♪ ♪ NARRATOR: We are a nation of islands.

PAT: Come on, you two!

NARRATOR: Over 4,000 are scattered along our coastlines, with hundreds more in our lakes, lochs and rivers.

VIDURA: Being surrounded by water, it has a very calming effect on the mind.

NARRATOR: Many of these islands are tiny.

Many are remote.

AMIE: I love so much about island life.

NARRATOR: But over 200 are called home.

♪ ♪ ROC: I don't own it because you don't own an island.

If anything, it owns me.

NARRATOR: With rugged cliffs and sandy shores, wildlife and family, and lives very different to most of our own.

IAIN: Going over the edge here is a bit cheeky.

Shall we?

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: These are the stories of Our Tiny Islands.

AMIE: The fact that you just walk out your door and you're straight in to the sea, that sense of freedom is amazing.

♪ ♪ [soft music] NARRATOR: This time, riding the Channel Islands' only working railway.

[train horn honking] Casting a line off Devon's northwest coast.

Seeking inspiration on a monastic island in Wales, and tracking the secrets of Orkney's seabirds.

[clicking] [calm music] ♪ ♪ In the English Channel, nine miles from the Normandy Coast, lies Alderney.

♪ ♪ Although just two miles long and three and a half miles wide, it's home to 2,167 people.

♪ ♪ Suzy, a retired English teacher from Essex, moved to the island 18 years ago.

SUZY: Alderney is very unique.

We always say it's a bit like Marmite, you either love it or you hate it.

I love it.

It's very quiet.

There's not a lot going on.

Very few shops.

♪ ♪ It's perfect.

[chuckles] NARRATOR: Suzy first came to the island 50 years ago.

SUZY: The minute I got off the aeroplane, the very first time I came, I turned to my husband, who at the time was my boyfriend, and I said, I want to live here.

[chuckles] NARRATOR: And while she had to wait 30 years, Suzy is now living her dream.

♪ ♪ Which got even better when she joined the volunteers of the Alderney Railway Society 15 years ago.

[uplifting music] And today, the channel island's only working railway has a charter.

♪ ♪ SUZY: Well, we got a cruise ship coming in, so we've got half an hour to get down to the station now.

So the railway was built in the 1840s to move the rocks from the quarry.

♪ ♪ In the 1980s, the quarry closed.

Aren't you going to start her up?

Alderney Railway Society bought the engine and the carriages.

What Do you reckon, Phil, 20 minutes till we get down the other end?

And on the line now, we have two London Northern line, two carriages.

1959.

And the engine is a shunter diesel engine.

NARRATOR: The engine came from an old ironworks, and the underground carriages were brought to the island as part of a logistics exercise by the Army.

♪ ♪ SUZY: Brian and Phil are driving.

I'm guarding, and we've got, I think, 70 passengers.

[bell ringing] From the Hamburg cruise ship.

Now we test the phone.

Hello?

Morning.

Would you like to ring me back?

[phone ringing] Hello?

That's working fine.

That's all my checks done here for now.

[beeping] On the way down, the engine pushes us down.

I'm the eyes of the track to let them know.

On the way back, we pull.

We haven't got a turntable to turn the train around.

So that's the way it's done.

Hello?

Yes.

A slow start.

There we go.

[inspiring music] We work a bell system where you ring two bells to say, it's clear.

And then they ring back and tell you that they've got your message.

So two bells to save this-- points are in the right direction.

[bell ringing] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ There's lots of buttons to push.

My favorite job on the train is tooting the horn.

[horn honking] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ One of the things I love about this train is as you're going along, so many people take your picture.

So many people wave, and it's compulsory to wave back.

♪ ♪ [bell ringing] NARRATOR: The train picks up its passengers from Bray Station and travels the two-mile trip to Mannez Quarry before taking them back.

All passengers are on board.

It's almost completely full.

Very exciting.

[soft music] [speaking german] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I love everything about the train.

I just find it exciting going along.

Love meeting the passengers.

Crew, we're all good friends.

It's just such a lovely time.

