Ramsey Island

                                                        

                                             Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire
                                                         5th April 2017

 

We’d booked 2 nights in a friendly B and B in St. David’s. Only a week before, we were expecting to go to Ireland but it looked better for the weather further south and it was less travelling overall.

We had also booked our boat trip from St. Justinian’s, 2½ miles away, with Thousand Island expeditions. There are other companies but only this one has landing rights, the others just sail around Ramsey. The crossing was £12 each return and £6 each for the landing fee. The island is run by the RSPB and landing is free for their members.

We built our tandem- it had travelled in the back of our car- and rode the pretty route past the ancient Cathedral to the layby nearest to the boat. We took hardly any space at all!  You pass a car park charging £3 on the approach to St Justinian’s, but nearer the ferry there are some parking places marked out at a layby with no parking charges, a prime spot if you are there early enough to get a space.

 

We had checked at the office at Cross Square in the town that the boat was running today. The sun was shining and it didn’t seem too windy so we were in luck.

We arrived dutifully 15 minutes before the boat’s departure from St. Justinian’s Lifeboat Station at 10 o’clock. We were met by an RSPB official who checked our names off a list- Twenty of us in all. There are 3 buildings here, the modern station, and 2 defunct ones. In front of the oldest building were steps leading up to an iron platform and the old housing for the lifeboat. Above the stairs is a sign saying private so we were very surprised to be told to, one at a time, make an ascent. We had to keep to one side, and to stop immediately when instructed to. It all seemed very dramatic! The building is no longer maintained so we can see why there may be some paranoia. At the top of the platform you could see through to the beach, then sea below. This gave me wobbly legs. We walked down the steep slipway holding onto the side rail, towards the place where the boat was “docked”. At least it wasn’t slippery today.

We were helped onto the boat. It left the station slowly and the sea seemed choppy but as soon as it picked up speed it felt quite smooth until we reached Ramsey. About 10 minutes after leaving the mainland we were bobbing up and down in the swell just off the island. We had to jump off one at a time when the boat steadied after a wave, but no one fell in!!

We were met by an assistant warden who told us where we could walk, sticking to the paths. Ramsey is 2 miles from top to tail and ½ mile at its narrowest. We decided to walk as far round the island as we could, taking in the hills. This seemed further than the 3 1/2 miles it was supposed to be. There was a boat at 12 Noon and another at 4pm and we decided to go for the latter to give us time to finish. 6 hours was a little too long for the walk, we would recommend getting the 12Noon ferry to the Island and return at 4pm.

There is a little shop open for a short while when the boat gets in. This sells crisps, fruit juice, flapjacks and other snacky bits. They also hire out binoculars for £3 a day.

We were pleased to see choughs, with their red beaks and legs, busily collecting nesting material on the northern part of the island. It was here on the hill we could expect to see red deer- introduced via a net beneath an RAF helicopter some years back. We were told they are used to humans, but the fast- moving heavy footed teenager, who wanted to do the 3 hour tour in just over an hour, probably scared them away. We kept seeing deer poo though and cloven hoof prints. There are several pairs of antlers outside the shop.

We were surprised to see horse prints until just before we’d completed the circuit we saw 3 beautiful white ponies. The prints had been in most inaccessible places steep and rocky with drops to the sea but then these are hardy Welsh Mountain ponies.

 

This shows the rocks from both sides

We watched inflatable boat tours giving thrills through the turbulent waters round the Bitches, a reef of rocks stretching into Ramsey Sound. The whirlpools and eddies create white water, a favourite for kayakers.

There are no trees but plenty of heather which will be lovely later, but the gorse is out and smelling like coconut. Tiny blue flowers are pushing through the close- cropped grass. Sheep are kept here to control the undergrowth and clear the way for ground nesting birds. We couldn't get close to them though. Lambing will start soon and the RSPB wardens are there to look after the sheep as well as the birds One lady arrived, on the boat we would take back to the mainland, with large packets of tick and worming powder.

There are compost toilets, one for sitting and one for standing, in a wooden hut near the shop. I can’t work out why they are up- stairs, except maybe for ease of emptying. These are the only ones on the island for the public’s use. As was pointed out there are a lot of birders with binoculars so it’s best not to go au natural.

