Granite Track

One sligtly foggy and soggy day, of which Lundy has quite a few, I chose to walk from the village to the North End. A journey of just over 2 miles representing 3/4 of the length of the Island. This was not one of my usual wanderings off the beaten track, but a defined route following the marker stones that flank he main path. I had a planned destination which was the end of the path, so I likened it to a mini pilgrimage.

The granite marker stones, have been in position along the main track since 1909. These stones assisted the Lighthouse keepers to keep to the main route between the Lighthouse in the North and the Village in the South. These might have been proved very useful on dark walks back and forth to the Tavern or even on a day when the island is blanketed in fog!

More recenlty they provide a waymarker for visitors. Some who might be on their way to stay at Tibbetts the most remote accomodaion on the island or as a marker for those who have wandered off the main track and lost sight of the path. As the track runs straight up the middle of the Island it can be referred to by regular visitor as the M1, albeit it has no cars!

As I had my camera I decided to photograph each Marker Stone and count their number. The stones are placed at exact distances from each other and in my strides that meant 44 strides between each one. So a total of 4,620 a distance of a litttle over 2 miles

According to the Lundy Field society the marker stones also provide good habitats for lichens, especially species which thrive where there is some nutrient enrichment, such as from bird droppings.

Most of the stones are still intact but some have fractured and broken off, and only a smaller part of the whole remains. According to history, the stones were never supposed to be this large but someone appranetly got their Maths wrong!

In an attempt to repreent the walk and to invite people to imagine the journey, I took inspiration from Walking Artist Hamish Fulton also using numbers and data to represent the walk.

References:

Hamish Fulton: The pilgrim and the nomad (no date). [Online]. Available at https://walkingart.interartive.org/2018/12/Hamish-Fulton-Curry. [Accessed on 17/02/2024]

https://www.lundy.org.uk/about-lundy/wildlife-on-the-island/lichens