Lundy at the mouth of the Bristol Channel is an island approximately 3 miles long by ½ mile wide (north to south). It is a plateau 300ft above the sea.

The talk by Andre mainly covered the island when in the hands of the Harman family, in particular Martin Coles Harman (MCH), an entrepreneur who from an early age said he would buy the island. He did in 1925.

In its day it was visited by the Campbell’s steamers and had a hotel “Manor Farm”.  A 9-hole golf course was created but only lasted a year as very difficult.

In 1929 the Lundy postal service came into being and is the oldest private postal service in the world. The island has its own stamps denominated in Puffins, indeed coinage as 1 Puffin and ½ Puffin also came to be with MCH on the head.

In WW2 3 aircraft crash landed on the island, 2 German bombers and 1 RAF bomber, sadly all lives were lost on the British plane.

The eldest son of MCH John, also sadly died in the war, killed in action at the battle of Kohima. He was awarded the VC for his action.

MCH died in 1954 and the island passed to his children. Later Jack Hayward bought the island for £150k and passed it on to the National Trust.

Andre finished his talk by showing a short film showing old and up to date clips from the island. Very interesting.

One question from the audience “How did Lundy get its name ?”. It is Norse for Puffin Island.