A few photographs from our short holiday, we went to Lundy. This little island, now in the care of the National Trust and the Landmark Trust is just 3½ miles long and ½ a mile wide.
It felt like an adventure because we were leaving the mainland and travelling by helicopter, just a six minute flight. We had booked a three night break but due to dense fog we couldn't leave the first day so we had to make do with only two days. When we did arrive though it was like stepping into another world.
The scenery is stunning. The west coast which takes the full force of the Atlantic is more rugged
while the more sheltered east side is gentler in appearance with little patches of woodland in secluded valleys.
This is the village on the island and the blue building on the right is where we stayed.
The whole island is "open access" so you can wander wherever you like. There are working lighthouses on both the north and south of the island.
On the highest part of the island is the Old Light. This was operational for a few years but because of the prevalence of low cloud over the island there were many days when it wasn't visible so the two newer light houses were built closer to sea level. When I climbed up the old light I found these two deck chairs on the platform where the light used to be. I sat down and looked out westwards at the Atlantic - no land until America.
We didn't see many people on our walks but we weren't alone, wild deer,
the island's wild herd of Soay sheep and all the time in the north of the island the sound of skylarks.
The island is managed by the Landmark Trust and all the houses are used for staff accommodation or visitors. The houses have no televisions, there is no public wifi on the island and mobile phone signal is very patchy. It really did feel as if we had escaped the rat race for a while. Plenty of time to wander, take photographs, read and knit.
In the evenings we ate in the Marisco Tavern, excellent food with plenty of vegetarian options - a perfect way to end days spent outdoors.
All too soon our two days were over and after just six minutes in the helicopter we had left this little bit of paradise behind. It is so close to the mainland yet so different once you get there, I definitely want to go back.
