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Had a wonderful carefree holiday of total 'do as I please'.

Provided I'm not crippled, senile or dead, I'll be back next year.

Thea, Wiltshire

I like Old Light Cottage - I shall definitely stay here again. It was a damp, rat infested hovel when I first started coming to Lundy. It is still rather humid due to the gas heating, but otherwise it is a good place to stay now.

Kevin

Arrived on Lundy D Day fashion, due to the strong wind which lasted the whole of my stay. I have enjoyed being able to wake in the morning and look out at an unspoilt landscape (better than view at home of a railway line).

Justin

Blown into Old Light East on Wednesday by a gale of hurricane proportions to a terrestrial being like myself. Thursday managed to circumnavigate the island (on land) fighting against the elements all the way. This isn't an island, it's the top of a mountain transported from North Wales with no shelter!
Daryl, Gwynedd

I must admit that I've enjoyed pottering about on my own. It's impossible to describe the peace of Lundy to people who have never been, but once here the Lundy magic begins to work and you soon settle into a routine of pleasing yourself what you do every day

Graham

What a place, the end point of purest fantasy embodied in this hermitage.

Francis

Sorry it's only a week - could have done with at least a month!

This is my first time on Lundy, and the island has totally captivated me. Everything here seems to have a special value of it's own. The way of life is very relaxed and people so friendly.

Jeremy, West Devon

Today I spotted five seal cubs and an adult female at Brazen Ward. What a strange name! Was it once an offshore hospital for overtly shameless individuals?

Daryl, Gwynedd

Lundy Island in November, you must be mad! Well, they're all wrong, and as a first timer, I could not have wished for a better introduction to this beautiful isle - seven days of beautiful exhilarating sunrises - beyond the window condensation - and stimulating sunsets.

Penny

Wonderfully surreal to spend my short holiday living in a pigsty in the middle of the Bristol Channel.

Neil

Coming to Lundy, after a couple of days I feel so laid back I would make Val Doonican look as though he was on speed! (whatever that is).

Luke, Purbeck

This afternoon I had a very privileged experience. We were on a boat trip around the island and as we were approaching the south a dolphin surfaced just a few feet from the side of the boat. It was an amazing sight and something I will never forget.

Frances, Avon

The silence was wonderful
The peace what was needed
The beauty restoring

Thanks for the simplicity.

I came for the silence and solitude and have revelled in both. The week has been a cross between a retreat and an outward bound course. The sunny windy days have been perfect for some strenuous (for an office worker) exercise, while music and books have given hours of pleasure after dark.

Gillian, Winchester

It's been a wonderful week - I came in search of peace and quiet and wanting the silence, but not quite sure how I'd cope with it. By the second night I'd really come to love it. Lundy seems like a place to learn to love rather than be afraid of silence. Even the sound of your own footsteps on the gravel paths can seem like an intrusion!

Jenny

The cottage is very cosy and just right for one person. It is well located for making excursions to all parts of the island. After getting wet it is nice to come back to a place where you can get warm and dry again.

Jeremy, West Devon

Beware of the shower curtain, it's made of a material that likes to hug you when you are wet, strange sensation. After a Robinson few days I might get to like it!

Anon

I was aware that this place used to be a pig sty. I thought there would be a problem with the smell, but the pigs soon got used to it!

Ian, Essex

People ask me 'whatever do you find to do there?' Well there's nothing to do and there's everything to do! The fun is the looking, seeing, tasting, feeling, smelling.

Pam, Cornwall

Lundy must be one of the world's best kept secrets - let's keep it that way.

John, Newark on Trent

Reading the descriptions here when I first arrived, I was conscious of my lack of awareness of birds and plants, but day by day I find myself looking more closely at the birds and noticing their total ease - doing their thing, just as the seals were in their environment, and how being here one becomes part of the environment, not an onlooker.

Maggie, London N5

It finally rained on 27th, but not enough to end the water restrictions (my favourite of which is the last one: baths and showers, preferably with a friend). I've been thinking of putting a sign on the door: needed: one friend for bathing in very small shower.

Stanley, London

First time on Lundy. Must make the most of it after my airborn arrival. But there is something lacking - noticeably no burning sun, no English bars, no disco's, no all night drinking, no candy floss, no TV, no people trying to cram a years alcohol consumption into 2 weeks - yes, great isn't it.

Martin, Gloucester

Whilst at the Battery, I was standing next to a lady who suddenly shouted 'shag, shag'. Unfortunately she was referring to a large black bird skimming over the water.

