St. Kilda the original one

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St. Kilda the original one The remotest place
in the U.K. What is it Like? Why is it special?
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St.Kilda - island archipelago! Outer
Hebrides Scotland, U.K. What is it Like?
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Britain's first designated World Heritage Site -
ranking it with places such as the Taj Mahal.
St. Kilda, lying almost fifty miles (80kms) west
of the Outer Hebrides, is made up of four main
islands - Hirta, Soay, Dun and Boreray. It is the
remotest and most inaccessible location in the
British Isles.
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Relief Coastal scenery Steep cliffs stacks
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Weather and Climate
Being the only land mass in this area St.Kilda
creates its own clouds. St.Kilda is the windiest
place in Britain. The average temperature in
January is 5.6C and in July 11.8 C. The weather
can change rapidly.
The sea blowing over the jetty in winter
Winters are mild and summers cool. There is high
rainfall and strong winds. The prevailing wind is
south-westerly -gales with gusts of over 100
knots.
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Plants (vegetation or flora)
A total of 174 species of flowering plants have
been recorded from the islands. (not many because
of the harsh climate)
Buttercups and irises in the Village Meadows
There are no proper trees or shrubs - least
willow and creeping willow are both present, but
these only grow a few inches high.
Primroses growing on the exposed cliffs of
Oiseval
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Land and sea animals
Whales and dolphins
Soay sheep are unique an unspoiled ancient
breed sheep.
Unique species of mouse
And insects lots of midges in summer!
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Birds
St Kilda is not as inaccessible as one might
expect. Each year, in spring and in autumn, the
islands are visited by an ever-growing list of
migrants. Some are on their regular route to and
from more northerly breeding grounds, while
others are blown off course. Over a hundred
species may turn up in any year.
Fulmars, skuas, gannets and puffins.
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Great auk St Kilda is without doubt the most
famous site in Britain for the now extinct great
auk. The original pen gwyn. An account related
how the great auks or garefowl are taken by
surprising them where they sleep, or by
intercepting their way to the sea and knocking
them on the head with a staff One of the last
was apparently caught on Stac an Armin around
1840. The great auk officially became extinct
when a lone survivor was killed in Iceland in
1844.
Extinct birds
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Humans on St. Kilda
Finlay and Christina MacQueen - 1910
On 29th August 1930, the last 36 remaining
inhabitants left St Kilda left forever after
their traditional lifestyle was corrupted by the
outside world. For centuries St Kildans had
lived a self sufficient community lifestyle,
scaling cliffs to catch sea birds.
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Government
These people lived under their own form of
democracy with a parliament meeting held every
morning in the village street. They made shoes
out of Gannets and considered boiled puffin with
their porridge a great delicacy.
The old village and street
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Life was never easy, with hunger and hard work
being commonplace. Developing a taste for earning
and an easier life, the islanders were evacuated
to various places
A photograph of inside Scotland's remotest school
St Kilda, 1905
with the elderly left to survive on meagre
charity handouts.
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In 1912 there were acute food shortages and in
1913 an outbreak of influenza. The war of
1914-18 brought a naval detachment to Hirta and
regular deliveries of mail and food from naval
supply vessels. When these services were
withdrawn at end of war feelings of isolation
increased.
There was more emigration of able-bodied young
islanders and a breakdown of the island economy.
In 1930 the remaining 36 islanders requested
evacuation to the mainland.
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The opening of the museum in House 3, 1982
In 1931 St Kilda was sold to the Marquess of
Bute, a keen ornithologist. He bequeathed them to
The National Trust for Scotland in 1957.
St Kilda was bequeathed to The National Trust for
Scotland by the 5th Marquess of Bute in 1957. In
the same year, it was designated a National
Nature Reserve by Scottish Natural Heritage.
Just before his death, the Marquess of Bute
agreed to lease a small area of land on Hirta to
MoD as a radar tracking station for its missile
range on Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides.
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Nomination of St Kilda for inclusion in the World
Heritage Site List
Few who have been to St Kilda and stood in the
Village surrounded by the cries of a million
seabirds can fail to have been moved by the place
and its story.