Talk:Forvik Island

Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia

Well written Ghostrider. :-)
Afraid I have no idea what category to put this in. I did consider, tongue in cheek, Shetland Humour :-)))
Maybe best to just leave it non-categorised at the moment, as a link-page from Forewick Holm, and other news articles.
Robbie 22:40, 19 June 2008 (MDT)

Shetland Humour did cross my mind too, but I thought maybe best not....

Leaving it as an uncategorised information page is probably best, UDI doesn't really fit too well in an other category than it's own, and in any case there's only minimal if any evidence as yet that "Forvik Island" actually exists anywhere else than in the world according to Stuart Hill.

Ghostrider 08:51, 20 June 2008 (MDT)

The article states: "As Mr Hill, ... is also quoted as saying that he had received planning permission for this with no problems or red tape."

But, crucially, he said this permission was from "the Forvik planning authorities," presumably AKA Stuart Hill. :-)
EM 18:30, 20 June 2008 (MDT)

With respect to the question of previous occupation (and this assumes I'm looking at the right holm), Google Earth seems to show a pile of archaeological remains in the extreme SSE.
EM 19:06, 20 June 2008 (MDT)

@ EM

Thanks for pointing out the "planning authorities" omission, I was speed reading two or three news reports trying to condense the various points covered in to one hopefully coherent piece when I wrote that, and had missed the end of that quote completely. I've amended the article accordingly now.

I've not had a chance to check out Google for the isle as yet, been too busy trying to dredge up all the pieces of the story of the man himself over the last seven years. I put down what I did concerning past residency of the isle mainly based on the fact that I couldn't find anything to suggest that there may have been, although that maybe has as much to do with the the overall lack of information on the place as much as anything else, and the fact that Stuart Hill is quoted as saying he'd received planning permission for "the first building on the island". Of course that phrase isn't conclusive in itself, it all depends on what you choose to interpret it as. I've just checked RCAHMS and they don't list anything other than the "Highcliffe" shipwreck for Forewick Holm, but that in itself cannot entirely be relied on to be conclusive either.

The Maiden Stack has some sort of old ruin on it I believe, but I don't know the geography round there well enough to know it and Forewick Holm from each other without getting my hands on a map first. That paragraph should probably be rewritten so as to make it more clear that while no record of previous permanent resident(s) on the isle is known to exist, that the possibility that there may have been some at one time or another cannot be ruled out either, just to be on the safe side at least. I'll do a bit more digging tomorrow if no-one else beats me to it, sleep is insisting on calling the shots for now.

Ghostrider 20:32, 20 June 2008 (MDT)

Google's peerie robots is fun upoa da Forvik page Im dootin, hit's takkin hits eenoo atween a hunder an twa hunder idda oor.

Ghostrider 16:53, 21 June 2008 (MDT)

Du really wants ta gie up da day job, an tak up writin full time. Yun's da best article wir hed fur ages.
Foo du manages ta bide impartial i da face o obvious nutterdom, a'm finnin budder ta ken.
I kent du wis da man fir da job.
Robbie 17:03, 21 June 2008 (MDT)

A'm med a peerie map fur da isle. Didna ken if du wanted ta pit hit atil a info box, so a'll laev dee ta add hit.
Robbie 21:58, 23 June 2008 (MDT)

Tanks fur yun, yun page wis needin colour. Im pitten im in withoot a box fur eenoo, Im tinkin dat seein is da isle haes a page anunder hits weel kent nem, hit micht be better ta keep im aff eenoo onywye, sae is ta try an mak da distinction atween whit is da official an unoffical nem idda place. Yun lets fok see straight awaa whaur hit is, I tink dats mebbe da maist important thing fur eenoo.

Ghostrider 04:07, 24 June 2008 (MDT)

"Another Website forvik.net launched ..." Ha ha! It is interesting to see that the waves in the 1938 picture break in the same places as in 1999, and indeed the same as now in Google Earth. :-) The site is registered in Bergerac, France.

Now that there is so much article text it will be a good idea to introduce some headings to structure it. Might be a tough call deciding which (all?) of the external sites ought to be categorised as parody.

Actually, the use of Google Earth imagery by both forvik.net and Hill's own site is particularly interesting in this case. Perhaps Hill has licensed use of the copyright images (before adding his own copyright), but if not... Maybe the best answer to his question of how the UK got to own Shetland is just like how he got to own the images.
EM 09:15, 24 June 2008 (MDT)

Agreed, the page is now at, and probably beyond the stage of needing to be split down in to headed sections. I would have liked to have tried to do something like that yesterday, but Hill has been changing so much so quickly it's been hard enough work just keeping up with it and updating the page. Things seem to be quieter today, so if it stays that way it'll be a chance to try and introduce some structure and headings, without too much risk of having to redo it all within hours as a result of the next round of changes.

External sites could easily become a problem, if many start turning up. I don't know if there are already more than the .net one, or not at the moment. My own feelings would be that sites we know the people behind, ie the local news sites and Hill's own, would be okay within the body of the article. The others, which we don't know the people behind, I'd either put in a section of their own headed "Relevant external sites" or some such, and let folk make of them what they will, or if there comes to be too many, or many dubious ones, just stop including links to unknown sites altogether. It's something that'll have to be considered and decided upon as and when it arises I guess.

