Summer Travels: Caldey Island

I am way behind with posting these summer holiday pictures, but I want to keep a record and they are a nice reminder of lovely sunny days as I listen to the rain pouring down outside! 

During our holiday in Wales we took a short boat trip out to Caldey Island. The landing stage is at the edge of a beautiful sandy beach which could easily be mistaken for somewhere far more exotic than the UK. 

At the centre of Caldey is a large Trappist monastery. Originally founded as an Anglican Benedictine abbey in the early 20th century, most of the monks converted to Roman Catholicism just before the 1st World War. In the 1920s the Catholic Benedictines moved to Prinknash Abbey in Gloucestershire and were replaced by the Trappists in 1929. The large Italian style monastery is very different to the small village of Caldey, which has around 40 permanent inhabitants. 

We enjoyed a walk around part of the island, with some impressive views, then grabbed sandwiches for lunch from the cafe which is on the far side of the green from the monastery. 

The Abbey isn't open to the public, and even the Abbey Church was closed due to the pandemic, but we went into the small parish church which has some rather lovely modern stained glass. The island also has the remains of a 12th century priory, which itself replaced an early Celtic monastery. 

The island is known for its red squirrels, but I didn't manage to spot any live ones, only this wooden squirrel decorating a bench. 

We spent a bit of time enjoying the sun on the beach before catching the boat back to town. On our last day we went back out to sea on a seal spotting boat trip, which circumnavigated both Caldey and its uninhabited sister island, St. Margaret's, which is now a nature reserve. At the right time of year its cliffs are full of puffins, but they are migrants and had gone off to northern climes for the summer. We did see plenty of seals  - look closely at the photo below and you may be able to see some grey blobs on the rock. It needed a camera with more range than my iPhone to get a decent picture. The layers of colour in the rock came out well though! 

Both trips were a treat. I am a sea lover and to spend time out on the waves with spray on my face just makes me happy.