Lundy

Christmas Eve at the Front

An interesting letter has just been received by Mrs Packer, of Broadclyst, from her husband, Corpl Packer of A Company, 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment, who is serving with the Expeditionary Force in Northern France. In the course of a letter he describes a remarkable incident which occurred on Christmas Eve between the British and German trenches.

Millionaire Mr Jack Hayward of Grand Bahamas,

who gave £150,000 to enable the National Trust to buy Lundy, visited the island for the first time.

He was given a great welcome by the islanders which rain and grey clouds could not diminish.

Mr and Mrs Jack Hayward, Mr and Mrs Charles Hayward, Mr Jeremy Thorpe, Mr and Mrs Peter Mills, Mr Gerald Whitmarsh, Lord Antrim and Mr John Smith all flew to Lundy by helicopter. Outside the door of the Marisco Tavern Mr Felix Gade presented Mr Hayward with an illuminated scroll. A leather bound volume of Lundy photographs bearing the insignia of the National Trust and the House of Commons was handed to Mr Hayward by Mr Thorpe. Later Mr Hayward hoisted the Union flag from a signal station on the cliffs overlooking the landing beach.

Asked why he had given the £150,000 to buy the island, Mr Hayward declared “I am getting fed up with seeing bits of Britain being given away to foreigners.” He added he considered it was a bargain.

Gazette article dated 11 July 1969

Where Have All The Puffins Gone?

Several thousand kittiwakes

This series of photographs by Mr John A Jeffery, of Gothic Lodge, Hartland, are among the many he took on a week’s holiday on the island of Lundy.

Mr Jeffery, frequently a prize-winner at Bideford Camera Club competitions, has made something of a speciality of bird photograph. He returned from Lundy with some splendid results but minus one of his cameras which he lost over the cliffs.

The photograph above is of puffins, who have come to be regarded as the emblem of the island. Mr Jeffery reports that there are now about 50 or 60 nesting on the island. He adds “There are said to have been 2,000 or more there in 1939. Perhaps oil pollution is driving them north?”

A group of kittiwakes form the subject of a photograph – several thousand nest at the north end of the island.

June 1965

No Prison on Lundy

Rejected

In an article dated 16 May 1969, 'Suggestion that a prison should be built on Lundy has been rejected by the Home Secretary, Mr James Callaghan. He told Mr Harold Luscombe, prospective Labour Parliamentary candidate for Tavistock, who made the suggestion, that Earl Mountbatten during his 1966 inquiry into prison escapes and security arrangements had examined and rejected the possibility of using an island for a maximum security prison. Mr Callaghan said that such a site would concentrate the most difficult and dangerous prisoners in one prison. This, he considered, would create an excessively custodial atmosphere and would place an intolerable strain on the staff.

Islanders to Honour Benefactor

Lundy people said to be ‘enormously relieved’ that life for them is to continue unchanged, are preparing to make a presentation to Mr Jack Hayward, the millionaire whose gift secured the island for the nation, when he visits them. It will be the first time that Mr Hayward – known in the Bahamas, where he lives, as ‘Mr Union Jack’ because of his pride in Britain – has seen Lundy.

Mr Thorpe hopes that there can be a public celebration to mark the sale. ‘What I have in mind is chartering a steamer for a day trip to Lundy, with a service at the St Helena Church and lunch at the Marisco Tavern.

Gazette edition dated 6 June 1969

Appeal for ‘Founder of Friends of Lundy’

Three Devon MPs – Mr Jeremy Thorpe, Mr Peter Mills and Dr David Owen – have sponsored a public appeal for £75,000 for Lundy. The purchase price of £150,000 has been given by Mr Jack Hayward, a British businessman in Bermuda, and the Landmark Trust will fully endow the island. The additional sum is needed to restore buildings and make the island self-supporting. Representing the appeal in the West country is Major Raymond Moore.