Saturday afternoons is just a joy.

♪ ♪ People have often said the train is just right for our island because it's just that bit different.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: And today's passengers agree.

JOHANN: I think it's very nice.

It's a lovely little maintained railway and a very dedicated crew doing it.

I hope you enjoyed it.

It's green, it's-- people are friendly and people are waving, and it's a lot of fun traveling.

NARRATOR: Passengers headed back to the cruise ship.

Suzy can enjoy the train in style.

SUZY: I've always loved trains.

As a small child, I just loved trains.

You get beautiful views.

When you come around the corner and you see Braye Beach, it just takes your breath away.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ It was brilliant.

I think everyone had a lovely time, and it stopped raining.

What more could you want?

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Castaway from the mainland, living on remote islands is the ultimate make-do-and-mend lifestyle.

When spare parts can be slow to arrive, islanders know tangible skills are vital in order to flourish.

[soft music] 10 miles off the North Devon Coastline, where the Atlantic Ocean and Bristol Channel meet, is Lundy Island.

At three miles long and one mile wide, it's home to 28 people, all of whom work for what's known as the Lundy Company.

Ian moved to the island from North Devon with his wife, Sarah.

IAN: And I've been on Lundy for exactly a year, yesterday.

♪ ♪ I was really stressed out at work, you know, trying to keep on top of everything.

The wife, she ran a library, and there's a constant battle to try and keep them open.

NARRATOR: Sarah applied for a job as a general assistant, and Ian, a joiner by trade, found the island also needed his skills.

IAN: Uh, we do general maintenance, building works, carpentry.

Um, we could do anything for like fixing roofs, fixing plumbing, minor electrics.

Yeah, we're general dogsbodies.

[laughs] [uplifting music] ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: This morning, Ian has some final tasks to get through before an afternoon off.

First up, he's checking the island's power station.

So you've got three generators, and at any one time, usually you've got two generators running.

The shop runs on it.

The tavern runs on the generators.

The water supply runs on the generators.

So it's probably the most important thing on the island is the power and keeping it running.

We've had a bit of trouble over the last couple of weeks, but got it going again yesterday.

Everything's pretty good this morning.

It's, uh, running pretty smoothly.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Next on Ian's to-do list is a trip to the island's old lighthouse.

♪ ♪ IAN: It was built in 1819.

It's 469 feet above sea level.

So when it was built, they thought the best option would be the highest point of the island.

But it turns out that you can't actually see the light when it was foggy.

[laughs] NARRATOR: Ian's been facing a battle with the island's elements when it comes to the upkeep of the lighthouse.

IAN: The lighthouse is on the west side of the island, and, uh, it takes the full brunt of the weather.

The maintenance work on it is-- yeah, you're forever going up there doing summat.

NARRATOR: He needs to finish sanding the window frames in advance of them being resealed and repainted.

Due to the weather, which is always a case of Lundy, you get halfway through a job, and then the rain comes in or the wind comes in.

NARRATOR: And that's not the only difficulty with property maintenance on an island.

IAN: The biggest difference on Lundy is the materials.

So you've got to plan quite far ahead.

You can't just whip down to B&Q, or, you know, go to Jewsons.

NARRATOR: Despite the difficulties, Ian has found many benefits in working here.

IAN: A lot of people thought we were completely insane moving here, including my family.

But, you know, the work is still here and I'm still working.

I'm still learning stuff, which is great.

[chuckles] When I was on the mainland, I was working six, seven days a week, nearly every week.

It was a constant battle just to try and keep on top of all the work.

So you never really shut down.

Since I've been here, I mean, I'm still doing the work, but I can go home and just completely relax and get on with what's important to me.

So then all we got to do is come back and put the putty in and then paint.

[soft music] ♪ ♪ It's like going back to 1950.

I haven't got a telly.

Things like that were important on the mainland.

No longer coming to a consciousness.

And it's-- it's definitely changed the way I feel and think about different things.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [calm music] NARRATOR: Many of the tiny islands across the UK and Ireland have their roots in early Christianity.