Ghostrider 10:54, 24 June 2008 (MDT)

I just find myself totally underwhelmed by this whole nonsense, the authorities, local and national are not going to do anything at all about this nutter. He will go on spouting rubbish for a while yet, but in the end it will just be another of his ego trips. He feeds on publicity but his diet needs to be severely restricted or he will start believing his publicity. I am just waiting for him to start a new religion (hope I'm not giving him ideas) before he gets sectioned.
Heimdal 17:42, 18 July 2008 (MDT)

In all fairness to Mr Hill. In forwarding his cause, he has never once mentioned, or even hinted at any religious preferences. However, I have to agree that it is only a matter of time before religion becomes a part of the kingdom. Most kingdoms throughout history have found a centre of worship. Perhaps there will be a new religion formed, based on the worship of 'da wasterly gale'. Or a new version of sun worship, based on its rarity in such a hostile environment. ;-)
Either way, I'm sure at some point soon there will be prayers said on Forvik for the quick arrival of Oscar Charlie, (The Aircraft), as I don't exactly think he'd welcome the band of the same name turning up before he has completed the construction of the Forvik Mareel. ;-)
Robbie 18:27, 18 July 2008 (MDT)

Im tinkin da ootboard ill be da reeleegin a Forvik, he's been prayin ower een already he saes. ;-))

Ghostrider 19:13, 18 July 2008 (MDT)

Ghostrider,
I see dat he's still keepin dee trang wi extra bits ta add, as weel as keepin da emergency services upö dir taes. :-)) A'll warn da national press'll hae da story da moarn, so nae doot da viewin figures'll spang up igyen. ;-)
Robbie 08:01, 15 September 2008 (MDT)

I doot he's fun oot da streen it yoals wir biggit da wye dey wir, fur a blissed gud rasin....a flat boddam skiff if ower weel....upoa flat wattir. ;-))

Nae doot he's med da later eedeshins a sum idda neshinal pepirs da dae, Im no seen ony, bit be da morn dey'll be hed time ta hock up dir files upoa im fae seevin yeer syn syne, an duh a full write up.

Hits aw gud, if he will wirk da aeshins, da extra traffic hit maks is nae ill thing.

Ghostrider 08:26, 15 September 2008 (MDT)

New Pictures

Ghostrider
Think the one I've added looks not too bad. I've also uploaded one of the royal palace, and since the flag is flying I assume his majesty was in residence. :-))
Wasn't sure where to fit that one in, so I'll leave that to you.
Robbie 13:58, 9 July 2008 (MDT)

Splendid....Splendid! Exactly whit hit wis needin. ....an sum keengdim he is tuh I tink, noo it we can hae a richt skile ower im, an see im fur aw he's wirt. ;-))))

I haarly ken whaur best ta pit onny mair, 'Art an Design' wis nivvir my forte, bit atween da nicht an da morn I'll fin sum wye fur im. Da Laird's 'Haa' an kot a erms ey says immense aboot da man imsell eftir aw. ;-)

Ghostrider 17:11, 9 July 2008 (MDT)

Picture/Page Layout suggestion

Should we make the first picture here on the top left be right across the top? I think that having the block of text start off to the right is somewhat unprofessional looking. JAStewart 05:36, 17 July 2008 (MDT)

Well spotted James. Daft thing is that it looks good on some browsers, with the picture and map side by side and the text starting below. My Flock browser has the whole thing jumbled up. We'll pla around with different browsers and see what happens. Another interesting difference is, if you have your preferences set to hide the table of contents, that can really screw the setup of a page.
Robbie 05:42, 17 July 2008 (MDT)

Ah thanks to whomever changed the picture to be without the border, I was trying to do it but failed! JAStewart 06:14, 17 July 2008 (MDT)

To get rid of a border like that just remove the 'thumb' statement from the image command line. It took me ages to figure it out as well. ;-)
Robbie 05:00, 18 July 2008 (MDT)

Exchange Rate

Just noticed on forvik.com that Stuart is quoting the Gulde at 60GBP. Price of gold must be going up. ;-)
Maybe need some updating from time to time.
Robbie 05:02, 18 July 2008 (MDT)

The whole currency and citizenship sections would benefit from a good going over, possibly a fresh re-write. Hill did so much chopping and changing shortly after putting the site live that so many bits had to be added around where most appropriate, as and when they happened that its in danger of being a hotch potch of numerous small statements rather than a coherent paragraph. £55 was what Hill quoted when he launched, then upped it to £60 somewhere among those early changes. At the time I left it, as not knowing how much gold prices normally fluctuated, it was impossible to know whether the increase to £60 was because of a miscalculation on his part, or down to normal changes in value. If the latter and the price was going to go back and forth frequently it was going to be pointless to try and keep up with it, and quoting an approx average would have been the way to go, but seeing as he's stuck with the £60 now for a while that's probably the one that's best to have quoted on the page.

Ghostrider 17:13, 18 July 2008 (MDT)

I winder whit da Kroner is wirt upö Forvik? He really wid need ta gie wis vikings a grain o info afore we decide ta invade. Hit wid be a helluva budder ta turn up wi a langship crew intent upö rape, plunder, an pillage, joost ta fin oot dat wir grain o penga cudna even pey fur da beer.
Robbie 18:33, 18 July 2008 (MDT)