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News archive
Here you can read all the news items that have been posted to the website.
Lundy Ambassadors wanted
Rosie Ellis, the new Lundy Education Officer, was due to talk at our AGM about the education programme and the volunteer ambassadors. She currently has 13 ambassadors who help her and Dean, the Warden, to deliver a range of activities. Last year they helped over 700 school children come to the island and guided hundreds of visitors. This year they are anticipating even more events and are keeping the ambassadors very busy, so are looking to recruit some extras!
2020 AGM POSTPONED
After careful consideration we have decided to postpone next Saturday's AGM.
It was not a decision taken lightly but given the current situation with the coronavirus we were concerned that there was a significant possibility we would have to cancel at the last minute so are taking a sensible, precautionary step now.
We are already considering when the meeting could be rescheduled and the form it will take and I'll update you when details are firming up.
We are sorry to have to postpone, but feel this is the only practical way to handle this unprecedented situation.
All the very best, Alan Rowland & Michael Williams (LFS Chair & Honorary Secretary)
Peter Davis
Peter Davis, Lundy Warden in the early 1950s has passed away at the age of 91. He was the author of the green 'A List of the Birds of Lundy' booklet which the LFS published in 1954. You may be familiar with it as a copy resides on the library shelves in each property on Lundy and in the Tavern. As with many other Lundy wardens, he went on to have a distinguished career in ornithology. A full obituary can be read here.
Fantastic Fungus Foray
On a cold and blustery day in November, 14 curious stayers joined our new Assistant Warden Rosie, John Hedger and myself, to learn more about fungi. Starting in the warmth of the tavern, John explained how the wet conditions this year have resulted in huge numbers of fungi of all shapes, sizes, and colours to appear all over the island, making it the best year for records for about 13 years. After an interesting introduction to their life cycle and biology, we headed out to find some examples. Passing through the Camping Field into Lighthouse Field, we were greeted by dots of colour as far as the eye could see – the waxcaps were out in force.
Publications news
The 2018 Annual Report has now been collected from the printers and volunteers from the committee will be stuffing envelopes over the weekend. Copies should be dropping through letterboxes sometime next week.
Bee Cox is busy with the production of the next Bulletin (Discovering Lundy) which should be ready in the New Year.
Don't forget the AGM is on Saturday 14th March 2020 at the Boniface Centre in Crediton. The list of speakers is already taking shape including Sue Sayer who will talk about Lundy's seals. More details will be circulated in February.
Peter Rothwell
We are sad to report the death, on 2 August, of Peter Rothwell. In addition to being a regular visitor to Lundy for many years, he served on the LFS committee from 1999 to 2005 and had recently retired as the Landmark Trust's librarian, looking after the libraries in each of the Lundy properties.
Peter's funeral will be held at Barnstaple Crematorium at 3.00pm on Friday 23 August followed by refreshments. The Lundy Field Society will be represented. Donations in memory of Peter, to benefit Lundy, will be by retiring collection at the service or by care of funeral directors: A D Williams, 31 Portland Street, Ilfracombe (01271 866332). Family flowers only.
Membership survey results
The LFS committee are pleased to be able to share a summary of the results of the recent membership survey. This was discussed at length at our May 2019 committee meeting and has generated some good ideas for how we can better serve our members as well as providing re-assurance that we are doing most things satifactorily. The summary may be downloaded here.
ITV News item
I was on Lundy yesterday 21st May and got chatting to a visiting film crew.
Together with Dean, they were filming for a "good news" story highlighting the growth in numbers of seabirds emphasising the increase in Puffins and Manx Shearwaters.
They thought it would be aired on ITV next Monday 30th May.
I would be cautious with the date knowing how these things slip, so would be grateful if anyone who sees the broadcast let us know through social media.
Alan Rowland
(Chair LFS)
New LFS business card
To help attract more members we have produced a small business card, for regular visitors to hand out to potential members.
We are grateful to the photographers for allowing us to use their work:
Update from 2019 AGM
If you were unable to attend the LFS AGM on 9th March then you missed an excellent series of talks. Before the talks members enjoyed an enjoyable lunch and an uneventful business meeting. All the Officers retained their posts and Tim Jones & Tom Dickins were re-elected to the committee. Alan Rowland gave an update on the endowment fund.
2017 Annual Report
Our Annual Report for 2017 has now been published and is currently being distributed to members.
Lundy Fungi book now available
The long-awaited publication dedicated to the fungi of Lundy is now available to purchase from LFS Sales. Full details can be found on the Books page on this website.