They became popular sites for monasteries, convents, and abbeys.

Their physical isolation ideal for spiritual reflection.

Although many of the religious buildings are no longer in use, some islands continue to thrive thanks to this history and tradition.

Less than a mile off the Pembrokeshire coastline is Caldey Island.

Just under a mile long and one and a half miles wide, it is home to 40 people.

♪ ♪ One of Britain's holy islands, its monastic origins date back to the sixth century and the tradition continues today.

♪ ♪ Johanna grew up on the island and commutes from nearby Tenby.

JOHANNA: I'm back and forth every day, every week.

Sometimes I stay.

Sometimes I might stay for a few days.

I might just stay one night.

Mum and Dad live here, so I stay with them.

NARRATOR: Having left the island for university, Johanna has long felt the Caldey pull.

JOHANNA: When you leave, you do want to come back.

You do what you have to do.

But you have this longing to come back.

And this is something that's happening very much at the moment.

NARRATOR: And she's been taking steps to find her way back to the island permanently.

JOHANNA: I started working in the gift shop about a year and a half ago.

I had actually worked in the gift shop every season since I was 14, erm, probably up until I was about 20.

It was a summer job.

NARRATOR: The gift shop has given Johanna a reason to be on her beloved island on a daily basis.

So in the height of the season, we can get really busy here.

Really busy.

Erm, We have, you know, a few thousand visitors a day in the height of the season.

So it can get packed, busy cues going to the door.

NARRATOR: In her new role, Johanna has brought back an old island tradition.

JOHANNA: Just, erm, finishing packaging up our island Lavender Eau de Toilette.

NARRATOR: Perfume making was established by Caldey's community of Cistercians in the mid 20th century.

The monks used to go around and just collect the petals from the island, either lavender or gorse, and then started making, er-- started making perfume with it and like little sachets, draw sachets.

And then it just grew from strength to strength.

NARRATOR: It was sold all over Europe, but was almost lost when production ceased a few years ago.

Me and my dad have been working hard through the last year or so, just trying to get it back on its feet.

So I think it would mean a lot to the island to get the perfume back up and running because it's-- well, it's the oldest, erm, product that the island has offered.

[classical music] NARRATOR: After closing up for the day, Johanna can take in some of the island's other unique scents and sights.

Oh, there's some flowering gorse there.

You can see up there.

One of our most famous perfumes was island gorse, which isn't in production at the moment, but we're hoping to bring it back maybe this year.

So it's a bit of an iconic flower of the island and it smells lovely.

It smells of coconut.

NARRATOR: And she's hoping a full time return to the island isn't far away.

There's a few houses that you get given if you work for the island, so that would be along the lines-- because I work for the island, I've had the opportunity to be able to live here.

We're just really waiting for some suitable accommodation to come up.

NARRATOR: One of Johanna's motivations to return is her passion for the island's wildlife and botany.

Well, the nice thing about Caldey, it makes it so different, I think, from other islands, is that it's so diverse.

So you've got a huge woodland area on the east side of the island, you've got loads of different wildlife, so you've got red squirrels here, got black swans, fulmars, got ponies, Dexter cattle, choughs, all sorts of things.

[calm music] NARRATOR: She has ambitions to write and illustrate a book detailing all that Caldey has to offer.

JOHANNA: I've always loved art ever since I was a little girl.

It's so beautiful with the changing seasons, changing weather.

So you know, you've just got different colors, atmosphere, scenes.

Everything looks different.

Something could look different in the same day.

But there is so much here because there's beautiful coastline, gorgeous woods, beautiful flowers, wildlife, beaches.

It's like an artist's dream, really.

NARRATOR: For Johanna her return to the island will mean the chance to expand her artistic endeavors.

My hopes are to-- when I'm living here, is to just really get far more into my art and really start producing a load of nice pieces and just get loads of different views and things of the island.

NARRATOR: And the Caldey pull will remain until she can be a full time islander once more.

Well, I guess it'll feel like coming home, because I am.

I'll just feel at peace, I guess.

