Eerie new photographs of an abandoned Scottish island

The eerie island of Stroma remembered

Stroma in the Pentland Firth sits between the mainland and Orkney and was once home to a vibrant community of crofters, fishermen and their families. Today, only a crumbling shell of that community now remains.

Photographer Gavin Bird has captured traces of human life on the abandoned island of Stroma in the Pentland Firth. The last resident left in 1962.

It was once a vibrant community of daring and skilful islanders living amid the treacherous tides that separate the mainland from Orkney.

Around 375 people lived on Stroma in 1901 but fell away to just over 100 by 1949. By the early 1960s, just 12 permanent residents remained.

Around 50 cottages once stood on the island A shop, a school and a church could also be found.

Crofting, cod and lobster fishing supported the island- as did the salvage of shipwrecks pulled from its battered shores.

The sustainability of the island became increasing fragile despite a public investment of 30,000 in a new harbour.

The depopulation of Stroma intensified after it was purchased by Yorkshire umbrella manufacturer John C Hoyland, who bought it in 1946 for 4,000.