Volume One - 1990 - 1999

I have walked miles across the island in just four days, seeing the spectacular scenery in different lights, never tiring of the views, never tiring of the land. What a wonderful little island which really isn't so small.

Susan Jackman

Thank you strange little isle, for sharing your magic with me. Your enchanted South Light, the sudden rush of your flocks of starlings, your majestic Old Light, your cumbersome letterboxes, your soft clammy sea feathers flying up from Devils Limekiln, your powerful western winds, your funny ravens, your brilliant sunshine on the North Light, your singing sunbathing hippos, your Halfway Bay robin eating the grasses from my left shoe, the faces your rocks grow in the dark, and your full moon close to St Helena's Cathedral.

Agnes de Raaf

The Radio Room is a snug little place and simple to clean when leaving! The only snag is that someone from the Admiralty keeps phoning up on the intercom in the corner to ask if there are any u-boats in the vicinity of Lundy.

John Pickwell

Sitting on a bench at the head of Millcombe I heard a young boy say to his father 'Mum would like it here, there's no hustle and bustle', those few words encapsulate much of what I feel about Lundy.

Arthur Stagg, Barnstaple

I am engrossed by Lundy - whatever they tell you it hits you like nowhere else! There's something very symbolic about going down to the Castle and seeing the wake of the Oldenburg head for the mainland (the other island).

Tim Foghill

Having been overtaken on the path by about 57 sunburnt and muscular hikers (and that was just the women) I finally reached the shop, where the very helpful lady informed me that the Radio Room was ready. With a hop, skip and obligatory jump, I heaved waiting suitcase inside and fell in love.

Melissa Downes, Ringwood, Hampshire

Life was getting very stressful on the mainland, so I escaped here for a few days to relax, bird watch and ask God some serious questions as to what is going on. I have had four days on this island of tranquillity and it has done me the world of good. After thinking my life through and hearing what God has to say (yes, He does speak on Lundy) I am ready to face the world again.

Craig Stewart, Telford, Shropshire

I'll remember Lundy for solitude - outside the village I've met no one at all and only briefly glimpsed a couple of others in the distance on 3 days of long walks. And views - too many to name or describe, but I love walking from the northern end and seeing the Old Light in the distance - a marvellous, evocative sight.

Paul Wilson, Leeds

Lundy is wonderful, even in December - do visit in the winter, it's different but still magical.

Roz Lawson, Egham, Surrey

Lundy has surpassed herself this week. Wall to wall sunshine and very little breeze. The wild flowers are wonderful, a haze of blue of bluebells, pink of campian and foxglove, and the yellow of Lundy cabbage, with of course the rhodies on the east side.

Greg Hardy

Had a wonderful day walking to the North End and saw basking sharks and puffins and thousands of birds there - perfect weather too. Jenny's Cove is quite beautiful - when I went there I met no one either going there or coming back, but had the company of singing larks all the way.

Derek Cheeseborough


Volume Two - 1999 - 2003

Why is there a rolling pin in the utensil drawer??? Who the hell rolls pastry on their own on holiday? I demand a survey now, how many houses have actually used their rolling pins over the last 20 years and why? I can imagine it comes in handy to whack the old man over the head when he rolls in from the Tavern at midnight, but the Radio Room has no need for that, unless it is a 20th (nearly 21st) Century version of self flagellation!

Mike Frinton, Rickmansworth
(rolling pin at back of cutlery drawer, ignore dents!!)

Having read the first entry in this book I was tempted to make an apple pie just to use the rolling pin referred to!

TJ Nobbs, Bristol

Eventually we were able to take to the air. I sat next to the Pilot! 'Don't touch anything' said my anxious co passengers. There was a bar for one's feet and below that an open space. I wanted to hold onto something but a nearby handle was marked emergency exit, so I had to trust to my fighter pilot type harness.

Jay Parsons, Bristol

I have never come back to the same holiday destination before but Lundy is so special. This is such a relaxing place that I feel I have been away on another planet.

Jane Gooden, Braishfield, Hampshire

Did 2 hours dowsing with rods and pendulum and found the small cairn that was placed there in 2002 by the Geomantic expedition. This is a sacred healing spot at the end of the ley line from Stone Henge. Dowsed the ley line from the cairn situated between Pondsbury and Halfway Wall upwards crossing main track and to the other side of the island, east to Lundy Roads. The line being 3 feet wide and no respecter of bogs!

Anne Beer, Watchet, Somerset

What an awful journey by boat! I now know what it's like to suffer from sea sickness. Thank goodness for the invention of chewing gum. If you concentrate enough on chewing it helps prevent spewing!

PJ Shilton, Bristol

Every visit brings special memories of things done and seen. The eclipse was one which for sure I will never experience again on Lundy. On the day the dawn brought clear skies and good visibility. By 10 am cloud started to creep up the Bristol Channel but the eclipse was well advanced before the first light cover drifted overhead. But even the passage of the Moons shadow between the Earth and the Sun could be clearly seen until the sun was some 90 percent obscured. Even the cloud remained unbroken and the spectacle remained visible until the 95 percent the maximum degree of eclipse we were to see on Lundy had been reached.

