Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Heather, Ellen and myself to all of our friends, acquaintances, readers and followers. What an incredible year it has been.
Below, somewhere in Neolithic Dorset, and the west coast of magical Lundy Island.
Archive for the ‘Lundy Island’ Category
Season’s Greetings 1 comment
North Devon from Lundy Island Leave a comment
This post does pretty much what it says on the tin. The ruins are remains of administrative buildings for the long defunct Lundy Granite Company, the distant horizon is North Devon and the high moorland of Exmoor.
Why am I not out paddling today, given the gorgeous autumn weather? Because my gorgeous girl (shown below, camping on Lundy) isn’t feeling too well, so nobody in this house slept much last night…
Home Alone Leave a comment
My two gorgeous ladies are far away overseas this week, visiting relatives. I am left home alone, surrounded by an ever-mounting pile of takeaway cartons.
Prrrrrt. At least the cat has not abandoned me.
Lundy Island rocks 4 comments
Like the title says.
Lundy Island fog signal battery Leave a comment
Lundy Island’s Old Light was built atop the island in 1819, but proved very ineffective as Lundy’s high summit plateau was regularly obscured by cloud and fog. In 1861, a fog signal battery was built halfway down the western cliffs; the idea was that cannons would be fired intermittently to warn shipping of Lundy’s proximity. Various methods of alterting shipping were trialled with varying success, including firing actual cannon balls (what could go wrong?), firing gun cotton, discharging explosives, ringing bells and blowing whistles. However, by the late nineteenth century it was agreed that new lighthouses were needed; these were built low down the cliffs at both the north and south end of Lundy.
Today, the site is well preserved; you can visit the remains which include the ammunition store (built with thick walls and thin roof, to release explosions upwards), the gun platform, and the houses of the keepers. With the Atlantic below and around, at the bottom of a very long steep set of steps, it’s quite a location.
The Devil’s Slide Leave a comment
This epic granite slab on the west coast of Lundy Island is known as The Devil’s Slide. Climbers get quite excited about this sort of thing. I myself get nauseous even just looking at it.
Lundy South Light Leave a comment
Lundy Island’s South Light overlooks the landing stage and a major tidal race known unimaginatively as ‘The Race’. Above, the restored castle stands guard over the southern approaches to the island.
The Lundy Crossing 2 comments
Full size Lundy panorama here.
The 21 mile paddle to Lundy Island is not as bad as it sounds…strong tidal flows help you along your way. It certainly shouldn’t be underestimated however; there is an awful lot of empty open water around you if anything goes wrong, and there is also a credible chance of totally missing Lundy if you misjudge your ferry glide angle.
I was quite keen to try a crossing which would arrive by night, having done it in daylight many times. We kitted up and loaded up our boats on the shore at Lee Bay in North Devon…however, as high tide was reached just before sunset (our planned departure time) there was a slight problem; ocean swell was smacking into (and often reaching over) the sea wall we were supposed to be launching below. We made some abortive attempts to launch a kayak, but realised that the only practical option was to wait an hour or so for the tide to drop. Trouble is, that would mean darkness from the start of our paddle, removing any safe ‘early abort’ option. After discussion, we realised that it wasn’t going to happen. We lugged the boats back up the launch ramp and slept in our cars, launching early the next morning instead.
Despite no wind, the paddle across was rough enough in the first half to make all of us sick or nauseous at some point…but then it completely calmed, allowing us to relax and enjoy the Manx shearwaters endlessly circling us at water level.
When the time came for the paddle back, the weather wasn’t great at all. We achieved the crossing using Plan #B.
The Kingdom of Heaven 1 comment
St Helen’s Church on Lundy Island was completed in 1897 for the Reverend Hudson Grossett Heaven. The Heaven family had owned the island since 1834, buying it as a retreat and hunting estate. Their claims that it was outside the boundaries and jurisdiction of the County of Devon earned the island the moniker, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’.
The cost of building roads and houses on Lundy hit the Heaven family hard, at a time when income from their sugar plantations in the West Indies was diminishing. The Heavens exploited Lundy’s natural resources by setting up the quarries on the east side, but the Lundy Granite Company failed to prosper and shut down before the end of the century.
The church was a somewhat quixotic endeavour, being large enough for a congregation of around 200, yet built at a time when the population of the island was around 60. Allegedly, H.G. Heaven had a choice between spending a bequested sum of money on a proper harbour for the island, or on a new church (there was already an adequate and indeed sizeable church, made from corrugated iron). The expenditure on this (admittedly beautiful) vanity project was a final blow to the Heaven family’s fortunes. Lundy was sold to a new owner in 1918.
Today, the church is looking somewhat worn around the edges, with plenty of mould and damp wood visible inside; plenty of costly restoration work will be needed if it is to survive long-term.
Lundy Old Light 1 comment
Built in the nineteenth century, the tall lighthouse atop Lundy Island was soon found to be impractical…sitting 500 feet above sea level, it was frequently obscured by cloud. It was replaced by much lower lighthouses at the north and south ends of the island. Today, the Old Light is open to wander in at will.
This week from the top we chilled out and enjoyed clear views of distant Cornwall, Devon, the Gower Peninsula and Pembrokeshire. There is nowhere better to sit and enjoy the sun setting into the Celtic Sea.
Ynys Elen 2 comments
The Old Welsh name for Lundy Island is Ynys Elen, St Elen’s Island. Surely a great place for my 12 week old daughter Ellen’s first holiday! Thankfully, it turns out that Ellen loves tents and camping, but the 21 mile open crossing to the island by kayak was a bit beyond her at this point. She travelled with Mummy on the ferry, whilst a few of us paddled.
More pics of this fabulous place to follow…
Weather watching for Lundy 2 comments
We have booked to camp on Lundy, this coming weekend and beyond. My favourite island! I’m so excited by the prospect of returning to this wonderful place, that I’m not going to get angry that my 11 week old daughter has to pay to travel on the ferry, and is also charged the full rate to camp there each night.
A few of us plan to paddle across. However, whether it will be possible to make the 21 mile paddle across from North Devon is entirely dependent upon the weather, naturally. Watching the forecast intently…very much hope that this trip will come off.