Ian, Essex

This place is the 'real world' for me and helps me recreate some if it when I get back to the mad bustle of city life. You and I are lucky to have found Lundy. I'm sure much of the magic of this place is all the love that is given to this beautiful island.

S Hurley, Manchester

Next time you are feeling it's all too much - just lie back and think of Lundy - it will make a difference.

Luke, Purbeck

The Oldenburg sailed on time - a nice smooth trip until we reached the open sea. Then we gyrated. I wondered when we would become a submarine.

John, Salisbury

I worried that I had forgotten to bring music with me - how could I forget? But Lundy has a music all of it's own.

Anne, Ross on Wye

It feels as though I have come home, even though I have only been here once before.

F Sheath, North Devon

Lundy irony - at around 8.10 this evening as I was listening to a performance of the Messiah on Radio 3, the power failed for a few minutes. While I fumbled for my torch, the soloist was singing, 'the people who grovelled in the darkness have seen a great light'.

David, London

Visiting Lundy has been a dream of mine for a long time, and part of me was afraid of expecting too much. Instead the island has lived up to - and exceeded my expectations. It's just the place to find the silence and solitude I needed, and it' been a very peaceful and healing 6 days. The silence could take some getting used to - but don't be afraid of it. The inner silence is harder to reach, switching off the constant inner babble.

Petra

Lundy people are special - they come time and time again. This place has a spiritual atmosphere. The staff - shop, Marisco, workers etc are unfailingly pleasant and good natured. Nothing is too much trouble.

John, Salisbury

As for the picture of Wellington, the Iron Duke himself, what with all those battles and campaigns, and then a career in politics - no wonder he looks so anxious and tense. What he really needed was a good holiday on Lundy!

David, Devon

This place is so photogenic the pictures almost take themselves. Some people thought I was crazy to spend Christmas here. I'll be even smugger when I show them the photos!

David, London

I find it amazing to be walking hearing seabirds one side and the skylarks and pipits the other - wonderful.

Jane, Hampshire

I visited the shop and was impressed by the range and quality of food available. However one visitor was complaining about the size of the turkey she had ordered. She'd ordered a small one, and it was bigger than the one they have at home. Annie told her that she hadn't specified the weight, and she could have hers instead - but she didn't think she could send it back!

Annabel, West Somerset

Wellington does dominate doesn't he? I find him quite benevolent though. I have a picture of Audrey Hepburn on the front of my own journal. I think I'll introduce them and their conversation will permeate my dreams tonight.
….. I'm sure Wellington looks bemused today. I don't think he's ever met anyone like Audrey Hepburn in his lifetime.

Josie

Another irritation is Beaky Wellington - why? Why? At least as someone else has commented he is looking the other way! Didn't Orwell or someone write about pigs? And wasn't there a boss pig called Wellington? Or is my memory all wrong? Anyway, it could be someone's idea of a joke to put Wellington's picture in an ex pig sty.

Judith, Gloucester

It's lovely to read the entries by previous visitors. They make it feel like I'm sharing the place with friends, unlike Wellington, who hasn't said a word all week. I have the distinct feeling that he doesn't approve of me.

Andrew, Exeter

I enjoyed lunch basking in the sun with wonderful views, listening to the roar of the wind instead of the Queens speech, and watching the gulls wheel instead of TV. It was glorious, so peaceful. Thought of what the other 99.9% of people in the country must be doing and feeling like at 3pm on Christmas Day and felt the luckiest person alive.

Annabel, West Somerset

I'm currently entertaining fantasies of refusing to leave on Saturday and becoming the wild woman of Lundy, living on mushrooms and wild rabbits. I can see the headlines 'wanton woman refuses to leave Lundy'. Her last words as they tied her to the deck were 'I'll be back!'

Pippa, Nottingham

Bathed in sunshine this island really is beautiful - lush green grass as far as the eye can see, scattered with gorse, heather, bracken etc. And all around blue sea, meeting blue sky. The silence is so loud it is deafening, surely God is in this place.

Linda, Exmouth

It's quite hard by moonlight to tell sheep from granite boulders. When they move I put them down as sheep, but who knows?

Andrew, Exeter

How can a lump of granite in the Bristol Channel be so lovely in all seasons, in all weathers, at all times of day and night. That's the magic of Lundy.

Annabel, West Somerset

I feel as if I've joined a very privileged group of people staying here in Old Light Cottage. It's taken the first night here to feel as though I've changed pace. I can feel the stress of mainland life slip away. Do we learn things about our lives while we're here that we can carry back when we go, or it this just a respite?

