See the island where puffins outnumber people
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With puffins outnumbering people 15 to one, the tiny Lundy island has endured a history of crazed pirates, renegade knights and shoddy MPs.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, the island lying just north of Devon is a protected nature reserve, bird-watchers’ paradise, and home to just 26 people. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The beauty of Lundy is that it hasn't changed for many, many years; it’s like stepping back to the 1950s,” said Derek Green, the island’s general manager. “There are very few vehicles, no pollution, no noise, lots of woodlife. It’s a place that is untouched by the modern world.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The island has been occupied for centuries by people from all walks of life, and was named for its legacy as a base of operations by Viking raiders from the 8th century A.D.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The name Lundy means ‘puffin island’ in Old Norse,” Green said. “Lundy’s history is long and colourful.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There’s evidence of Bronze Age occupation in the remains of hut circles in the north, there’s a 13th century castle and there’s a long history of shipwrecks. There are three lighthouses; that’s unique for such a small island.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The island is home to a collection of historical stone buildings to the south known simply as the village, including staff and visitor accommodation, a pub, a shop, and a 19th century Anglican church.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While the rest of the 5km-long and kilometre-wide island is covered in grassy meadows, the old castle, a former naval signal station, and the ruins of a Victorian quarry can be found scattered around the island.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The island’s topography and habitats are really quite special,” said Dean Woodfin Jones, Lundy’s warden.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Thousands of seabirds come here in the summer to breed: puffins, guillemots, Manx shearwaters, storm petrels. There’s also a really important Atlantic seal colony.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rare species of flora can also be found on the island, including the endemic Lundy cabbage that grows nowhere else in the world.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though the island’s future looked perilous with the drop in tourism during the pandemic, a mixture of donations and government grants has secured the island’s future and ensured its inhabitants can continue their conservation work.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Photo credits: lundylandmark / Instagram</span></em></p>
