Abandoned places have often featured in hidden europe, with our repertoire of lost communities ranging from a Russian mining town in the Arctic to an Italian village drowned by the rising waters of a new reservoir. The Baltic islands of Gotland and Fårö, featured in this issue of the magazine, have around their coasts a number of very distinctive settlements which are either abandoned or, insofar as they are still used, have entirely lost their original function.

In the heyday of the herring trade, many farmers on Gotland and Fårö supplemented their income by becoming part-time fishermen. This led to a development of a number simple fishing stations around the coast; the remains of many still exist today.