We spent a week in August 2022 on the Island of Lundy, ten miles off the coast of North Devon, England where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Bristol Channel. Lundy is three miles long and half a mile wide.
There are signs that the island was occupied in the 6th century AD and in later centuries many parties claimed it as theirs’, including pirates. It moved in and out of Crown ownership. William Heaven purchased Lundy in 1834, as a summer retreat and for hunting, and built Millcombe House in 1836. The family built St Helen’s Church in 1896 but they fell on hard times and sold the island in 1918. The Harman family owned it from 1924 to 1969. John Pennington Harman was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross during the Battle of Kohima, India in 1944. There is a memorial to him at the VC Quarry on Lundy. Jack Hayward, a British millionaire, purchased the island in 1969 for £150,000 (£2,627,000 today) and gave it to the National Trust, who leased it to the Landmark Trust.
The Landmark Trust manages 23 holiday properties on the island, sleeping between one and 14 people. These include a lighthouse, a castle and Millcombe House (the largest). Many of the buildings are constructed from the island’s granite. The island also has a campsite, at the south of the island in the field next to the shop. The island is popular with rock climbers, having the UK’s longest continuous slab climb, “The Devil’s Slide”.
Tibby and were joined by two of our children and their partners, Megan and Tom, David and Sophia, and grandchild Rafi, Tibby’s sister Pat and my sister Liz and her husband Rob as well as friends Jean and Richard.
We travelled to the island on Saturday 30th July 2022 on a two hour journey on the 1958 built MS Oldenburg, a flat bottomed boat that did not do very well in the choppy sea. There is a steep walk of about a mile up to the plateau of the island.
We stayed at the six bedroom house, Millcombe which was an absolute delight with lots of space and lovely views.
The house is below the plateau so we had a further climb each day. The church had a lot of visitors probably because one could pick up WIFI there.
We had pre-ordered our supplies through the village shop and they were delivered to our door. We spent some enjoyable time in the Marisco Tavern.
We explored the island with some exploring more than others. Tibby and I enjoyed a hike along the eastern coastal path past the memorial to John Pennington Harman and then back along the central path.
We took a boat trip around the island and saw it from a different perspective.
The weather was kind to us. This was a wonderful family holiday.
More information can be found at: https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/lundyisland/discovering-lundy/
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