Kate

What other property offers the following: disused lighthouse, prehistoric standing stone, ancient burial ground, rabbits, flock of sheep on a working farm, 19th Century church with St George flag, various breeds of birds, an Admiralty Lookout, South Wales and North Devon coasts, top of 400 foot cliffs, old golf course, air strip, Sika Deer, Bristol Channel, Atlantic Ocean, and a pig sty.

David, Warwickshire

I was enjoying my book and ginger nuts when I happened to notice a faint pink glow out of the window, so wandered outside to experience one of the most magical sunsets I've ever seen. In the space of 5 minutes, to the sound of a million unseen seagulls, the wind had blown all the fog away just in time for me to see the last of the sun disappear below the horizon. It left a narrow band of clear bright sky just above the sea with the most amazing pink and purple clouds crowning that, the sea stained red below it. Amazing. For me that brief but breathtaking sunset epitomises the sheer joy of being here.

Pippa, Nottingham

In the shop there's a postcard of a solitary puffin on a cliff. I suggested it was a stuffed one, and each night one of the staff went out and moved it to another part of the island. They were not amused.

David, Warwickshire

You can have your TV, your Mondeo car, your music centre, McDonalds, Tesco, B&Q. all that rubbish - give me Lundy every time. The people who come here understand life a bit - they are people with the power of thought.

John, Salisbury

Arrived as a Lundy virgin, and although my chastity is retained, I leave the island having contracted the common virus Lundyitis.

Alan

I know I'm a reactionary, Luddite old fart, but it's great to see young kids enjoying themselves with old fashioned delights like skipping, kite flying and hide and seek.

David, Warwickshire

I have looked from afar, and wondered, then a phone call and here I am on this great granite island. So relaxed, the arrival by air, I almost wanted to hover like a bird a little longer, but you only have to walk along Lundy's edge to feel that you could fly.

Anthea, Totnes

My first visit to Lundy and I was worried about coming on my own, but now I wouldn't have it any other way. The peace and homeliness of the place is amazing - it's like I belong here.

Elizabeth, Perth, Western Australia

I've never felt lonely (there are 300 + sheep outside to talk to). Thank you to all the staff of Lundy for your hard work and constant thoughtfulness. So much effort goes on unseen to ensure our visits are happy and comfortable.

Anne, Bristol

I have learnt silence and solitude here, though strangely I have found myself singing as I've been washing up and walking around the island. I don't normally do this. Do you need silence in order to find your voice?

Joan

Why should I write about Lundy Island - the sea, the terrain, it's all been here before me, and it will remain after I've gone. Yes, of course it is beautiful and has all this remote splendour to enjoy. However, this is about me and my time, and I am able to sleep soundly here and walk and think and remember even sad times if I want to.

Simon, Newport, Wales

It's been a perfect holiday for a woman alone, as I hoped it would be. I've felt safe, and could choose solitude or company as it suited me

Liz

The seas were mountainous. If you try to imagine sitting on a roller coaster for an hour and half, with somebody throwing a bucket of salty water over you every 10 seconds, you've just about got it.

Dan

That 'famous five' feeling of adventure that comes from finding things for yourself rather than following idiot board 'heritage for dummies' signposts.

Tim, Haywards Heath, West Sussex

Lovely to be able to wander at will, not even following footpaths, explore, stop and stare. So good to find a little room for one - single holidays can often mean extra supplements.

Penny

The cottage is a wonderfully snug refuge from which to go out and do battle with the elements. I arrived an exhausted heap and Lundy has worked its usual magic, sending me back with recharged batteries

Gillian, Winchester

I wish it really was my cottage, money no object. I'd convert the pigsty into a luxurious bathroom with windows over the best views, convert the present facilities into a good kitchen, replace the front door, put a good sized window into the blank end, replace the other windows with double glazed UVPC ones, set fire to the furniture and carpet the floor. Other than that, it's perfect as it is!

Neina, Exeter

The island is rather like Dr Who's Tardis, so much to see packed into such a small space.

K Trower, Sussex

Nothing to see, but what a place to see it in!

Tim, Haywards Heath, West Sussex

Four days here is not enough, so many things to see and do, I feel like I've only scratched the surface of this experience.

Hannah, East Devon

As well as Lundy itself, I love the selfishness of coming here - nobody asks me to do anything or take them anywhere. I can eat when I'm hungry and go for a walk when I don't want to read anymore. I love being completely anti social - my longest conversation of each day has been with the chap in the shop. It'll be hard changing gear tomorrow and I know the fully charged battery won't last.

Kate, North Devon

This is real life, not the mindless maelstrom of the 'other island'.

Pippa, Nottingham