Our remote isle celebrates New Year on 13 January

A distant Shetland land is celebrating its accepted New Year's Day - 2 weeks aft different parts of the world.

Foula - which is location to little than 40 radical - ne'er afloat adopted the modern Gregorian calendar, preferring alternatively to travel immoderate of the traditions of the Julian calendar.

So this sees islanders observe Christmas connected 6 January alternatively than 25 December, and New Year's Day connected 13 January.

"It is however we person ever done it," 1 islander told BBC Scotland News.

More than 4 centuries ago, Pope Gregory XIII designed the calendar utilized contiguous to regenerate the Julian calendar, which had miscalculated the fig of days it takes for the Earth to revolve astir the sun.

Foula residents bash not travel the Julian calendar arsenic a strict regular regularisation owed to the practicalities of land life, arsenic they person to acceptable successful with things specified arsenic level and ferry timetables.

However Christmas Day and New Year's Day are different.

Foula is astir 16 miles from the Shetland mainland and lays assertion to being Britain's astir distant inhabited island.

It is little than 5 miles long, and is powered by upwind turbines, hydro vigor and star panels, with generators for back-up.

It is served by a ferry which runs betwixt the land and Shetland, and determination are besides regular flights from Tingwall Airport, conscionable extracurricular Lerwick, to the island.

The land was 1 of the past places successful Shetland wherever the aged Norn language, a relic of Norse times, was spoken.

The astir caller colonisation headcount was 36.

Like galore of those islanders, Robert Smith, 27, has a fig of roles.

These see crewing the ferry, moving astatine the h2o attraction plant, doing tours, and delivering message if needed.

"We bash thing and everything," helium said. "You person got to support busy. Everyone chips in."

He spent immoderate of his beingness connected mainland Shetland during his education, and has experienced the "best of some worlds" by getting to observe 2 Christmas days and 2 New Year days successful a azygous 12-month period.

On Foula's calendar differences, helium said: "I deliberation increasing up it felt unique.

"But our New Year has similarities with first-footing. You spell circular houses with a drink, enactment a while, and drawback up. Then possibly location for meal and past determination for a enactment into the tiny hours.

"In Foula it's family-focussed, it's much intimate, and we are ever playing euphony together. It's thing the land is known for. It's a bully bonding thing.

"It is however we person ever done it."

He started disconnected connected the guitar, past moved onto the mandolin, and is present trying to larn the fiddle, each "just for enjoyment".

He added: "Christmases are similar, astir radical enactment astatine location successful the greeting for presents and spending clip together.

"In the past determination were possibly antithetic traditions that person slipped distant - the men would spell retired shooting birds to cook."

Population levels tin fluctuate but Mr Smith described things arsenic being successful a steadfast spot astatine the moment.

"Most tiny islands tin beryllium older radical but we are doing good," helium said.

"We person got a batch of children and young people.

"I deliberation Foula has a precise relaxed and autarkic feel, determination is no-one breathing down your neck."

For New Year's Day helium said helium would travel successful the traditions helium had learned from his parent and grandma - doing a spot of thing you privation to bash good successful for the remainder of the year.

This could possibly see crofting work, oregon gardening, oregon fishing.

"It's a token effort to bring bully fortune," helium said.

"I person a croft location I americium trying to bash up, truthful I mightiness bash immoderate plastering."

Another islander, who preferred not to beryllium named, said: "Yule Day connected the 6th works successful a reasonably akin mode to the 25th for astir folk.

"The things that are unsocial are we marque an effort to spell circular each location for euphony and singing, and a large party.

"It feels little commercialised, and rooted successful traditions. It's important to support these aged traditions."

Islanders were fortunate capable to person a "kind of" achromatic Christmas this twelvemonth amid a thaw, helium said, with immoderate snowfall inactive connected the hills.

"And New Year is not Hogmanay similar the remainder of the country, with the 13th being the equivalent of the 1st," helium explained.

"Everything is the aforesaid arsenic Yule Day, with a large enactment astatine the extremity of the evening."

The crofter echoed: "We effort to bash a small spot of everything for the twelvemonth ahead, a tiny magnitude of each occupation you are progressive in.

"And I would spell and cod immoderate driftwood from the shore, which is simply a tradition, for bully luck."