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Wednesday January 23, 2008 |
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The following item describing George Waterston's plan for Fair
Isle conceived as far back as the 1930s was written by Anne Sinclair of Busta,
Fair Isle, for the 16th July 2004 Special edition of The Fair Isle Times.
Plan for an islandGeorge Waterston arrived in the Isle on September 8th, 1935. He was 24 years old and for him it was an adventure even getting here. The trip north from Leith had been very rough;
the boat was pitching and tossing and spray lashing over the bows - - - - the sight of the lamp swinging about was too much - - - I retired to my bed . He had gone shopping in Aberdeen and wrote to his mother; I got an excellent pair of pyjamas for 4/8!! (he had forgotten to pack his), and when the steamer hove to off Fair Isle a curious shaped sort of galley manned by about 8 men with long sweeps had rowed out from the rugged bay and came alongside. All the passengers were tremendously interested and we jumped aboard to the clicking of cameras and cins!! The men handled the boat in masterly fashion guiding it through reefs covered with surging foam safely to a small jetty. The boat was steered by a grand old man with a beard and a peaked cap. The natives are very nice and friendly - - - -. The island was looking perfect in the clear sun. The crofts are all whitewashed, the fields green and many of the folk were busy cutting the oat fields. He was hooked! He stayed at North Shirva with Nurse Monroe and slept in the Duchess of Bedfords old bed.
During his first few hours on the Isle he searched out the two island ornithologists he already knew about George Stout of Field and Jerome Wilson of Springfield and by that evening was adding new birds to the British list from their information, and studying their collection of bird skins, while his friend Archie Bryson skinned a fine Red backed Shrike. Bird watching was a bit more bloodthirsty in those days!
His letters home were also his dairies and, though its clear that ornithology was his passion, he soon became entranced by all aspects of island life. We hope to go round the island in a boat the first good day. The whole place is intersected with long narrow caves and geos. We also hope to get onto the Sheep Rock when they go to get the sheep down. - - - - They lower them down on ropes off the crags. - - - I hope to bring back some Fair Isle jumpers. - - - - The islanders are a very nice quiet kindly folk - - Visited the Haa and other crofts and then went along to Springfield.
He reported on the beauty of and skill involved in knitwear production (and the system of trade marking) and on the one weaver still making tweed (Robert Wilson). Crofting and agriculture, the school system and visits to the families at the lighthouses were all covered. It is obvious that Fair Isle as a whole made a deep impression on him, and the seeds of a grander plan had been sown.
On Friday 20th Sept. they left - we launched the skiff at about 5.30am - - the white foam of waves made a creamy line all along the foot of the dark butting crags. We pulled out round Burrian - - lay awaiting the St. Ninian whose lights were gradually coming clear. It was very fine indeed watching the varying colours creeping into the sky. The sea seemed leade coloured the horizon pale yellow and pale greenish tinges. We pulled alongside the St Ninian and leapt on board when the boat was on the top of a roller.
In
1942, as a P.O.W. in OFLAG VII.B, George wrote out his business blueprint for
Fair Isle. (1) Buy the island, or persuade the National Trust for Scotland to buy it, as a Nature Reserve with the establishment of a Bird Observatory under the auspices of the Scottish Ornithologists Club, with myself as resident warden and factor (2) Organise and manage the following: -
He estimated that the initial outlay needed would be 6000, 2000 of which would be used to purchase the Isle. He was also aware that success:- will be entirely dependant on
The possibility of flights to and from Fair Isle were mooted, as well as an improved boat service and he was very keen to give Fair Isle knitwear a high profile:-
My suggested scheme for the marketing of hosiery is as follows ascertain average prices from each crofters private customers and then put following proposition - -I shall purchase their entire output at prices to be agreed on and that they must agree to do all their marketing through me - - Fair Isle hosiery must be regarded as a luxury article - - - I will concentrate on childrens wear - -also matched sets of beret, pullover, hand woven tweed skirt and socks - - dispatched in small flat cardboard boxes tastefully got up.
His idea for advertising in up-market stores in Princes Street, Edinburgh, sounds not unlike the craft fairs of today Persuade a suitable outfitters shop to buy up six months output of hosiery and arrange an effective window display backed with large photographic reproductions of Fair Isle scenery, the crofts, women knitting, etc. Such accessories as crofters furniture, spinning wheels, heather, etc would be incorporated in the display. One of the Fair Isle girls could sit knitting in the window. The marketing of woollen and sheepskin rugs, hand woven ties, rivlins - bedroom slippers made from cured skins and lined with rabbit fur, furniture a potential market for the characteristic high-backed chairs, breeding Shetland collies and Shetland ponies, exporting cured rabbit skins, gulls eggs and Fair Isle farm produce are all suggested as viable options to encourage and sustain a young population.
Central to all these plans was his dream of making Fair Isle a top bird monitoring station where ornithologists could stay and study. Incarcerated in Germany, he did not know that Pund had been burned down or that a naval camp had been erected at the North Haven, so he planned to extend and modernise the Pund house (this was the only uninhabited house on the Isle). His drawings are remarkable, considering he was working from memory and had very little equipment.
Well ahead of his time, he realised that Fair Isle would make a splendid nature reserve; and in view of the fact that I fully intend to get the Bird Observatory started immediately after the War - - such a scheme would greatly enhance its value and interest from this standpoint. I hope the National Trust will consider this idea. If I could possibly get a job as resident warden I am positive that I could do a tremendous lot. - - with the possibility of quicker and better transport facilities, quite a large number of bird watching enthusiasts would be attracted to the island, especially when an organised Bird Observatory and Trapping Station has been inaugurated. Charges for accommodation would be reasonable and good plain food, mainly island produce, will be served.
Reading through his plans and journals, it is obvious that he was determined to be in charge and in control of all his projects. It must have been incredibly difficult for him to relinquish this command, to acknowledge that such a grand scheme was more than one man could achieve without vast resources, and to hand over the reigns to the National Trust for Scotland. It is very much to his credit that he did so. Anne All direct quotes taken from letters home, 1935; and notes written as a German P.O.W., 1942/43
Copyright Anne Sinclair 2004
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