Gazing out across the sea from the window of her traditional whitewashed croft, Shona McMaster contemplates her new life. A mere three months ago, she and her fiancé, Paul Baxter, were enjoying a comfortable lifestyle in Aberdeen. McMaster spent her days working as an information manager for an engineering firm, while he was employed as a contract engineer. In their free time they enjoyed city life, visiting stylish bars, restaurants, shops and the cinema. Their experience of crofting life was zero. Now, as the temperature drops and the days get shorter, the couple are preparing for their first winter on Fair Isle, Britain’s most remote inhabited island.

Located halfway between Orkney and Shetland and measuring a mere three miles long and two miles wide, this tiny island has a population of 70 and is best known for its knitwear, birds and historic shipwrecks. It is also one of Britain’s most successful small communities: as well as the thriving craft industries it has pioneered projects in wildlife tourism and even produces most of its own electricity thanks to its wind turbines.

But the population could soon swell; more than 800 people have responded to an appeal for new residents from the island’s owners, the National Trust for Scotland. And of those applications, 95% have come from America.

McMaster and Baxter are well placed to give the new arrivals an idea of what lies in store. McMaster says: “We have no regrets. It has absolutely been the right decision.” Although laughing, she adds: “Ask me again after a full winter and I might say something different.”

There are two houses available, one four-bedroom property and one with five bedrooms. No jobs are offered, but there will be opportunities, particularly for those with construction skills or knitting experience.

Before she moved to the island, McMaster sought help from her granny to hone her knitting skills. She is now taking advice from the experts on that distinctive Fair Isle knitting style.

The coastline has sheer cliffs that rise to 650ft rather than sandy beaches. In the north the scenery changes to heather-clad moorland, used for grazing and dominated by the 700ft tall Ward Hill. It sounds like a lovely place for a photographer to take a holiday, but why leave behind well-paid jobs and a comfortable life in Aberdeen?“Paul’s been coming here on holiday since 1993,” says McMaster. “He’s a birder and eventually he got the chance to work in the island’s bird observatory for a month. I think there was always an idea in his mind that if the warden’s job became available at the observatory then he’d be interested in doing that. Over time we began to visit more often, got to know people and made friends on the island. So when we heard a croft (though not yet the warden’s job) was going to be available, we jumped at it.” The couple made their interest known to the NTS in June 2004. Eventually their application made its way to the island housing forum and they were invited up for a weekend. “It was almost like an official tour,” says McMaster. “I suppose the benefit we had was that there were people on the island who knew us and could speak up on our behalf.”

The islanders’ forum will draw up a shortlist of about eight from the current batch of applicants by the beginning of next month. Each applicant must submit a detailed business plan and explain how they would make a living. Several candidates will be selected to make a three-day trip to Fair Isle, after which the forum will decide who to invite to make the move.

On learning that they had been successful, Baxter went ahead on the small Loganair plane, which flies several times a week, while McMaster took the island boat — she had the family dogs and two horses to transport along with the rest of their belongings.

“The day that Paul arrived was the day that they were shearing the hill sheep,” says McMaster. “So he got roped into helping with that. It’s all done using old-fashioned hand clippers and it takes quite a while to get the hang of.”

It seems that the couple have no objections to being thrown in at the deep end. They are busy learning how to look after their 32 ewes.

McMaster believes they have adjusted reasonably well to their new lifestyle because of the support they have received from their fellow islanders. “People are so happy to help,” says McMaster. “The crofting is a steep learning curve and having that support makes a massive difference. Certainly in Aberdeen I wouldn’t have just gone and knocked on the door of a neighbour that I didn’t know and asked them to come and help me do something.”

Baxter has taken on the role of maintaining the island’s wind turbines, while McMaster is waiting for the paperwork to be completed so she can start work as a home help. She has been giving horse-riding lessons to local children and hopes to offer pony trekking to tourists in the future. The couple both plan to join the fire crew.

McMaster stresses that anybody thinking of moving to the island should do their homework to ensure they can make a living. “You absolutely have to know where you’re going and how you are going to survive,” she says. “And the island needs people who have something to offer the community.”

Between the sheep shearing and planting vegetables, you can’t imagine the couple have the energy to mourn the absence of bars or nightclubs, but it sounds as if social life on the island is busy enough.

Although McMaster admits to missing Chinese takeaways, she says that the village shop is very well stocked and that internet shopping means she can buy almost anything online.

As for her old life, she barely has time to give it a thought. She says: “I miss the people, I miss my friends, but this is so much better than getting up and going to the office from nine to five every day.”

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