Lundy
Lundy is a small granite island lying roughly 12 miles off the coast of North Devon in the Bristol Channel, at the point where the channel broadens and merges with the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3 miles long and half a mile wide, rising to a plateau some 400 feet above sea level, and is owned by the National Trust while being managed by the Landmark Trust, which has transformed it into one of England's most extraordinary and remote visitor destinations. The island takes its name from the Old Norse word for puffin, a reflection of the seabird colonies that have drawn people to this wind-scoured rock for centuries. Today Lundy remains one of the few places in England where a visitor can feel genuinely removed from the modern world — there are no cars, no mobile signal, no mains electricity, and a permanent population rarely exceeding two dozen people.
The island has a history stretching back to prehistoric times, with evidence of Mesolithic and Bronze Age occupation. In the medieval period it became notorious as a base for pirates and smugglers, its clifftop fortress and treacherous surrounding waters making it an almost impregnable stronghold. The de Marisco family held it in the 13th century and used it as a base for plundering passing ships; William de Marisco was eventually captured and executed for treason in 1242. During the English Civil War the island changed hands between Royalists and Parliamentarians, and at various points it was occupied by Turkish pirates and by the Barbary corsair fleet. In the 18th and 19th centuries it served partly as a prison for captured French privateers, and the ruins of that era's structures still punctuate the landscape. Perhaps the most eccentric chapter in its history came under the ownership of William Hudson Heaven, who purchased the island in 1834 and ruled it as a personal fiefdom, building the island's church and declaring himself effectively independent from mainland jurisdiction — giving rise to its reputation as the Kingdom of Heaven.
The physical character of Lundy is defined above all by contrasts. The eastern side of the island slopes more gently toward the sea and is sheltered from the prevailing westerlies, so this is where the small village, the landing beach, and most of the vegetation concentrate. The western cliffs, however, are dramatically sheer — towering granite walls of up to 120 metres dropping straight into the Atlantic surf, where the wind comes off the ocean without interruption and the noise of the sea below is a near-constant roar. The plateau itself is open moorland, carpeted with heather and bracken and dotted with Soay sheep and Lundy ponies. On still clear days the light is extraordinary, the sky enormous, and the silence between gusts almost absolute. At dusk the lighthouse beams begin their rotations, and on nights without cloud the stars are remarkable in their density.
The waters surrounding Lundy are designated as England's first Marine Conservation Zone, a recognition of their exceptional ecological richness. Grey seals haul out on the rocks, basking sharks are regularly sighted offshore in summer, and the diving is considered among the finest in England, with wrecks, spectacular kelp forests, and abundant marine life concentrated around the island's rocky shores. Above water, birdlife is extraordinary — apart from the puffins for which the island is named, visitors can expect to see guillemots, razorbills, shags, peregrines, and migrant species during spring and autumn passages. The island's botanical life is also notable, with several species found nowhere else in the British Isles.
Reaching Lundy requires either a voyage by sea or, in some conditions, a short helicopter flight. The MS Oldenburg, a passenger vessel, operates scheduled sailings from Ilfracombe and Bideford in Devon between approximately April and October, with the crossing taking around two hours depending on conditions. Outside the sailing season a helicopter service operates from Hartland Point. The Bristol Channel has some of the largest tidal ranges in the world, and crossing it can be rough; prospective visitors should be prepared for significant swells. Once on the island, accommodation is provided exclusively through the Landmark Trust, which has restored a range of historic buildings — from the castle to lighthouse cottages to fishermen's huts — into self-catering lets. There is a tavern, a small shop, and a church, but nothing resembling a conventional tourist infrastructure.
The best times to visit depend on what a visitor hopes to see. Late spring and early summer bring the peak of the seabird breeding season, with the puffins — considerably reduced in numbers from their historical peak but still present — nesting on the western clifftops. The autumn brings spectacular migrant bird activity as the island acts as a natural landfall for species blown off course. Winter visits are for the hardiest, but offer an intensity of solitude and dramatic weather that is unlike almost anything else accessible from the British mainland. The island issues its own stamps, which are valid for mail transported by the Oldenburg to the mainland, a tradition established in 1929 that continues to delight philatelists. Perhaps most intriguingly, Lundy once minted its own coinage — the puffin — in defiance of mainland authorities, a small act of sovereign assertion entirely in keeping with the island's long history of cheerful independence.