Foula

Foula (ˈfuːlə), located in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland, is one of the United Kingdom's most remote permanently inhabited islands. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island was the location for the film The Edge of the World (1937). The liner RMS Oceanic was wrecked on the nearby Shaalds of Foula in 1914. The island has a post office. The name "Foula" derives from the Old Norse Fugley, meaning "bird island"; compare Fugloy, an island in the Faroes. Foula lies in the Atlantic Ocean, west of Walls in Shetland. It was part of Walls civil parish. The island is about , with a low-lying coastal strip along the east side. With an area of , it is the seventh largest and the most westerly of the Shetland Islands. It rises from low broken cliffs in the east to precipitous cliffs in the west. The island has five peaks, rising to at the Sneug and at the Kame. At the north end is Gaada Stack, a natural arch and towards the south-west is Da Sneck Ida Smaalie, a spectacular 30 m deep and 2 m wide crack in the cliffs. Foula lies on the same latitude as Saint Petersburg. Foula has a population of 38 people, living in Hametun and Ham. Islanders previously made a living from fishing – first for whitefish, then lobster. Today, most islanders are crofters with income from sheep farming and birdwatching tourism. A hidden reef, the "Hoevdi Grund" or the Shaalds o' Foula, lies just over east of Foula between the island and the Shetland Mainland. Tides here can reach , and as the reef comes to within less than a metre of the surface, it poses a significant threat to shipping. BK Marine Limited operates the ferry service from Ham to Walls on the Shetland mainland. New Advance carries up to 12 passengers and completes the voyage in about two hours. Flights take off from Foula Airfield to Tingwall Airport. A ferry service ran from Foula to Scalloway until 2010. There is little shelter for boats in the island. The only beach is at the head of Ham Voe on the east coast.