Lundy Island / Puffin Island

Lundy Island, also known as Puffin Island, is a windswept granite islet 11mi/18km off Hartland Point and can be reached by boat from Bideford, Ilfracombe and Barnstaple. There is also a helicopter connection. The island is 3.5mi/6km long and 0.5mi/1km wide and has cliffs towering out of the sea to a height of 500ft/152m. It was formerly owned by M. C. Harman, who founded a society here to investigate the rare flora and fauna on the island. In 1929 he also gave the island its own currency and stamps, the latter being still valid even today. Large areas of the island, which today belongs to the National Trust, have been set aside as bird reserves. There is evidence of the island's history in the ruins of Marisco Castle, a pirates' stronghold