Arthur Stagg, Barnstaple

I could stay here all summer and absorb the other worldliness of this place - but alas I'm off to London tomorrow to show my youngest the sites - a stark contrast I feel.

Francoise Becklehurst, Bideford

It is grand to be able to do what I like, to go to bed and get up when I want to and not to have to cook, day in, day out, and I don't have to talk to anyone or make conversation or be at someone else's beck and call. I sleep well here too.

Anne Beer, Watchet, Somerset

I over estimated my capacity for solitude. My self discipline sodded off and I walked the island and got lashed in the Tavern. Have not had a better time for ages.

Lee Nelson

Highlights: going out at night when the skies were clear and seeing the stars as I have never seen them before. There are so many myths which end 'and his/her name was set amongst the stars', and that night made it clear to me why.

Georgina Bamforth, Twickenham

This place is really special; a place where giants lived, a place that defies all the elements, a place where the sea foam can rise up 400 feet of pure granite on the west and fly across the island to the east. This is a truly wonderful place, and may it stay so forever.

Paul Cartwright, Bideford

If you love life you'll love Lundy. Watch the newspaper headlines: 'wild colonial woman wantonly refuses to leave Lundy - perplexed staff lash her down to the deck as the MS Oldenburg sails. 'I'll be back' were her last words…..'

Polly Barnes, Huon Valley, Tasmania, Australia

Food in the Tavern excellent and the staff everywhere really fantastic. I think they have such a wonderful life, perhaps if everyone lived on small islands like Lundy the world would be a better place.

Jane Johns, Lampeter, Ceredigion

It really is a world apart.

Gill Mortley, Ilfracombe

Awoke at midnight by an inebriated drunk knocking at my door - he is now in a girls choir.
Saw a young man walking about with legs bent inwards, must have been that drunk from last night that I dealt with!

Anne Beer, Watchet, Somerset


Volume Three - 1999 - present date

 Perfect crossing today - blazing blue skies and very calm. Interesting meteorological phenomena as we drew near to Lundy - sea fret which blotted out the island completely and then just as suddenly parted like a veil and there it was. Lundy was I believe deemed Holy pre Roman times (Ynys Wair?) and it was certainly a very mystical way to approach.

Georgina Bamforth, Burgess Hill

Glorious weather, great walking - huge blister! But well worth it. It may be a small island but there's plenty of space. Plenty of wildlife to be seen. Spotted a chicken chasing off a gull - talk about girl power!

Sonya King

I have travelled most of the world in my 56 years and never ever stood so still and so quiet as I did today on Lundy island.

Emlyn Graves, Appledore, Devon

Shortly before leaving the North End I stopped at the top of the steps and said a short prayer of thanks to the island, for being all that it is, so full of contrasts and so strangely unchanging all at the same time. This place has given me so much I felt it needed to be acknowledged, although I'm not sure if the island could hear me. If this island really is alive though, it's a perfect reflection of me and all my moods. Sometimes grey and desolate, sometimes vicious and biting in the wind, sometimes calm and tranquil.

June Austin, New Malden, Surrey

Under a cobalt blue sky, with no wind and too high up to hear the roar of the ocean, I stood transfixed with only the sensation of the most gentle breeze passing my ears and the sound of my heartbeat.

Emlyn Graves, Appledore, Devon

Two glorious days - I've seen seals basking and walked right round the island - I came for solitude, silence and rest and relaxation and I've found them all here on Lundy.

Elaine Barnes, Tadley, Hampshire

Having never been away on my own before I joked at work that I didn't want to talk to anyone whilst away (whilst secretly worrying I'd be desperate for company), but I have actually been extremely content in my own company here in a way I never knew I was capable of.

Danielle Jenkins, Bedford

As we walked up to the Old Light no wind was heard or felt, the whole world it seemed had gone to sleep. Silence reigned. Warm sunshine on the west coast sparkled on the water. In the middle of the Atlantic a funnel shaped mist existed between sea and sky. The clouds appeared to have dipped in the water and pulled the spray from the sea and they clung together not knowing how to separate. To the south beyond the Castle the shoreline was clearly visible with little white lights twinkling on the mainland. To the east was grey in different shades creeping slowly over the sea. The mainland hidden in the mist, the east side darkened shadows. Towards the north it appeared cold and crisp with white topped waves too far away to hear their thunderous discharges against the shore, but you could feel their rawness. Strange than one island can be so diverse.

Annie Wright

Strangely I feel hundreds of years and then only seconds old. Humbled by nature and a sense of the eternal. Part and predator of the planet, spiritual and human in the same shell.

Emlyn Graves, Appledore, Devon

I've wanted to come to Lundy for over 30 years but always had reasons why not, but will next year. I've finally made it and thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I've walked so much and enjoyed the solitude. I return home thoroughly unwound.

Grant Cozens, Cheltenham

New Year celebration in the Tavern was a special night - and so many familiar faces from last year. Ben decided on a 'shipping area' fancy dress, resulting in weird, wonderful and hilarious costumes.

Liz Stafford, Swansea