First proven breeding for Emperor Dragonfly
On 28th August Martin Thorne observed and photographed an ovipositing Emperor Dragonfly at Rocket Pole Pond.
J S Catford photographs now on website
If you enjoyed the article about the Catford photographs in the recent issue of Discovering Lundy you'll be interested to know that, thanks to LFS member Chris Blackmore, all twelve photographs can now be viewed on this website.
Update from the 2018 AGM
We had a very successful AGM last Saturday with the highest ever attendance at a meeting - 95 members and guests! There were a series of fascinating talks including Bob Cowley talking about the population of dung beetles on Lundy and Grant Sherman updating us on his study of the Lundy Guillemots.
Update on the 2016 Annual Report
If you have been wondering where the 2016 LFS Annual Report has got to, we are delighted to let you know that it is now with Short Run Press of Exeter for printing. Unfortunately, with the Christmas period almost upon us, the printer will not be able to deliver the report until early in the New Year. As soon as it arrives, we will aim to get the report out to you as quickly as possible. Please accept our apologies for the long overdue appearance of the Annual Report.
Lundy on BBC4 tonight
Lundy will feature in the BBC4 programme 'Invasion' presented by Dr Sam Willis at 9.00pm tonight. It is about the occupation of the island by Barbary pirates in the seventeenth century. The programme can be seen on the BBC iPlayer after broadcast.
Thomas Benson on BBC4
You may be interested to know that Lundy featured on the BBC4 programme, "Britain's Outlaws" last Thursday in a segment about Thomas Benson. You can see the programme on the BBC iPlayer and the relevant part starts about 36 minutes in.
Update from the committee
We had a busy and productive LFS committee meeting yesterday in Swindon. By now you will have usually received your Annual Report for the preceding year. Unfortunately our editor, Tim Davis, has been very busy with other work commitments but good progress is being made and we hope the 2016 edition will go to the printers within the next month and be posted out in October.
Can you contribute to our Bulletin?
Belinda (Bee) Cox is now starting to pull together the content for the next Discover Lundy bulletin, and would love to receive any stories of interest from members (that's you!) to consider for inclusion. Please send articles about your recent or historical trips, or anything else relating to Lundy that would be of interest to other LFS members, to Belinda by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Lundy features on Points West
If you live in the BBC Points West region, there will be an item about Lundy with Miranda Krestovnikoff on the evening news programme tonight. The programme starts at 18:30.
AGM Geology Talk
A number of members enquired about the availability of the slides from Dr Steve Jones's presentation about the geology of Lundy at the AGM in March.
These slides are now available to download here. Please note there are 60 slides and the file size is 24MB.
St Helen's restoration on BBC Spotlight
If you are in the BBC Spotlight region in the South West, you may be interested to know that the church restoration project should feature in
the programme tonight, 6.30pm, BBC1.
MV Balmoral to visit Lundy in 2017
The MV Balmoral will be sailing to Lundy again this summer! Paul Doubler has provided some information and photos to share with you.
Dr Myrtle Ternstrom
We are very sorry to have to tell you that Myrtle Ternstrom died very peacefully in Devon on Wednesday 29th March. Her daughter Alex was with her.
St Helen's Church HLF award
We are delighted to share the news with you that St Helen's church on Lundy has been awarded a grant of £999,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund!
Update from the 2017 AGM
We had a successful AGM day on Saturday with 78 members present at the Boniface Centre, Crediton. The day followed the tried and tested formula of lunch and socialising before the business meeting. The Lundy Company had a stall selling the new 2018 calendar and we ran a book stall, selling items that had been donated to us from the Judy Langford bequest. We were especially pleased to welcome Dean Jones, the new Lundy Warden, and many people took the opportunity to meet him.
Lundy on ITV
You may be interested to know that Lundy will feature on 'Tales from the Coast with Robson Green' on ITV. Our Chairman, Keith Hiscock, was interviewed sporting his LFS polo shirt last summer although we don't know if he made the cut!
The episode will be broadcast tomorrow evening at 8.00pm or can be viewed here.
Update from the LFS committee
The committee had a busy meeting in Bristol two weeks ago although it has been a quieter few months since the Discover Lundy week. We look forward to the publication of the next issue of the annual bulletin, 'Discovering Lundy', which will have full reports of the activities from the week. It should be dropping through your letterboxes in late January or early February.
Sir Jack Hayward Award
If you were present at the 2015 and 2016 AGMs you may recall the discussion about providing a memorial bursary in the name of our former President, Sir Jack Hayward, who died in January last year. I'm pleased to report that we have now been able to make an award in Sir Jack's name to Luke Sutton for his continued research into the Lundy peregrine population.