Travel: Lundy Island

Lundy is a tiny and very rural island in the Bristol Channel, off the North Devon coast, and has long held a fascination for me. All the accommodation on Lundy is managed by the Landmark Trust and you have to book a long way in advance. This trip was originally booked for 2022 and then postponed, so we actually waited two years for it!

Travel to the island is by boat during the summer months, and by helicopter during winter. Although we were scheduled to take the boat, due to some servicing regulations we took the helicopter. It was a terrifying prospect for me who is a very nervous flyer, and made a little worse by the fact that there was localised mist which we had to wait to clear. The heliport on the mainland side has grazing alpacas!

Six minutes after take off we arrived at Lundy. My first reaction is to think that it is so small that we are never going to fill three days and nights here. The village hub consists of a tavern, shop, a church and a museum. There is no wi-fi (apart from inside the church) and mobile phone signal ranges from patchy to non-existent in the north. Electricity is turned off overnight and there are no TVs in the accommodation. 

Daredevil sheep, Blue Bung (our holiday accommodation), South Light

Whilst waiting for the Sunday School (affectionately known as Blue Bung, our chosen accommodation) to be ready, we set off to explore the lower east of the island, encountering some immense but docile Highland cattle en route. Luckily they weren't too interested in us.

We stumbled upon this peaceful pond - it might be a disused quarry - which somewhat incongruously was home to some koi carp. It is right near the Timekeeper's Cottage.

We were smitten with the Soay sheep, and their lambs. They do also feature on the menu at the Marisco Tavern, but we were happy just to observe.

Soay sheep and the remains of the hospital

On the second day, the mist was back with a vengeance, but we were determined not to let that spoil our trip and headed off to Jenny's Cove to see if we could see puffins. Puffins breed on Lundy between April and July and the prospect of seeing puffins was one of the principal reasons for visiting.

Visibility was so poor that we struggled to see Old Light until we were right near it. We thought we spotted puffins, but in hindsight it turned out to be Manx Shearwater. Such an eerie graveyard in this light.

Before the day was out, we wandered down to the landing bay where we were lucky enough to spot a couple of seals and a tiny blue jellyfish. 

As luck would have it, the following day was beautiful, and we planned to hike to the North Light, stopping again at Jenny's Cove to see if we could pick out a puffin or two. We had been chatting to one of the bird rangers the day before who advised us to scan the grassy areas above the rocks, and that is where we located them!

Puffins were not the only wildlife that we encountered that day: we also stumbled across a lonely goat with his wonderful long coat and a herd of Sika deer.

At the north of the island, we stopped to eat our little picnic (the cottages all contain really useful items like lunch boxes!) in sight of North Light. We were both too tired to descend the steps down to it, knowing that we had the length of the island left to walk back.

And our journey back was a little eventful as one of the Highland cattle decided they were really interested in us. He ambled closer and closer until he was literally rubbing himself over the stone that we were cowering behind. My husband gave him a gentle pat, and he seemed to be okay with that, and we were on our way once more.

There is so much more to Lundy than I imagined and I don't think we even scratched the surface. We have already booked to return in 2024, once for a conservation trip and another stay in one of the cottages. It feels such a magical place that you want to tell everyone about it, but equally tell no one, savouring this secret little gem for yourself.

Love Mrs Jones x