Lundy Island Through Time - by Simon Dell

AT FIRST glance one might easily dismiss Lundy Island as being of little relevance — just one of the multitude of islands off the coast of the British Isles. After all, it stretches barely three miles in length, while its width is but a sixth of this, and it has a permanent population numbering under 30.

Yet its name is mentioned on BBC Radio several times every day of every year and will be as well-known to the mariners of the world as the bay of Biscay, the Irish Sea and the Hebrides. For, lying just ten miles off the coast of North Devon (accessed by boat from Bideford and Ilfracombe nine months of the year, and by helicopter from Hartland Point during the winter), and quite close to the Bristol Channel, the island is so crucial strategically that the shipping forecast informs, regularly, 'Those in Peril on The Sea' of conditions in a major area of ocean stretching from Lundy — a seascape which can at any time of the year be turbulent indeed. Because of its location it has always had importance, an aspect of the quite rocky, rugged island given due prominence by Simon Dell is this very professional publication. A retired police officer, and the recipient of the MBE for outstanding service rendered to the community of Tavistock and the Dartmoor Rescue Group, Mr Dell has established a high reputation as a writer, having published nine books on policing, past and present, one on Dartmoor Prison and another on industrial archaeology, all written in an informative, descriptive way, avoiding adroitly a constricting style which would make it only suitable for the scholar. Likewise with this publication; for Lundy Island - Through Time' is a book which will appeal to many — especially the scholar, those of the tourist wishing to know the topography and history to this unique place and those who wish only to add to their personal libraries a quality publication which gives them pleasure as they read the script and pursue the photographs - ancient and modern - in old monochrome and modern colour. A particular feature of the book is the deft touch the author uses in combining evocative pictures with concise explanatory prose throughout its 96 pages, giving the reader an intangible 'feel' for the island.

Building and constructions are featured - the two light houses at the northern and southern tips of Lundy, the pub (The Marisco Tavern), the hotel, cottages, the slightly grander Milcombe House, plus the many military fortifications, the quays and landing places, the church and much more. People, also, gaze from the pages - those past and present who have dwelt, and dwell, in what can be harsh, albeit inspiring environment.

The photos again — some dating back well over a century — are exceptionally good, as is the author's brisk, yet vivid descriptive passages beneath each. Visits from famous people are covered, the most recent being the Earl and Countess of Wessex in 2009 to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the National Trust and the Landmark Trust (who administer the island), while The Queen Mother also came in 1954. Disasters are chronicled, one surprisingly involving an aircraft — the crashing of a German Heinkel Bomber in 1941; most, naturally involve the sea, with many ships — some big, some military — being wrecked on or near the island's unforgiving shores. Most famous was HMS Montagu, a mighty warship not long commissioned, which perished in 1906 in a thick fog.

The book about a small island is, inevitably, about the ocean and how it influences, occasionally controls, sometimes threatens the lives of the hardy folk who dwell on or are connected in some way, with such a beseiged scrap of rock and soil. The author never loses sight of this essential fact.

Simon Dell's growing reputation as a writer of insight and clarity is enhanced further by this most satisfying book.

'Lundy Island - Through Time' is published by Amberley Publishing (ISBN 978144560074). Priced at £14.99

Ted Sherrell