At long last! After living in Pembrokeshire for the last forty-six years and despite walking many miles of the Pembrokeshire coast, and meandrering around a lot of the Welsh countryside discovering wonderful places, lakes, waterfalls … scenary, we hadn’t been on Skomer island. This week we finally managed to go. And it was a glorious day’s adventure.
Boarding the Dale Princess
Arriving on Skomer …
To be greeted by numerous curious puffins who seemed as interested in us as we were in them….
Skomer is internationally important for seabirds and, of course, there are necessary rules to protect the birds so we were told where and how we could walk the paths. One of the National Trust volunteers told us about the numerous species of birds on the island which included the Puffins – now in their last week before they leave the island – we were so lucky to see them.
The colony of Manx Shearwaters is the largest colony in the world. Unfortunately we found quite a few remains of these on the narrow paths, apparently caught by the Great Black-backed Gulls. Later in the day we came across a crowd of people watching a Manx Shearwater chick which had wandered out of its ground nest. Seeing the amount of Gulls flying overhead, we hoped it managed to shuffle back to safety.
We weren’t lucky enough to see the Storm Petrels that are usually here on the island (they probably were but our binoculars were of slightly less quality than those hired out for five pounds by the National Trust). But we did see Guillemots, Razorbill, Kittiwakes, and so many of the ubiquitous Carrion Crows and Ravens
And at the Bird Hide, we watched Fulmars, Herring, Lesser and Great Black-backed Gulls as well as a pair of Canada Geese around the North Pond. (Well, I think they were Canada Geese, the Photographer said they were … ducks!) Huh!
Two watchful Kittiwakes
And, later in the day we were followed by a pair of these little birds – we think they were trying to lure us away from their nest.
We thought they were Stonechats – or Linnets – but maybe someone more knowledgeble will be able to correct us?
Some of the paths are so narrow they were designated one way paths – we were warned not to stand on the grass alongside in case there there were still Puffin burrows with chicks in them. Others are wider and surrounded by ferns, daisies, wild flowers … a treat to see.
We arrived at the old farmhouse where we stopped for our picnic.
History of the farmhouse:
There are unsubstantiated records of a house built in the centre of the island, thought to be around seventeen hundred on which are the ruins of the old farmhouse, itself dated from about 1840. This was once an impressive and substantial house, built in the traditional Pembrokeshire style with small slates fixed in mortar, protecting the front of the house. Early pictures show a metal veranda running the length of the house, and at the back of the building, an old smoking oven where fish and meats would have been preserved.
The slightly thicker soils in this part of the island and access to water in North Valley enabled a range of crops to be grown. There are records of the farm supporting three families at one time with cows and sheep grazing on the land as well as horses to help with the heavy work. Farming was largely abandoned after the outbreak of the First World War and all agriculture on the island finally ended in 1950.
And onwards to today:
In 1959 the Island was bought by the Nature Conservancy (the Government department that became the Countryside Council for Wales) helped by the West Wales Field Society (the charity that became the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales). It was declared one of the country’s first National Nature Reserves and is now owned by National Trust and managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.
In the next part of our visit to Skomer we move on from the farmhouse to the magnificent coastline and impressive views.
St. Molaise was born in Ireland, the son of Cairell, the Irish king of what is now called Ulster, and the Scottish princess Gemma. Molaise was a very gifted and spiritually inclined child. He was much loved by his own people and was offered the throne of Ulster when he came of age, but instead he chose a religious and secluded life in a cave on the west coast of Holy Isle. He was then only 20 years old. Some people believe that when St. Molaise chose the cave on Holy Isle as his hermitage, the island was already considered a special, “holy” place.
The cave where St. Molaise lived, is about half way along the western shore of Holy Isle, about ten meters above the high-water mark, and consists of an overhanging sandstone rock with a sunken stone floor. It is thought that in Molaise’s time much of the opening of the cave was closed up by a wall to keep the weather out. The cave can still be visited today. Carvings can be seen in the wall, such as simple crosses, perhaps made by pilgrims, and Norse runes, mainly of personal names. One of these says “Vigleikr the Marshall carved”. Some of the crosses seem to have been carved at around the same time as the names, so perhaps there was an element of pilgrimage to the cave among the Vikings. Lastly, there is an unusually designed cross carved into the roof of the cave.
Close to the cave is a spring, known as the Healing Well which is thought to cure ills and bring blessings. In the 18th century it was recorded that “the natives used to drink and bath in [the well] for all lingering ailments”. The same source describes the water as “gushing out of a rock”. At the beginning of the 20th century apparently there was a cistern present built of masonry, with a stone spout which delivered the water. The spring is overgrown now so that you wouldn’t get more than a footbath from it but the water is still cold and clear, albeit it does not meet current EU standards for drinking water.
In 1488 Holy Isle and land in the Lamlash area was owned by one John Hunter, before being passed over to the Earl of Arran in 1527. The island continued to be part of the Arran Estate in Hamilton ownership even into the 20th century, being rented out to various people until that time. In the 18th century, Captain James Hamilton (not related to the dukes of Hamilton who owned Arran) obtained a long lease on Holy Isle from the Duke of Hamilton. In 1779 he built what became known as the Big House (the old farmhouse, now called the Harmony Wing).
In 1877 the inner lighthouse (facing Arran) was built on Holy Isle, engineered by David and Thomas Stevenson. It is locally known as “Wee Donald”, though the current lighthouse keepers don’t know why anymore. The outer lighthouse, or Pillar Rock, was built in 1905 on the east shore. It had a fog horn and a revolving light that was lit by paraffin. Pillar Rock lighthouse was the first lighthouse built with a square tower and has several rooms inside for the men who worked there. Lighthouse cottages were built to house four families of the lighthouse keepers and a walled garden was made. The lighthouses became automated in 1977, and are now serviced every two weeks by local people living on Arran.
In 1987 they decided to put the island up for sale for £1 million. The island remained unsold however, and in the autumn of 1990 Mrs Morris approached Lama Yeshe to offer the island to him, because she felt that its future would be best taken care of by “the Buddhists from Samye Ling”. Lama Yeshe first came to Holy Isle on the winter solstice of that year and became determined to buy the island. Finally the asking price was dropped to £350,000, which Lama Yeshe managed to raise by April 1992.
Judith Barrow 