The power of love...
Workers who took 24-hour electricity to Fair Isle decide to stay after finding romance
‘Candlelit dinners’
It’S no sun-drenched paradise, with palm trees swaying in front of a warm and welcoming sea.
But Fair Isle has been dubbed Scotland’s answer to Love Island after casting a romantic spell on two men who were temporarily working there.
the pair have decided to up sticks and move to the tiny island nestled between Shetland and Orkney after falling in love with two local women.
the workmen were sent to Fair Isle – one of the most remote inhabited islands in the UK – to help install machinery to finally give residents 24-hour electricity.
even the lack of a pub has failed to deter them from starting a new life on the island, which is 24 miles from the coast of Shetland and around 27 miles from North ronaldsay, the most northerly of the Orkney Islands.
One of the men, builder thomas Fisher, 20, was working with his father, Barry, and older brother, also named Barry, when he got to know 24-year-old Marie Bruhat. the couple met in February over a beer at the weekly darts night in the community centre on the island, which has a population fluctuating between 50 and 55.
they quickly bonded over their love of the beautiful scenery and enjoyed sharing walks. they also played badminton together at the community centre.
Mr Fisher has now moved from his home in Aberdeen to live on the island full-time and has taken a job on the ferry.
He said: ‘I’d never been to Fair Isle before. We got told we were working away and I didn’t have a clue where Fair Isle was. Now I love the place.
‘We play darts every thursday – all the men on the island do. that’s where we met.’
Miss Bruhat had moved to the island from Auvergne, central France, a year earlier after visiting as a student.
She now works as a textile designer producing traditional Fair Isle knitwear. She also volunteers as a firefighter to help the community.
Friends for several months before they started dating in June, the young couple, who are now planning a future together, spend their spare time knitting, going for walks and seal-watching.
they also enjoy cooking and having friends over for dinner.
Miss Bruhat said: ‘We are getting a house on the island soon, so we’ve been spending a lot of time talking about the cottage and dreaming about how we would like to arrange it. We also lend a hand to our neighbours who are crofters, helping out with the sheep and the lambs.’
dating opportunities on the island, which is three miles long and one-and-a-half miles wide, are limited. transport to the mainland is only possible twice a week and, until the work carried out by Mr Fisher and his colleagues, the electricity cut out at 11.30pm. Miss Bruhat said she had always hoped ‘someone would visit and fall in love with the island’.
She added: ‘It is such a different way of life on Fair Isle. I wouldn’t expect to find a partner in paris or Nice who would have the same dream as me.
‘We like going for walks and enjoying the outside life.’
the couple say they sometimes turn their backs on the new full-time power, instead choosing candlelit dinners.
the island, owned by the National trust for Scotland, now has a £3.5million renewable energy scheme with three wind turbines and solar panels with batteries that can store a day’s worth of energy for days when there is no wind or sun.
Mr Fisher said his father was not surprised by his decision, adding: ‘My dad loved it here too. He said if he was younger he would have stayed.’
Mr Fisher’s workmate also moved to the island to be with a woman he met there but did not want to comment on his decision.