We saw a lot of bones-of rabbits and birds which we tried to identify. We spent a while seal watching. There were 15 at the haul out area though there can be a hundred we were told. Later we saw 2 seals ambush a large fish, sending it towards rocks and the shore where it manged to get back in the water only to face its attackers. We think they caught it but they didn’t emerge after.

 

This is a varied and pretty island. The rocks are lichen covered with cairns marking paths which seem to have been mowed, the grass is so close to the ground. There are tiny primrose, violets and celandine just coming through. The views are spectacular!

We got back early for the boat so bought a cup of tea when the shop reopened at 3.15(on the dot) and we sat in the sun on one of the picnic benches. We hadn’t had time to buy ourselves lunch before we came, though we had brought bananas, crisps and water. It was good that we’d eaten cooked breakfast that morning so thank you Orla for giving me black pudding- we needed the calories.

The boat arrived at 4 and in no time at all we were climbing the slipway to the old lifeboat station and standing in the little cove of black rock as another group are leaving for a tour. It’s a busy little place!

 

Sheep Island

The Monday after New Year we stayed over- night in Barrow in the Lake District so we could walk another 2 islands in the morning. Low tide was at 8.45am so we set off for the smallest, Sheep Island off Walney Island. We had missed it out when we were in the area before as we had been in cycling gear. When we arrived at the tiny car park at Snab Point we were glad of our wellies. It was boggy later but the causeway was puddle ridden and soft sand.

The causeway splits, one path going to Sheep and the other Piel. This route is also the way the landlord of Piel’s pub drives his car to the island at low tide. I am told he is the only one permitted to do so but others try, some successfully and others causing great expense and time to recover vehicles stuck in the mud. It was very rutted and I expect a most uncomfortable ride. We could see faint tyre marks but the tide must eventually obliterate any tracks.

 

Samphire is supposed to grow in the sand about here but the shoots we saw were probably only grass growing. Marram grass made the going hard as you couldn’t see the unevenness of the ground. We constantly stumbled.

could this be samphire??

 

 

On reaching Sheep Island we had to be content with walking around its perimeter as it was surrounded by a wire fence. A band of shingle edges the island. Almost round, going clockwise there was the remains of a drystone wall and the island seemed to be covered in weeds or scrub.

It was only about a third of a mile to the 15 acre island so in total our walk was only around a mile.

There were views across to Piel with the impressive castle dominating the landscape. To our right we could see the lifeboat house on Roa’s pier

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Foulney Island

The wind was cold and getting stronger by the time we reached the causeway to Foulney. In order to get here we had to drive some way down the causeway to Roa Island though this doesn’t get cut off by the tide. We had missed Foulney last time we were here. It is low lying, only 10 feet above high water mark and therefore not easily seen unless you know it is there.

Foulney means bird island and during nesting season parts of it are closed off. At high tide it can be cut off for several hours. We misjudged the terrain here as we wore our wellies. The causeway is mostly stones which after a while you could feel through the soles of the rubber boots. Walking boots would have been much better. We slipped around on the stones too and boots would have given better grip. The stones were varied in shape and size and covered in green slime at the beginning. We could hear oyster catchers and I believe I saw a knot.

We passed a strange orange lifeboat, capsule like with a battered keel and anchored into the sands. Further towards Roa we could see a wreck of a trawler, painted orange to help preserve it as well as act as a warning to its presence.

It was a mile walk along this causeway. I am not sure if the Victorian causeway was actually on top of the mounded wall of rocks, shingle and concrete, beside where we walked. There were huge holes at intervals where the sea had breached it. Some of the rocks looked volcanic in origin being so black. All around were small stones covered in holes rather like pumice.

As we neared the island the rocks became easier to walk on being flat, thin and rounded. Later shingle intermingled with mussel shells led to the grassy bank where we stood at last!

A white tower with AGA printed across it stood at this end of the island, with what looks like a small light for shipping on its top.

We came to an open concrete shed with gear used by the ornithologists when it’s the breeding season. There were piles of stones painted with numbers and letters denoting the names of the birds- RP ringed plover and OY oystercatcher presumably for marking nest sites. There was an upturned comfy chair which looked quite out of place and was exposed rather, to the weather.

The views of Piel and Roa have been good again and we could see that the tide was now incoming. On the sands were flocks of tiny birds-or so they looked from a distance and against a lone seagull. They moved on mass in an undulating fashion like a grounded murmuration.

