Foula is a small island 20 miles off the west coast of mainland Shetland. Shetland is a group of islands about 200 miles north of Scotland.
I had seen Foula, from a distance, on previous visits to Shetland. It floats on the horizon, mysterious.
So I had to visit. What is it like there?
Here is a Foula scene:
I sketched this sitting on one of the stones, on a bit of flat and marshy land towards the south of the island. The road is in front of me, at the foot of those hills.
I had to sketch this in a bit of a rush, because, as I rapidly discovered, this particular area is the province of the Skua. There are Great Skua and Artic Skua: large birds, who do not like sketchers sitting on stones in their neighbourhood. They make their irritation known by aggressive fly-pasts. I could hear the wind in their feathers: it sounded like a chain saw. So I quickly took the hint and made for the road. Locals later told me I should “carry a stick above my head”, to distract the skua. That’s all very well, but finding a stick on Foula is about as likely as finding a branch of Pret. There are no trees atall on this part of the island, so no handy lengths of wood.
Other inhabitants of Foula were more welcoming, including the friendly people. The sheep are unafraid, and came towards me as I walked. The horses too seemed pleased to see me. I met the person who is one of the breeders of these horses on the island. “Pat them, talk to them, but don’t feed them!” she instructed me. Feeding them in the wrong order disrupts their established hierarchy and causes fights, she explained. “And,” she added, with emphasis, “make sure you close the gate!!”. There followed stories of visitors leaving gates open, and the subsequent escapades of the stallion, who visited mares he was not supposed to visit….
Foula is an industrious place, I discovered. As well as horse breeding, and sheep breeding, there is spinning to produce special Foula Wool, peat cutting, and a lot of horticulture. Also there is a school, a lighthouse, a ferry and an airstrip. The air strip needs a fire crew, as well as pilots. The school has a teacher. There are wind turbines and a very effective 5G mobile signal mast, with big dishes directed at mainland Shetland. This is a lot of activity for a place of only 35 inhabitants, especially as six of those inhabitants are primary school children.
Horticulture takes place in polytunnels and inside abandoned cars. As on mainland Shetland, vegetables and flowers will grow, so long as you can shelter them from the wind. I was given local raspberries from a polytunnel at the school.
It was rather foggy when I visited, so I opted for lowland routes and did not climb the formidable mountains shown in the picture above. Had I done so, I would have seen the famous 1000ft sea cliff. But I was wary. I did not want to stumble across the famous cliff in the fog.
I was staying at “Ristie self-catering”, in the North of the island. Here is the scenery round there.
The edge of the world.
Jane Sketching 