Lundy

Time for a little light relief

Back in the late 1980’s I used to regularly ‘volunteer’ for a lot of things to get out of work, it didn’t matter whether it was a trip away or local charity things. Not only because I disliked work, but also because I found great joy in all of the extra curricula outings.

I can’t remember what rank the organiser was, possibly a corporal, but there was a guy who wanted to go (at the RAF’s expense) to see Puffins on Lundy island, he said he was a trained expedition leader and I know he had something to do with the scouts.

I had no idea where Lundy was but it sounded like fun, and was a week away, so I was in!

Lundy is a tiny island, about 5 kilometres long by 1 kilometre wide, in the Bristol Channel. These days it is owned by the National Trust and has an entire population of about 28 people. The main way on and off the Island is a day trip ferry, there is also a private yacht and the occasional helicopter, but generally you arrive on the morning ferry for a day trip and if you don’t leave on it, you are there for the night.

We set off in our mini bus, 6 men and 2 women, camping gear and not a clue. For the younger reader… there was no internet… I know, hard to imagine isn’t it. So whilst we knew there would be puffins, its nickname, derived from the norse, is Puffin Island after all, we didn’t know much more.

I genuinely had no idea that it would be a 2 hour trip on rough seas, I also didn’t know back then that I am a person who could get sick on the Norfolk Broads. I spent the majority of that journey laying on the toilet floor trying not to get covered in vomit. Having had a 5 hour drive, waiting around, 2 hours on the ferry, we finally arrived. It was windy, cold and drizzly, and when you get there the walk up from the ferry terminal can feel like a bit of a slog.

The history on Lundy is really interesting and well worth the visit, we picked up guide books and set up the tents in their special camping area. If you are staying overnight the ‘tavern’ has an honesty bar, well it did have when we were there. Over the next couple of days we walked a lot, bonded, saw beautiful wildlife and learned the local history, but we never saw a puffin. We spotted seals and something that could have been dolphins, wild goats, lots of birds including odd black and white ducks, but none of the distinctive orange beaks we were looking for.

One end of the island is quite boggy, with deep channels cut through the tall grass and easy to slip into for those who are not sure footed. We had already discovered that our, so called, leader was a bit of an ‘eejit’, of the dithering and permanently anxious variety; so when the only other female on the trip slipped and knocked her knee against a rather large rock his reaction was to tell her to rub it better and carry on. You can probably guess that this was not the right course of treatment, and as much as she tried the whole stiff upper lip routine it was clear that she wouldn't get anywhere under her own steam. It was suggested to our ‘dear leader’ that, as this was the 80’s and nobody had a mobile phone, he needed to hike back to the tavern and call for help. We meanwhile strapped her up as much as we could and started the slow and painful process of helping her get back. We were met halfway by the one and only land rover on the island, and swiftly bounced back to the main centre.

To be honest I think she was glad to have an excuse to run away, so when an offer was made to have her airlifted from the island she jumped at the chance. It was all a bit of a thrill to see the big yellow whirly bird come and rescue her, I wish I’d had the opportunity for a flight. So now I’m on this tiny island with one numpty, and 5 lads, we’ve seen all the wildlife I think we were going to see, so we hunkered down as a storm blew in and settled ourselves for a quiet night in our tents. Not being the greatest at tying down a tent it came as no surprise to me that in the strong wind my tent started doing a snail impression across the field, dragging me along inside it. It was raining by this point and all of my kit was bunched up at one end of the rolling tent, twisting itself around now I couldn’t find my coat, shoes or a torch, it could have been any time of night it was pitch black. It was at this point I had a brain wave ….. the tavern had an honesty bar, and was unlocked ALL NIGHT! I dragged the tent behind me, through that door and made myself comfortable on the floor inside. Bliss.

We packed up and left the next day, the ferry back was in calmer weather and I could sit above deck this time, which made things easier. and as we left, we had the answer we had needed all along…. puffins lose their colourful beaks outside of mating season, so the sneaky little buggers had been there the whole time!