During the Second World War, government scientists from Porton Down attempted to weaponise anthrax, creating a deadly strain that they then tested on Gruinard Island, an uninhabited remote site off the coast of Scotland. This proved disastrous for Gruinard and, from 1942 onwards, people were forbidden from setting foot on the island. Signs were erected on the shore and the adjacent mainland, and Gruinard was dubbed The Island of Death... see more