Endurance Displayed

Would-be Soay visitors have limited opportunities to cross from Hirta in the St Kilda group of islands. Some authorities claim that there's a safe passage on only three days a year. The indigenous sheep have been there since 5000BC and until the 1930s were confined exclusively to the island. The young men of Hirta were tested for their rock-climbing skills on Stac Biorach and Stac Soay (below). There was no recorded climb by an outsider until 1883. 50 years later there were no locals to display their prowess.

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