In recent times I've been tending to look closer to home for explores and today saw something that I've seen for probably most of my life. Flat Holm is an island stuck in the middle of the chanel roughly inbetween Cardiff & Weston.

Lets help with a map



Flat holm is the bigger of two islands in the mouth of the River Severn. The other is known as 'Steep Holm'



The island has a history right back to the dark ages and has been a retreat for monks, acted as a sanctuary for Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Miners, Smugglers and cholera victims. Fortified in Victorian times and again in WW2, it is most famous for the first ever radio message across water sent by Marconi in 1897. It is now a site of Special Scientific Intrest and a Local Nature Reserve. Not least the eight THOUSAND pairs of Gulls living on the island. With such a large poulation that are currently nesting up to three eggs each it meant a hard hat was worn to protect from the guls attacking you on the head as you walked past. The good news, though, is I avoided getting shit on all day.



The one thing that really drew me to the island was the fog horn station and the old cholera hospital. The journey started out at 'too fucking early for a Sunday' and meant a trip into a 3rd world country known to most as 'Wales' (plus extortionate entry fees). Leaving from Cardiff Bay it took around an hour to make the journey across and it was rather choppy to say the least!





The foghorn station was built in 1908 to accompany the lighthouse warning boats sailing up and down the Severn of the islands. The lighthouse on flat holm originates right back to 1737. The powerful compressed air signal was installed in one building while a cottage provider the keepers with extra accomodation. I can remember it's distinct noise from where I grew up as a boy. It was that loud.









With the full automation of the lighthouse in 1998 and other advances in marine navigation the foghorn was silenced for the final time. It was mothballed and kept maintained for a few years after but now the roof of the building is too structually weak to hold the horn up without the aid of building struts inside of the building.








More island antics to follow...