Book 54 - Steep Holm Diary

Steep Holm Diary by Howard and Rosie Smith, first published in 2006

Steep Holm is a small island in the Bristol Channel, about 5 miles west of the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare.  It was bought by the Kenneth Allsop Memorial Trust in 1976 and has been run by them ever since.

Howard and Rosie Smith, who live in Weston-super-Mare, obviously have a deep affection for Steep Holm.  This book is the story of the work carried out on the island by the 2 wardens and a dedicated band of enthusiastic volunteers between 2001 and 2006.  They renovated the old Victorian barracks, cleared paths, monitored and cared for the island's wildlife and welcomed visitors.

The book is a slim volume and is easily lost on the shelves of a library, which is probably why it hasn't been borrowed much.  However it is a real gem.  It was originally published in the Weston and Somerset Mercury as a series of diary articles. The text of the book was written by Howard Smith.  The book is lavishly illustrated with colour drawings done by Rosie Smith of the island from every angle, its flora & fauna, buildings, the remains of the military batteries and archaeological remains.  The book also contains a hand drawn map of the island and a potted history.  An excellent little book - small but perfectly formed. 10/10

Islands covered - Steep Holm 

 One of the old batteries

 The Bristol Queen - this was the island's passenger ferry during the period covered by the book

 Gull chick on Steep Holm, July 2006

 Rudder Rock, Steep Holm

 The landing beach and old pub, east coast of Steep Holm

 East coast of Steep Holm

Book 53 - The Chalet School and the Island

The Chalet School and the Island by Elinor M Brent-Dyer – first published in 1950

This is the 21^st book in the Chalet School series, which has 58 volumes in total.  I own the whole set and have read them all, although not in the correct order.  This isn’t the best of the series but it is set on the fictional island of St Briavel’s off the south west coast of Wales. 

The original Chalet School was set up in the Austrian Tirol in the early 1930s (hence the name) as a multi-lingual girls’ boarding school.  The school was forced to move in the late 1930s when it became obvious that war was approaching.  It moved first to Guernsey and shortly after to Armishire (Herefordshire).  

The Chalet School is forced to relocate to a temporary location because major work needs to be done to the drains at their school in Armishire.  Most of the girls are delighted to be on an island, which has opportunities for swimming, rowing and boat trips to the nearby island of Brandon Mawr to see the seabirds nesting on the cliffs.

Annis Lovell, who is a pupil at the Chalet School has to live with her aunt during the holidays because her father has died.  Her aunt is cold and resents having to look after her niece and makes this obvious to her.  Annis is determined to prove that she can support herself financially and not be reliant on her aunt’s grudging charity.  However her attempt to row to the mainland to start her new independent life, nearly ends in tragedy when she loses her oars and is shipwrecked on the nearby rocky island of Vendell.    5/10

Book 52 - Try a little Lowliness

Try a little Lowliness: Memoirs of a Cistercian Novice by Paddy Lyons - first published in 2009

Paddy Lyons spent several years in the early 1960s living as a novice with the community of Benedictine monks on the island of Caldey, which is located a mile or so to the south of the town of Tenby in Pembrokeshire.  Known as Brother Daniel he had to learn to live a very simple and austere life of study, worship, prayer and hard physical labour on the monastery farm largely in silence - the monk communicated using sign language.  The monks ate a vegetarian diet, were allowed one bath a week and attended numerous church services throughout the day and night. Daniel struggled to live according to the very strict Rule of St Benedict.

The monks weren't always assigned the jobs they were best at and consequently Daniel, who was not the most gifted musician had to play the organ at some of the daily services.  The monk who was given the job as cook wasn't great at it and so most of the food they ate was unappetising.

Despite being vegetarians the monks kept battery hens and broiler chickens in far from ideal conditions, which seemed to be at odds with their gentle spirituality.

There are however some humorous moments in the book e.g. the strange behaviour of an elderly monk with dementia and the swimming lessons in the sea that the monks had to take after the visiting Abbot General of the Cistercian Order discovered that most of them couldn't swim. 

What is most striking is the austerity and complete obedience in the life of the monks.  Peace abounds but what seems lacking is joy.  During Daniel's time on Caldey many other potential recruits came and left.  For various reasons most of them were unable to accept the lifestyle of an endless cycle of work, study and prayer with no leisure time.

After a few years Daniel left Caldey and married and had children and a career but his reasons for leaving are not part of this book.

This book gives a rare insight into a very private world.  9/10

Islands covered - Caldey 

 Calvary - looking north towards the mainland

 Priory Beach

 Cliffs on the east coast looking towards Paul Jones Bay

 Caldey Lighthouse

 The Abbey

 Priory Beach

 St David's Church

Book 51 - Dream Island

Dream Island: Record of the Simple Life by R.M. Lockley - first published in 1930

I loved this book.  It is written in the style of an old fashioned Boys Own adventure.  Having fallen in love with the Welsh island of Skokholm during a short visit with a friend, Ronald Lockley leased the small island from 1927.  This book is the account of his first couple of years on the island.  During this time he made the derelict farmhouse inhabitable, caught and sold rabbits, established a small holding with a goat, a pony, some sheep and some chickens and did a bit of lobster and crayfish fishing.

In an age when health and safety regulations hadn't been invented, he and his friends sailed to and from the island in all weathers and had several hazardous crossings and narrow escapes.  He seems to have been a natural optimist and had no trouble befriending the locals on the mainland and persuading some of them to help him with the building work.  A timely shipwrecked schooner which came to rest on Skokholm's coast provided him with building materials with which to repair the farmhouse and enough coal to last him many years.  He also salvaged the figurehead, the sails, the ship's bell, the cook's galley and the wheelhouse and re-used them.

R.M. Lockley married his friend Doris during his first summer and they spent their honeymoon sailing round the other islands of Pembrokeshire and landed on Grassholm, Ramsey, North Bishop and South Bishop.  Later he rescued a survivor from another shipwreck - the SS Molesey.

The flora and fauna of the island are well observed.  The fauna were mainly seabirds including puffins, gulls, razorbills, storm petrels and manx shearwaters.  The book also has an index - an extra point for that. 9/10

This was the author's first book but he went on to write 50 other natural history books either on his own or with other people. He established a bird observatory on Skokholm in 1933. He died in 2000 aged 96

Islands covered - Skokholm, Skomer, Ramsey, Grassholm, the Bishops and Clerks.