We came to a large shingle patch, obviously man made, maybe for the ringed plover. Nearby were barricades and notices to be put up during the nesting season.

On the beach above here were chunks of brick building, chimney sized. The bricks had small stones in them which made us think they were at least Victorian in age. Some were completely yellow. The sea couldn’t have brought the bricks but there must have been a building sited here. there was a good view of Piel castle again from here.

We reached the furthermost point and then walked back the other side of the shingle “triangle”. We more or less retraced our steps all the way back to the car. This time the wind was fiercely in our faces and at times it was hard to push against it- perhaps 30 mile an hour.

 

 

 

Sully Island

 

After walking Barry Island we travelled by car to Sully and parked by the Captain’s Wife pub. Low tide was at 11.45 and a traffic light system serves as a high tide warning. The light was green for us at 11.30 and we had over 5 hours to walk across the causeway and back, according to the automatic sign. So many people have been caught by the tide that comes in rapidly (around half a metre every 10 minutes) sweeping visitors off the slippery rocks of the causeway. There is a sign warning you that you may be charged for any rescue mounted on your behalf near the traffic lights.

It is supposed to take 40 minutes to reach the island but I don’t think it took this long despite us gingerly picking our route across the natural paving slabs- a bit like the Yorkshire limestone though it must have been harder than that, being under water so much. It wasn’t covered in seaweed or algae that we could see but we slipped nonetheless. It was easier further out as the rocks supported barnacles, though not a lot, giving some grip to our boots.

We turned right around the base of the island, prepared to walk around Sully’s edge. We didn’t fancy climbing up to the grassy top. As we reached the seaward side flanked by pink stones and crazed grey slabs we easily mounted and found ourselves on a well- made path through lush grass.

We saw fishermen taking advantage of the solitude as we went east to the highest point. Bracken obscured the route across to the other side and then trip wires of bramble viciously attached itself to us and our clothes but we made it across.

There are no buildings allowed on Sully but we understand it was bought recently for £99,000. In the past it has been used by pirates to terrorise the locals. We believe we found the site of the hill fort (marked on the highest point on the map) by the different stones embedded in the grass there.

There are no trees but a few shrubs. Most signs are on the wild side where there are no paths seemingly and no easy route down to the shore. On the way back to the causeway we passed the skeleton of a boat- just its ribs. People we saw on the way over had been told that it was a Viking ship but we think it is maybe 19^th or early 20^th century. It contains rusting iron parts and is a fair size.

 

 

We were quite relieved to reach the “mainland” without acquiring a twisted ankle. It was straight into the” Captain’s wife” for a good meal and a warm in front of the fire. It must have been a substantial house as it had several large areas within and corridors leading off. The story went that the captain took his wife on board his ship and while on the sea she died. Not wishing to alarm or bring bad luck on the superstitious crew he hid her body in a box.  It was only years later after it became a pub that her body was discovered  ( hard to believe) The place had been haunted but this stopped once her body was given a Christian burial. Another story is that the box with her body was stolen by pirates thinking it was treasure. ..

Barry Island

We had a good night’s sleep, good food and service at the Inn. All around it was a bit of a maze as land here becomes developed. It was no good using the sat nav and we drove in circles in the morning trying to find Barry island. Unsure whether to include this in our island list but a local said it should count! Now a peninsula it was an island until 1880s and in 1896 the rail link was completed running along a 250 yards pier structure. Land has filled in at the sides and the docks also link the gap. The only way to Barry Island once was across the mud at low tide or by steamer at high tide!

We found a parking spot where the coaches park for the funfair in the summer.

This is a dog walker’s paradise. Hundreds were on the beach and promenades. We maybe saw 1 or 2 people only without a canine friend. Dogs can’t go on the beach in the summer. They all seemed well behaved! And later we saw they were welcomed by the café owners offering dog bowls, dog treats dog beds, love and attention.

It is a lovely sandy bay and we set of left of this following the path, Clements Colley Walk to a viewpoint from where we could see Sully Island over the docks.

The clouds merged with the land- we think Somerset- and it drizzled with rain. Yellow patches in the sky promised better weather perhaps.

