It starts going a bit.
That's an especially lovely note there, right now.
No, it's just a beautiful piano.
When it's in tune, it has such a lovely, warm, kind of rich sound to it.
I just really enjoy playing it when no-one's listening.
Shaun and Rachel have been here a week.
Until they arrived, crofter Ian Stout had been looking after their sheep.
But now it's time for the new farmers to take over.
Remember, your land just runs out along this fence here, to the rough grazing at the far end there.
- You can see the change in the ground type.
- Yeah.
Then to this fence that runs along there.
OK.
Just now you've got 24 ewes on here.
- 24? - Then there's a bit this side too.
Goes up along the dyke, here.
Is it where the trailer is? Out to the trailer there and another smaller part out there as well.
I have got the pleasure in welcoming Shaun and Rachel.
They have come and they've been worshipping with us all last year whenever they were not on duty at the bird observatory.
They've got to know us.
Our good points, our bad points, all those sorts of things.
We've had a good look at them and thought, "Well, we can put up with them, "if they want to come.
" We just wanted to give you the right hand of friendship and say, welcome.
Thank you so much.
We'll enjoy you and I think you're going to enjoy Fair Isle.
- I think so.
Yes.
- Great blessings upon you.
- Thank you.
- And you, Shaun.
- Thank you so much.
- Thank you.
Well, the cooker's in now, so at least we can get that on.
Well, the house is always open, you know that.
Big push, big push this afternoon for more stuff.
We only got up 20 minutes before.
We were like, "Oh, my God!" - See you later, John.
- Cheers.
- Bye now.
- Are you all right? - Yep.
So this is what we are famous for, Fair Isle knitting.
We don't know how long it's been going on.
We do know they were producing knitwear to sell, or to barter, with ships as early as the 1690s.
So it is obviously a skill that's been here for a very long time.
Knitting has survived for hundreds of years because of a community that puts a lot of emphasis on passing on the skills and their tradition.
I'm proof of it.
Foreigner, you know, only eight years on the island and everyone here helped me to learn.
We kind of do it quite similarly to how the ladies would have done it in the past because they would fit it around their lives.
They would go out, feed their hens and they would make their children a meal or whatever, and what spare time they got, they would do some knitting to sell to some visitors.
That's very much what we do.
When people come and they buy knitwear from me, I have to go and do my shopping at the shop and I often go and say, "What comes in one hand, goes out the other," because what people pay for my knitwear here helps to keep the shop and the shop family going as well.
We are just setting up for the first cruise ship of the season that's coming tomorrow.
It's pretty important for the knitters, because it is quite a high percentage of our sales goes to cruise ships.
We've brought all the stock from the observatory shop.
I brought all of Elisabeth's knitwear down as well, while she's away.
Mati is actually going to be away tomorrow, she's off island, so she's asked if I could step in and help to kind of mind her stall.
- INTERVIEWER: - Are you going to start knitting, Rachel? - I would like to.
I will make sure she does! No, it is one of the things I'm really, really excited about doing, is getting more involved Hopefully helping out Mati in the future, doing some finishing work for her and getting involved that way, sort of get some experience before I can start doing my own sort of stuff to help out.
Every year, sea birds and migrant birds arrive on Fair Isle in their hundreds of thousands.
Following on behind come cruise ships full of bird-watchers.
People with binoculars that point, and money to spend.
Welcome to Fair Isle.
So what we are planning to do here is do some bird-watching.
And if you want to do that, we have Doug and Mark taking the bird-watching groups.
If you want to walk on your own, there is one single road that takes you to the community hall, so enjoy.
- Thank you.
- OK, you are welcome.
Yes, it suits your eyes, that one.
Goes with your coat as well.
- Thank you very much.
- You are very welcome.
Number 17.
Would you like a bag? - No.
- OK, thank you very much.
- Lovely.
Nearly always the cruise ships are a very good day for sales.
This one is a small/medium.
You've got basically 100 people who've come off a ship, who want to buy Fair Isle knitwear, so every store tends to do pretty well.
So it is very important.
We're only getting about a dozen a year, so it is not like there are lots of them.
The detail on this is just amazing.
Beautiful.
If you know you've got something that is a little bit difficult to get hold of, then it keeps that specialness.
There is a cachet to something that is bought on Fair Isle.
- Do I rock it? - Absolutely.
No-one can't rock a Fair Isle hat, everyone rocks a Fair Isle hat.
- Of course, everybody should have one.
- Absolutely.
One, two, three Yeah! This is where we live.
And play.
And this is where people come and stay at the guesthouse.
Henry was five, almost six when we moved here.
He's been here most of his life, that he can remember.
Me too, almost.
I can't remember anything else! Tommy is originally from upstate New York.
In here is where I paint and make sculptures and listen to tunes.
He came to Fair Isle ten years ago with his wife and son, Henry.
