Gjógv, Eysturoy, Faroe Islands

Gjógv, literally "gorge", is a small village about 40 miles north of Torshavn on the Island of Eysturoy. It has outstanding natural scenery but the life is hard.  The fishing industry has declined with the increase in deep sea trawlers, although the locals still hang their gutted fish to dry outside their drying huts. Most houses have potato patches. The houses are traditional and mainly painted black, red or green, but half of them are now unoccupied.  The church was built in 1929 and was the first in the Faroe Islands where a service was conducted in Faroese.  Prior to that date all government, legal and religious meetings had to be conducted in Danish. The Faroe Islands have only been self-governing since 1948. Opposite the church is a moving monument to the fishermen lost at sea, with a sculpture of a mother and her two children gazing out to sea.