We met a couple who said the lady’s grandfather helped build the harbour wall and worked on the tidal swimming pool- now gone. They pointed out the building next to the pleasure park which used to have a skating rink on the first floor-now a children’s amusement area. There must have been a good view from the grand wall height windows. They told us Barry Island is a resort for day trippers not having many hotels. Miners were sent here twice a week on day trips for respite.

We walked by some new houses with great sea views and Bob was taken with the concrete balls protecting the grass verges. We were foiled by dead ends here though many cul de sacs looked promising. Eventually we arrived back at the car and we took the right- hand side of the bay passing the pleasure park that actually looked to be open, with music playing.

 

 

 

Down on the beach the sand was very soft and hard to walk on. Before climbing up the path to the grassy banks- an ancient wild flower meadow- we admired the rock strata edging the beach. Contrasting pink and grey levels could be clearly seen like layers of a gateau. As we walked down towards the sea on the bank edging Whitmore Bay, the name for the beach, we walked into the rain, heads down. It had been a good hours walk of around 2 miles by the time we got back to the car.

Barry Island has the 2^nd highest tidal range in the world of 49 feet!

 

Alney Island

 

Between Christmas and New Year we decided to tick off 2 more islands, one to complete the years quota and the other to give us a start- motivation for 2017 -as well as a means to shake off the Christmas lethargy!

We stopped at the White Hart in Maisemore near Gloucester for lunch. They kindly let us leave our car there while we did the walk which started just the other side of the bridge yards from the pub. The White Hart seemed a typical village pub, almost empty when we arrived, with a blazing fire in a grand fireplace. Incongruously it was run by a friendly oriental man and doubled as a Chinese restaurant in the evenings though it was typical pub fare at lunchtime.

Alney Island has been formed by the splitting of the River Severn. Turning left from the pub we crossed the 1950’s bridge and took the cycle path. This had warnings that the path was closed due to damage on the bridge which puzzled us as we didn’t need to cross any bridges to go around the island. We decided to give it a go anyway. It was a tarmac path with the river on our right and a busy main road on our left, with a bit of scrubland in between, where bikes were encouraged to make a detour!

We passed a sign that measured the depth of floodwater up to 6 feet then came to the broken bit of the path- Hardly a bridge, more a platform. Rickety planks were positioned over the space so not suitable for wheelchairs but fine if you were careful. People walking the other way told us this had been like this for some time and they wish it would get fixed soon.

The sounds of a pheasant shoot ( most probably) were loud and spasmodic. We caught glimpses of deerstalker hats bobbing behind the trees round the field over the river. After the walk the pub car park full of big people carriers and hearty country types heralded the close of day.

It was under a wide road bridge, concrete and well graffitied then a rather grand bridge built by Thomas Telford in stone spanned the river to our right. Altogether around Alney we counted 10 bridges!

The cycleway went to the left and we walked the footpath around the Nature Reserve- meadowland. There was a field of sedge like plants that had been cut into- maybe used for thatching. From here we could see the cathedral though the view was spoilt by pylons partially obscuring it. Then we reached Lower Parting where the Severn parts around the island and where the Severn Bore can be best viewed-about 2 metres high. We think someone watching it here might get quite wet judging by the high level of the river debris up the banks.

We had to cross several little bridges over what would be marshy ground sometimes though the frosty ground made it firm today. Only where the sun, glorious in a blue sky, impacted on the ground was there a slippery patch of mud. I skidded twice! The sun being low made it difficult to identify birdlife even with binoculars.

The path took us through dry Llanthony Lock, narrow, walled and because it was in shadow, white underfoot. The only building so far was on its banks – the lock keepers house, rather large and now privately owned.

A little further we dipped under a derelict iron railway bridge, rusting to pieces literally. Then we were opposite the dock area and various riverside businesses. A large healthy looking fox caught our gaze and stared back for some time, in between the back of some buildings and the river, obviously his domain.

There were mown grassy areas now and several possibilities for a route but we headed under yet more bridges. As we walked we met a man who said in the 1970s he had worked on this first bridge- a replacement and he never got his holiday pay a fact he still felt bitter about!

We were now in the city of Gloucester and needed to get to the river bank but a fairground’s parking area blocked the way. We walked in and out of a few roads passing a lovely mosaic wall- some people are very creative. Trying to stay parallel with the river we came to the road then a field with a footpath sign. There were many old breed cattle here- bullocks and one highly muscled with a ring through his nose. They weren’t scared of us and blocking our way forward. Their horns looked honed and dangerous. Opting for the tunnel with the lesser beast without the ring we gingerly edged by and only allowed ourselves to breathe again when we had closed the gate on them.

