From The Celtic Sea At Caldey Island. By Uncle Monty.

From The Celtic Sea At Caldey Island.

By Uncle Monty.

Caldey Island Photos By Alex Albion
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Severe and rough seas initially prevented me for two full days

from getting a boat ride from the Celtic Sea directly to the quaint,

isolated and monastic Caldey Island, but I finally made it there

at where for centuries since the Stone Age it has been a living

community of early Gaelic Christians, Benedictine monks,

Anglican religious brothers and, now today, mature males

of the Catholic Order of Reformed Cistercians.

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With winter beckoning, I had only a few days left before Caldey

was to be shut to outside visitors like me until next Springtide,

2010, at the earliest. So I was anxious that the weather wouldn’t

hinder me further from visiting and seeing Caldey Island for the

first time within the present time frame of things. And also, to be

sure I could get off the island before more rough seas prevented

me from getting a boat ride back to the mainland at some miles

away at Carmarthen Bay.
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A Classic Dwelling At Caldey Isalnd!

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Stepping on dry land at Caldey from my boat

ride, the first thing I needed to understand was

the only means of transport were my own feet!

Although the island is only about 3 miles wide, I

believe, it doesn't take long before you've walked

untold miles and miles going here and there on

Caldey's monastic land. Walking say from the Old

Priory to The Lighthouse then to the spot called

The Calvary and then back to Caldey Abbey it-

self is a good 5-mile round walk and you haven't

yet seen everything there is still to see!!

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Caldey Island Lighthouse.

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To see the sight of Caldey Island monks - only

about 20 are living there nowadays - is a rare

feat since they're hidden away from public view.

I didn't get to see a one of them! No, sireee ...

I did get, however, to meet two such monks,

but not on the island itself or at Caldey Abbey

where they live. The Cistercians abide under

the Rite of St. Benedict or The Benedictine Rule.

At one time, so Brother Michael Strode, 86, told

me, the monks were not allowed to speak or

talk!! They used their own sign language instead

to communicate with each other. Today, under

a much more liberalised rule, the monks can

speak and talk to each other without the use of

their "in-house" sign language. Thank goodness!

If you were a constant chatterbox, I assume, you

must have been doomed to purgatory for daring to

open one's filthy mouth at the abbey. Poor devil!
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The Tree Grove at Caldey Island.

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Caldey Island was essentially Anglican at the turn

of the 20th century, but that soon changed after

1916 when the Anglican religious Brothers opted

out and joined the Roman Church and such soon

resulted in the Cistercians then buying the island

from those Anglican monks who had converted

to the pope. So for the past 90 years or so, the

island of Caldey has been Roman Catholic with

no traces of Anglicanism to be found today save

for Caldey Abbey itself, which was Anglican-built.

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Caldey Abbey. Anglican-Built, 1910.

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Historically and religiously, Caldey Island goes

back centuries as a monastic place of living and

devout Christianity. Monks and hermits of one

kind or another have lived, prayed, and died,

on the island for many, many, generations.

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The Monks' Graveyard is one spot to visit for

such gives light to the fact of the deep religious

nature of Caldey. Today, there are about 20

civilian tenants, too, aside from the actual

Cistercian monks. The lady I met who runs the

Caldey Post Office - where you can buy Caldey

Island stamps along with special postmark

stampings on letters and postcards sent

directly from the island - told me that she

had lived on the island since 1971. She has

no plans to ever leave, she added!

Good for her ...

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Arrival & Departure At Caldey Island.

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Somethings that make Caldey Island unique are these: It
is police-free and presumably crime-free. It is also alcohol-

free, billboard-free, traffic light-free, foodstore-free, pet-free,

school-free, bingo-free, hospital-free, and rush hour-free.

But best of all, it's a drug-free zone for all. So is it paradise

on earth? I don't think so, but perhaps it is for some of

the monks and residents of Caldey Island.

..

There is also the Monastery Guest House for those wish-

ing to stay overnight or forced to stay due to sudden bad

sailing conditions based on emerging and forcasted rough

and dangerous ocean weather. You pay by donation

only at the guest house. There is no set charge

for staying as a monastery guest ...

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Monks' Graveyard At Caldey Island.

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About a couple of hundred or so outside visitors arrive

daily via boats at peak summertime. You must sail across

water no matter what since there is no other way of getting

there unless you have a private helicoper to land somewhere

on Caldey Island, that also has its own beaches and lush

verdure greenery.

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Caldey Island's Cistercian Monk,

Brother Michael Strode, 86.

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But primarily, Caldey Island is a Christian beacon and

oasis for those that seek quiet prayer and a sense of

peace all around them, if only momentarily, against the

ongoing onslaught of modern Broken Britain with all its

growing crime and violence and its decaying social values

and its blatant political bankruptcy under "The Socialist

Nanny State" that is represented so ugly by the vile and

tiresome radical leftist loonies of decrept New Labour!!

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My Visit To The Grey Seals Habitat Off

St. Margaret Island, Was Also Wonderful!!

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But above all, Caldey Island is a law unto itself.

It doesn't need to justify its existence and pur-

pose to anybody but itself. It is a mystic place in

the minds of some and it carries a magical air all

about itself, too. Is it worth visiting? You bet, if

you're a professing Christian and say YES!! If not,

there is always the option of taking a Seal Safari

off St. Margaret Island to witness the wonderful

grey seals habitats upclose (as shown above) in a

jet speed boat that I also took aside from setting

foot on monastic Caldey Island. Such was a worthy

encounter for me and I suspect for thousands of

others who have visited over the course of many

years both Caldey and the home of the grey seals!

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So let me leave you then in peace with the above few,

of many, images I took while both at Caldey Island

and at St. Margaret Island. I do hope you enjoy!!

-.-

For now, Uncle Monty.
+ABC William Temple, 2oo9.

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"Remembrance Day" is my next story ...
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Also Coming Soon:

"World Homeless Events For 2010."

Compiled By Uncle Monty.
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{Click on any image to Enlarge}

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