We gathered at various intervals during Friday afternoon and evening in the lovely – but on this occasion very wet – coastal town of Tenby. There were twelve of us in total; Wendy and Gill from Victoria, Alona from Florida, John from Hampshire… All part of a pilgrim-holiday group from not-for-profit, Pembrokeshire based, Journeying.
Where to hold evening prayer and where to eat? These two imponderables were uppermost in our thoughts as the dry weather option – eating al fresco in the pretty harbour followed by evening prayer on the beach – slipped further and further from our grasp. We considered a Church hall, even a sea cave, but at length settled on some nice fish and chips from an award-winning Fish and Chip shop and evening prayer in the quiet of the hotel lounge.
Dawn broke and with it came glorious sunshine! Through the open front door of the hotel our holiday island beckoned enticingly. Islands have a particular lure and Caldey is no exception. A mile out from Tenby, the island has been home to one monastic community or another for centuries.
The afternoon boat couldn’t come soon enough and we were all waiting on the beach ready to walk along the narrow make-shift jetty, the moment it came into view.
Brother Titus from the islands’ Monastery and Angela from St Philomena’s Guest House, met the group on the quayside. Some of our party were to stay at the Monastery, the remainder at the Guesthouse.
Settled into our various accommodations there was time before the evening meal to visit the few shops clustered around the village green. A scene made all the more captivating and timeless by the presence of the white-walled, red-roofed monastery, slightly elevated on high ground, just beyond the little post office – enchanting.
The Sabbath is observed on Caldey and so with no day trippers allowed and the shops closed this day; the island felt different, perhaps more spiritual, more pastoral.

We met the Prior of Caldey, Fr Gildas, in the monastery lounge for a humorous and informative ‘scene setting’ hour. Later in the afternoon, in warm sunshine, Fr Gildas, decked in an old wide brimmed straw hat that fitted the rural landscape so well and with the eye of a Celtic scholar, took us on a guided tour of the places of interest close to the monastery; St David’s Church, St Illtyds, the old mill and an ancient cottage. Afterwards with Fr Gildas having returned to the monastery, we explored further afield; the lighthouse with seascapes reaching all the way to Lundy Island, a stone watchtower now converted into a hidden Chapel (magnificent in its simplicity) and in a nearby clearing with the sea as backdrop, a wooden crucifix, probably life size… so emotive – when I survey the wondrous cross…

The day closed, as it had the previous evening and would the following, with Compline, a service of night praise with the monks in the Abbey Church.
Tuesday morning and it was time to say farewell to our island home and return to the mainland and the second leg of our pilgrim journey; this time to St Davids in the beautiful and sometimes windswept far west.
Driving with the sun high over the sea to our left, the weather was once again warm and the traffic light.
St Non’s Retreat, a large 1930’s house with terraced lawns and Chapel in the grounds, stands lonely but welcoming on the cliff tops at the end of a single-track road. Out to sea the view was of islands; Skomer to the south, Ramsey to the west, and out further than either and again to the west, Grassholm.
With the sun quietly climbing into a perfectly blue sky we gathered on our first full day at St Non’s for Morning Prayer in the ruins of St Non’s Chapel, just over the wall from the Retreat.
It was on this spot in about the year 500, as a violent storm raged all around that St Non – miraculously shielded from the wind and rain – gave birth to David, later to become St David, patron saint of Wales. What a place to stand and touch the spiritual.
Today’s walk took us out along the rugged coast path to St Justinian’s some seven miles distant – a fabulous walk dotted with pretty bays including Porthclais where the river Alun meets the sea. It was on the banks of the Alun that David built his Celtic monastery, roughly on the spot of the present St Davids Cathedral.
After lunch, perched (but safely perched!) on a grassy slope and with quite a drop to the sea below, we followed the path as it turned a corner bringing into full view the Sound of Ramsey and the island of tomorrow’s adventure.
From the Lifeboat slipway at St Justinian’s we stepped into the twenty-four-seat motor launch that would take us to Ramsey Island. Only a short distance, the crossing to the island must non-the-less, never be taken lightly. The waters here can be dangerous with jagged rocks and a whirlpool racing around (usually) submerged, Horse Rock.

A bird sanctuary sensitively accommodating of both humans and bird life, Ramsey Island has been in the care of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) since 1992.
Without the Churches and Crosses of Caldey Island, Ramsey may at first appear to be less spiritual in atmosphere, but not so… just stand a moment; let the breeze gently brush past you; notice the sheep grazing by the dry-stone wall; the sea, moving, shining, living…
Perhaps none of this should be surprising, however. Holy folk have been coming to Ramsey Island since at least the third century when a small hermitage was built, most probably on a site just up from the landing stage, not far from the farmhouse, now home to the island’s two full-time wardens.
The weather was glorious and after walking around the island we sat on the grass in front the farmhouse drinking tea and enjoying our sandwiches, while below, in Ramsey Sound, pleasure boats and porpoises rode the running swell – and was that a dolphin!?
About our legs the mischievous Ramsey Chickens hovered, waiting for the moment a sandwich crust or corner of cake would fall to the ground… It reminded me of an earlier visit to the island. Then Emily and Lucy my step-daughters and Katy, my youngest had been entertained just as we were now, by the daring spirit of these loveable characters. On that occasion, a sheepdog had also been ‘on the bill’, but today in the warm sunshine he was nowhere to be seen.
I laid back on the soft grass and closed my eyes, this was Journeying…

David Gleed is a leader with non-profit seeking Journeying, based in Pembrokeshire: www.journeying.co.uk