After walking a little further we found ourselves back at the Telford bridge and we knew where we were though we would have preferred not to have retraced our steps at all. We met the same couple returning also, who told us the cattle are big softees, but we saw the rips in the corrugated iron shed which looked very battered and bashed at horn height!

We had been walking about 2 hours and we didn’t have a drink in the pub as light was beginning to fade.We pressed on,our next stop was being the Premier Inn at Barry and Sully Island tomorrow.

Burry Holms

29^th October

Yesterday we hadn’t enough time between tides to take in the 2 islands either side of the Bay. Low tide was about an hour later today so we decided to walk to the tidal iron lighthouse before visiting Burry Holms. We could park in the village, Llanmadoc in a designated field (near the church) where there is an honesty box for the required £1.

We walked back down through the village, the opposite way from the Britannia Inn, until a junction when we went right between a holiday house and Cym Ivy café and crafts. The map is marked Cwm Ivy and just down from here we took a path on the right towards the National Trust Bunkhouse. A path down to the beach was closed. We walked under pines passing several dog walkers. On the right of the path was a bird hide overlooking the salt marsh. We learnt from another walker that this was only recently transformed from farmland by a breach in the sea wall. This had been used as farmland since the 17^th century but the walls are Medieval. The wood of the hide smelt new but unfortunately graffiti covered the shelves and paper designated for people to record wild life spotted here. Most people think it is the children who stay in the bunkhouse just a little way down the track. Another bird hide on the salt marsh opposite perhaps fared better. A pure white egret was the only bird we could easily spot without binoculars.

We were walking towards Whiteford Burrows with Berges Island in front of us. Bob thought the lighthouse to be at least another mile further than the island that is not an island but woodland. It was taking longer than we planned and we didn’t want to miss the window for crossing to Burry Holms. I wanted to see the only cast iron lighthouse in Europe but it was hidden either behind dunes or the trees. We had to retrace our steps back to the car park as our original planned route was longer. The walk had been lovely and I hated the time restrictions!

We drove several miles to Broughton Caravan Park and the visitor’s car park at the site entrance. From here we took a footpath at the left of the car park which eventually took us through the sand dunes and out onto the beach. It was quite a maze and not always clearly marked. We enjoyed the toadstools and furry caterpillars that played dead on the sandy path. Maybe they ate sea holly, for skeletons of the leaves were strewn about. We watched a red kite with its distinctive forked tail. We didn’t know they were this far from Pembrokeshire. It was a clamber up the dune to the top where we could see the beach below. Several people have had fires here with shells in the residual charcoal. We wish people wouldn’t dump their rubbish in beautiful places but at least it wasn’t spread about all over. Perhaps they were coming back for it!!!

 

 

 

The stones on the beach were lovely pastel shades of pink, blue, grey, green, and colours in between. We spent a while handling the smooth rounded pebbles and walking about a deeply embedded shipwreck where you could see most of the outline of the ship by the wooden parts left showing through the sand. Surfers were trying to surf on the feeble swell today. We think it is usually very good here judging by the numbers of surf boards we have seen.

 

Burry Holms is less than 100 yards from the shore. It was once an inland hill overlooking a large plain. It is a gentle mound in shape and much smaller than its counterpart at the other end of Llangennith beach. There was a bit of rock scrambling and it wasn’t very clear of the best route for climbing up on to the island. You could see the sign warning people to watch for the tides, but, to head for that looked too difficult. A narrow path had been made by some walkers and we followed that up to the top of the mound. It was grassy and still had some wild flowers even in late October. We didn’t see much sign of the ancient history attached to this place which dates to Mesolithic times. Flints have been found here from the Iron Age and remains of a hill fort can be discerned but we must have missed them.

At the seaward end, what could have been the concrete base for a gun or even a small cannon, made a round landmark. We needed to take care as the path was quite narrow in places and the sands with rough rocks around the island’s base would have made a nasty end in case of a fall.

We liked the island but it didn’t take long to walk it. The journey here was as much part of it and recommended. It looks like many people walk the cliff from Rhossili instead of the Caravan Park route but however you do it I am sure you get the feel that Burry Holms is quite remote.