The thing that made me learn about Fair Isle was a radio programme on the National Public Radio.
It was like, "If you want to get away from it all, "there is a house to rent on the remote Fair Isle.
" It was something that really appealed to my wife at the time.
She was the driving factor at the beginning.
Even though my wife has moved on and lives in Shetland now, I still love the island and it is still Henry's home.
The first few weeks I was here I could do nothing but just stare out the window.
It was amazing.
I think this is a unique place on Earth.
I don't think I'll ever regret the decision to move here.
Within two weeks of his arrival, Shaun has started working on the Good Shepherd, as a relief crew member.
Which means other ferry staff can now have a much-needed day off.
What do your duties entail, then? I am deckhand.
So basically what I have to do is, I help load, secure.
So as you've seen, secure the stuff into the hold, get stuff into the hold, make sure it is strapped down securely so it doesn't move.
Today is not a bad day, really, not got any real motion, but on a bad day, if you can imagine the boat is pitching, rolling, stuff inside out.
Usually by that stage I've gone to my bunk.
Do you get sick? I have been.
It is slowly getting better.
This can be a very rough journey.
A journey that It enters into people's psyche, haunts their dreams.
Quite literally.
And Yes, we've had an admiral of the fleet, who's been around the world four times, and he came on our boat and was sick for the first time in his life.
That is true.
The admiral.
It's about the second worst stretch of water in the UK.
And it is where we have our bay.
Most folk avoid it.
After decades of unreliable mail boats, the first Good Shepherd came into service in 1921.
Each new boat has seen vast improvements for the islanders' lifeline to the Shetland mainland.
The Good Shepherd IV is now over 30 years old.
The islanders need a ferry that carries more cargo, and makes them less seasick.
The community are pressing Shetland Islands Council for a replacement.
But for now, they have to make do.
- SHIPPING FORECAST: - .
.
Fair Isle, south-westerly, veering westerly, five or six, occasionally seven When is the boat going to be here? 25 past.
Now.
- No, it's 20 past.
- A few minutes' time.
Children are coming home from school and they are supposed to come in the plane, but the plane was cancelled due to low cloud and rain and so they've opted for the four-hour Lerwick to Fair Isle, four and a half hours on a boat in bad seas.
So the kids are desperate to get home, and willing to endure that for the weekend, for their families.
- It's a long trip.
- I think she'll have probably been sick.
Yeah! She's almost certainly been sick.
But she really, really wanted to come home, so that was She knew that before she got on.
- Yes.
- She's quite stoic, really.
- I wasn't sick.
- She wasn't sick.
- Were you not? - No.
Hardcore.
- She said other people were sick.
- Hardcore.
- It was disgusting.
Been on that for five hours now.
Going up and down, and up and down, and up Was the boat rocking from side to side? Yes.
Did you see the waves in the window? Yes.
HE LAUGHS Rachel had hoped for a few more weeks to unpack and settle in.
But at short notice, the cook at the bird observatory has left.
So she's had to step in, working full-time, catering for up to 40 full-board guests at the Observatory Lodge.
And like all the other islanders, she's already taken on another job.
Two, three weeks after we moved here, I started coming down to Mati's a few days a week, just for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
And she's been teaching me, and I'm quite slow but I'm really enjoying it.
- INTERVIEWER: - Are you doing this on your break, then? Yes, I tend just to dash home, get changed, come back here and it doesn't feel like work, I find it very relaxing.
It is very nice.
Have you found yourself giving Rachel advice about island life? I have always said that Fair Isle is a testing ground for marriages! You are both 24 hours a day with each other and when you go out to do a job, you're doing it with the same people you are seeing every single day.
Which your partner is seeing as well, so there are no networks, outside networks, for you to release any tension.
You can't go and bitch about your partner with your girls, because they will tell that to their partners.
It all goes round.
It is very difficult, it is like a big family.
In a way.
And nothing passes unnoticed.
Yes, you can do nothing here without everybody knowing about it.
I went running once this year outside, never doing that again.
Because everybody wanted to talk about it.
Two days later.
"Oh, I saw you running.
" Yes, you can do nothing here without everybody knowing, and also what you've bought.
If you order something and it comes in on the boat, it's lifted up on the crane and put on the pier, everybody is like, "Oh, you've got a new whatever.
" Yes, if you wanted to keep something secret, you'd have to make an effort.
There's no anonymity here because it is a glasshouse.
If you .
.
throw something in the air then it lands back on your head.
So, if you want anonymity, go and live in London, Glasgow, somewhere like that.
Some traditions are unchangeable.
For as long as Fair Isle has been a crofting community, a hill gathering has happened three times a year.
Sheep must be sheared, and whether they run a croft or not, everyone comes together to help out.
There are more coming now.
Guests from the observatory, children from the crofts, and the dogs from the crofts.
