Caldey Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Caldey Island is offshore from Tenby in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. It has been inhabited since the Stone Age and since Celtic times various orders of monks have lived there. A 20 minute boat ride takes you to the island. To get on the boat at low tide, a tractor pushes the landing stage to the boat. On arrival on the island, the boat is met by an old army landing craft which transfers passengers to the jetty.

A short walk takes you to the village and the picturesque monastery. It is now occupied by Cistercian monks. These monks get up at 3 am each day to begin their prayers.

There are a couple of small churches, St Davids is of Norman architecture and has 2 nice stained glass windows (1920s) -

I went on the Woodland Walk which was beautiful with the pine trees. It leads to the cliffs. The flowers were lovely (end of April) and the gorse was out -

 A carpet of daisies -

Even the bluebells were out. The 2nd photo is of Spanish bluebells (?) in the village -

View back to Tenby

 Cowslips -

The scent of the wild garlic, ramsons, filled the air -

 Primroses -

I then walked up to the lighthouse, passing the Old Priory on the way. This is the limestone church -

I then took the coastal path. Caldey Island is part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the only National Park in the UK designated primarily for its coastline.

Back to the village via a pond with black swans and ducks -

And gulls on the beach -