Thursday 29 September 2016

Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire: a visitor's guide



Ramsey Island lies one mile off the Pembrokeshire coast (southwest Wales) and is a nature lover’s paradise due to its careful preservation and management by the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). It is uninhabited by humans apart from the RSPB wardens and a small volunteer staff, and access is carefully controlled to ensure minimal disturbance to the island’s extensive wildlife.

A visit to Ramsey Island

Visitors need to book a trip on the boat that leaves from the lifeboat slipway at St Justinians, which is two miles from St David’s. Boats leave at 10 a.m. and 12 noon, with the return trip at 4 p.m. (The wardens count their passengers carefully to ensure that no-one gets left behind!). The service operates from April to October and does not run if the sea is too rough for the crossing to be safe.

There are a lot of steps to be climbed both at St Justinians and on reaching the island, and the island paths are also fairly strenuous, so this is a trip for people who are reasonably able-bodied. There is not much shelter on the island once you leave the buildings close to the landing stage, so you need to be equipped with proper wet-weather gear (as well as appropriate footwear) should rain threaten. Cameras and binoculars should also be regarded as essential items!

On landing at the island you will be escorted to a small information centre where there are displays showing all the wildlife that you might expect to see, depending of course on the time of year that you visit. A friendly and enthusiastic volunteer will give a short talk on how to make the most of your visit, plus a few dos and don’ts. One very important don’t is a warning against leaving the designated path, especially near cliff edges given that Ramsey Island’s cliffs are the second highest in Wales (up to 120 metres). Another don’t is a complete ban on visiting the beaches around the island, because this is where the seals feel safe and they must not be disturbed.

The trail around the island is 3.5 miles long (5.6 km). You should have plenty of time to complete the trail, which takes you to all the different habitats, and you will also be able to stop many times as you see interesting things and take in the views. However, if time is short there is a shortcut across the middle of the island that will take you back to the boat jetty, although this path is only open from July onwards due to lapwings nesting in the area close by.

Because visitor numbers are limited you will soon find that you are well away from other people and will probably only see them from time to time in the distance or coming the other way if they chose to take the trail in the opposite direction to you. This is therefore an excellent place in which to feel that you and your family are on your own with just the wind, the sea and the wildlife for company.
Facilities on the island are adequate but not luxurious. You will be invited to make use of the toilets and “leave a deposit”, given that human waste is recycled to make fertilizer. While entering and leaving the toilet block in the old farmyard you may well be buzzed by swallows as they fly in and out.

Light refreshments are available at the warden’s house and there is a small shop selling RSPB merchandise. However, you will certainly not be overwhelmed by commercial activity, which is kept to a minimum. What will impress you is the friendly and approachable attitude of the RSPB volunteers who will do everything they can to inform you about the island and its inhabitants and will be happy to chat with you as you wait for the boat to take you back to the mainland.

What you should see

As mentioned above, the wildlife on view will depend in part on whether you visit in spring or summer. Springtime is best for seeing birds nesting on the cliffs, including peregrines, choughs, ravens, razorbills and guillemots. Inland you should see plenty of wheatears and might spot a few little owls. This is also the time to see the cliff-top flowers at their best, such as bright pink thrift.

Later in the year you should be able to see grey seal pups on the beaches and porpoises feeding in Ramsey Sound between the island and the mainland. Kittiwakes and fulmars should be around until August. The heathland plants are at their best in summer, with pink, purple and yellow being the dominant colours. Towards the end of summer you might see some unusual birds passing this way on their migrations.

Apart from all that, you will have a great walk round a beautiful island that has been largely untouched by human hand. This is not 100% true, because, as is evident from the buildings that you pass through as you start your walk, the island has been commercially farmed in the past. In order to keep the vegetation at the right level to suit the bird and animal population, a small herd of rare-breed cattle are allowed to graze and fertilize the inland area. The heathland is maintained by periodical controlled burning, which may alarm the visitor but is perfectly in order as a means of preserving the habitat of the bird population.

One bird that visitors will not see is the puffin, although the sight of what appear to be puffin burrows on the cliff tops may give this impression. Ramsey Island did have a rat problem at one time, which put paid to puffin breeding, but, although the rats have long since been dealt with, the puffins have not returned and prefer to colonize other islands in the area, such as Skomer which is just a few miles to the south. The burrows are, however, used by manx shearwaters which breed on Ramsey in spring and early Summer.

Time to spare?

The company that operates the ferries to Ramsey Island runs several other boat trips from the St Justinians lifeboat station. These include a “round the island” trip which you can take after you return from the island itself. This trip is an excellent way to see grey seals on the small beaches around the island, as these are often not visible from the cliff tops above (Ramsey has the largest colony of grey seals in southern Britain). If your trip coincides with a change of tide, you can witness at close hand the race that forms as sea water rushes into Ramsey Sound at high speed between the rocks, roaring as it does so. The boatman is quite likely to take the boat straight into the race, which could result in his passengers getting more than a little wet!

All in all, a visit to Ramsey Island is a day well spent, especially for the visitor who is a keen birdwatcher and nature lover.


© John Welford

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