Every man and his dog, really.
If you pull too hard, what happens is you can pull out a bit of skin.
- Are you all right? - Yes.
How much do you normally get for a fleece? I don't think it is very much, £2 maybe, £3, something like that.
It's not a lot.
We don't clip it for the money, we clip it for the welfare of the sheep.
Because it gets too hot otherwise.
Sometimes, when it gets sunny here.
Crofting on Fair Isle involves rearing sheep and running a smallholding.
It is part of the island's heritage.
Crofters here also share the sheep which live on the north of the island, set aside for common grazing.
Is crofting a profitable lifestyle? No.
It is a very simple answer, no.
But it is a way of life.
Do you think it is important that crofting as a way of life does - continue on Fair Isle? - I don't think Fair Isle would survive.
Fair Isle, I think, works particularly well because it is community-based.
Time to eat and go to bed.
I'm up for the boat in the morning.
The National Trust for Scotland's job is to protect natural and human heritage.
Which means making sure Fair Isle remains habitable.
The Trust's area manager, Alexander Bennett, visits several times a year.
His priority right now is Midway croft house.
It could be a home for another family.
One of the priorities for Fair Isle, for National Trust for Scotland and for the community, is to grow the population.
And to do that, we need to get as many houses renovated as we can.
This is clearly an opportunity for us for the future.
We would basically want to completely renovate the house inside with a view to maybe trying to get this done within the next year.
As soon as we get things underway, we will probably advertise for a new family.
How much is it going to cost to renovate Midway? It is going to be in the order of something between 150 and 200,000.
Or thereabouts.
- Who pays for that? - Well, at the moment, we will get a grant from the government of £60,000 from Innovation Scotland.
That helps to provide housing in remote areas.
But the balance will have to be found.
That's where National Trust for Scotland will probably have to dig deep.
In about half an hour, I need to go to work, OK? There we go.
Let's go for a walk.
What time do you start work? I start work at 7.
30.
Just going to rescue the stuff that has blown off the line now! - Really? - Yeah.
Working at the obs, when I finish there, between 2.
00 and 2.
30, I go down to Mati's and do some of the knitwear stuff with her.
So that's normally a couple of hours.
Then it is time to get changed again and back to work, and then it is normally 7.
30 by the time we finish there.
I don't think I really factored in the kind of how sort of tiring I'd find it, you know, trying to do that and then wanting to come back here and get stuff done here.
So I think it is probably trying to get used to it and But at the moment it does feel slightly overwhelming that I'm there until November, until the end of the season.
There is washing out on the line.
Will you just check it from time to time because one of the dog duvets flew off already once? - No problem.
- And there's a load in the washing machine at the moment.
- Come on, Simon.
- HE PEEPS HORN Thank you very much.
Right, I will see you about two o'clock.
- OK.
- Have a good day.
- You too.
Don't forget the laundry.
"Don't forget the laundry, have a good day.
" Are they the two rules? Just don't forget the laundry if you can only remember one - of them.
- So don't have a good day? See you in a bit.
It is all long days, short nights.
There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the bed.
Even if you go to bed at a reasonable hour, you end up getting up early.
They are shearing sheep up there, we should be shearing ours, really.
Generally the rule is, we will have a look about and if we see other people put their washing out, we go, "It's got to be right, get it out.
" I've got washing in here anyway as well, so if I don't, I will get shot.
By the firing squad.
Do you know what, I'm going to give this up in a minute.
We are very, very sad to say cheerio to Ythan today.
So, I'm going to get upset more than him now.
He's been upset all morning, now it's my turn.
So we are really going to miss you, Ythan.
Thank you very much, he's been here for two years of nursery and completed seven years at primary school.
And he's been absolutely brilliant.
Haven't you? We are really going to miss you.
So, thank you all very much for coming, please stay and have some coffee and cake and it'll be time for everybody to go home, and we hope you all have a great summer holiday.
Don't we? Thank you.
APPLAUSE THEY GIGGLE - INTERVIEWER: - How does Fair Isle change in the summer when the kids come home? It is quite different to have kids around.
There's a big shortage of young people on Fair Isle.
I've got a small cushion star.
Now, what's really special about these is none of them had been seen further than Northern Ireland.
Until I found one up here.
It is in the back of my mind the whole time, this is Ythan's last summer before he goes to high school.
Every single day I'm thinking about it.
The other day we were told what time the flight would be the day they go back to school, and it kind of, you know, I know it's coming.
Because he's my last one.
It is really significant.
I'm kind of dreading it, really.
How are you going to help him? Are you going to be able to help him, you two? The whole time.
We are going to be there for him because he's got loads of people there, he's got all the house parents, he's got Mr McGhee, he's got all these different people who are just the year above him or the same year as him, or even just two years above him, which is my year.
And he's got both me and Fyn, we can play guitar every weekend.
And he's going to make loads of friends because he is really easy to talk to and he's good at communicating with people.
He won't have any trouble, he'll be fine.
It is Sunday today so we've just finished Sunday lunch service at the obs, we finished about ten past two, came home, got changed, had a quick coffee.
And we've just come out now for baling and then it is Not really sure how long it'll take to get through, we've not got a huge silage park there, so it shouldn't take too long.
And then back at work at five.
I've just been finding that I've just not really had the time that I envisaged myself having to kind of get the house straight.
And, you know, feel like I'm actually playing a part in the community by doing things like baling.
I mean, I think I only made it out for two afternoons.
People keep saying, you know, "Oh, you've got to make time for yourselves.
" But then you sort of think, you know, on the odd occasion where we have had a day off together, "Actually, I need to get on with the roof," or, "I need to get on with this.
" And so it's kind of - Or baling, or - Yeah.
So I think we've identified the fact that it's not us, it's not You know, it's not going to be like this forever, this is it, this is as good as it gets.
I think we've identified the fact that one of the major things that has been making us kind of get at each other has been that, you know, I'm having no time off and I'm getting stressed and getting at Shaun.
So I've given my month's notice, which takes us up to Thursday.
All right, then.
I think you're sorted.
That's everything.
You might want to take, like, another game that you can play, rather than just electronic games.
- Mmm.
- Like a One of your little quiz games or something.
- Yeah.
- Cos you might spend a bit of time, especially at the weekends, you know, you might spend a bit of time by yourself until Fyntan gets up.
- Yeah? - I did think about taking my moon ball.
- This thing? - Yeah.
- OK.
Yeah, we can take that.
That's only little.
You've got all those big corridors you can play in when there's nobody else there at the weekend.
Yeah? Need a bigger boot, now.
Would you consider leaving? - Yes.
- Never say never.
We have considered it.
I mean, we considered it 15 years ago.
When Lachlan went to the high school, we considered leaving then.
As soon as he went.
But he said, "You can't leave Fair Isle, Mum.
"You've got to stay here.
I want you to stay here.
"I want to go.
" And that's happened every time.
They've each gone and they didn't want us to leave Fair Isle.
All right, kids.
Get in that plane! Bye, Ma.
- Look after - I will.
HE SOBS You're going to be fine, OK? Huh? - Of course you're going to be fine.
- Mum, I have to go.
- Don't cry, it's going to be fun.
- Come on, you're going to be fine.
It'll be good.
Lots of exciting things to do now.
Out in the big, wide world.
With your brother and sister to see every day.
- Yeah? - Is he getting in here? You'll be fine.
I think I think you're in here.
Now, then.
OK, darling? All right? You be good.
- Have fun.
- You'll be fine.
See you in a couple of weeks.
All right? - See you, Raven.
- Bye.
Well, that's it.
How does it make you feel, that he's gone? Oh Oh, I know, it's a bit strange.
I miss him.
Yeah, of course I do.
Anybody would.
When a child leaves home I mean, he is only 11.
Very young to be going out there.
I mean, it is effectively leaving home.
You notice vast changes when they come home, you know? They've grown up so much, you know? Become streetwise, or whatever you want to call it.
But, yeah, they do grow up fast when they go out there.
Yeah, they've not left home but they grow up fast.
I mean, they even physically grow fast, because it tends to hit Coincide with the age when they start to have growth spurts.
So they can come home, you know, three weeks since you saw them and you can physically see they've grown.
You're like, wow Well, they start to overtake me, so Quite quickly.
- Yeah.
So - Do you feel like you're missing out? Oh, no question about it.
- Oh, yeah.
- Absolutely.
Yeah, missing a lot, yeah.
And it's very hard.
It's And, again, up till now, although we're missing out, we've always had one that you've still got At least one you've still got at home to sort of fill that gap.
But, no, we're definitely missing out.
There's no question about that.
It's It's the major downside to living here.
I feel more relaxed than You know, just about life in general, than I have in years.
And I love it.
I mean I say, we've only been here five minutes and I know we've not experienced a Fair Isle winter yet, we've got that to look forward to and I'm sure, you know, ask me in kind of four or five months and I'll be kind of sobbing into my cocoa or something, but But, no, I think it's just I just feel like we're doing something here.
We're building up to stuff and, you know, we will be growing our own and we will have polytunnels and we will have the chickens, the hens and, you know, we will have the potato patch out here.
And it's We will have the 2.
4 children.
Can we not just have more dogs instead? Next time, winter descends and the festive season brings families and friends back to the isle.
Ythan will have to find his feet at school on Shetland.
He's been fairly homesick.
I think we kind of expected it.
Just because of the nature of him.
And Shaun and Rachel are finding life together on Fair Isle increasingly hard.
Rachel! You can't stand here! I know, that's why I'm going!