Just have time and space.

Just to chill out and enjoy the things I like doing.

It's just such a lovely place.

Such a lovely place to be.

You know, you finish work and you go for a walk wherever you want and just enjoy the peace and beauty of it.

Yeah.

It's great.

Something to look forward to.

♪ ♪ [uplifting music] NARRATOR: While for some island life is an idyll they yearn to return to, others are drawn to our islands from cities and towns, seeking the opportunity to live a life that couldn't be realized anywhere else.

♪ ♪ In the north of Orkney, almost 50 miles from the coast of mainland Scotland, lies the island of Papa Westray.

Four miles long and one and a half miles wide, it's home to 95 people, and known by its residents as Papay.

♪ ♪ Jonathan is the Papay Ranger and has lived on the island for the last 10 years after moving from London.

♪ ♪ JONATHAN: There's not something I'd ever, you know-- I'd never imagined that I would move to an island.

I think it's important for me to have a role on the island, to have a purpose.

I think if you're a member of a small community that you do have a use.

[soft music] NARRATOR: Jonathan runs guided tours of the island.

But with no bookings today, he can indulge in one of his hobbies-- photography.

♪ ♪ Papay's rarest flower, Primula scotica, Scottish primrose.

Flowers twice a year from about the end of April till about mid-June.

Then it dips away for about a week and a half.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: North Hill is an RSPB reserve, a rare example of maritime heath.

It's a site of special scientific interest and home to a vast array of nesting seabirds.

♪ ♪ JONATHAN: And I love the way that the birdlife here kind of marks time on the island.

There is a calendar of birds.

Things come at certain times.

Things go at certain times.

There's a common guillemot just down here.

Seabirds are great.

They can live in two different elements, really.

You know, fantastic swimming underwater.

They can fly, they can live on land as well.

So, you know, just at the end of the day, come up here, there's going to be puffins, razorbills, guillemots.

Erm, so really nice just to chill with them.

So a puffin just landed on the top, or tammie norrie is what they call them here.

You get one that are breeding, they're kind of hidden or coming back with food, but then you get quite a lot of, sort of-- I guess they would call teenage puffins that are not breeding, but just hanging around.

And that's probably one of them, actually.

If you're tired of puffins, you're tired of life, I think.

[chuckles] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ At this time of year, very much breeding season and then autumn and spring, birds migrating north and south, passing through the island, erm, things that come here to winter from further north.

And it's a real nice connection to other parts of the world as well.

Sometimes on an island you can feel a bit like you are not connected to anything else, which is perhaps not a good feeling.

But actually, those-- the birds do provide you a link with other places as well.

NARRATOR: In recent years, the seabirds have faced challenges on Papa Westray.

Many depend on lesser sand eels for food, but as the waters around Orkney have warmed, their number has declined.

JONATHAN: Last year all the guillemots abandoned, so we didn't have any successful breeding guillemots.

But this year seems a bit better.

There's definitely some been on eggs, so I assume there's quite a few with young down there as well now.

For some birds it is very much, I wouldn't say the last stronghold, but good strongholds for birds which are very much in decline.

NARRATOR: The island's puffins are a perennial favorite with both visitors and Jonathan.

JONATHAN: There's a puffin here just under the ledge.

This time of year, erm, you can come down in the daytime and you probably see about-- oh, maybe about 15, 20 all kind of interacting on the top there.

This time of-- time in the evening, they're probably just about ready to roost.

So they're getting pretty much settled down now.

[calm music] ♪ ♪ They're very much a kind of spirit-lifter of a bird, I think.

You can feel people's spirits lift when you see them.

They are quite comical, you know, and they know they're cool as well.

They definitely know they're cool and they know they're being photographed.

♪ ♪ You know, I think we are in danger of losing a lot of wildlife, not just birds, but actually, I think the more you can show people just how wonderful they are and just how beautiful they are, then the better.

♪ ♪ That would be, you know, one of the reasons I do photograph them.

I think it's-- hopefully has a bit more of a wider effect.

♪ ♪ [uplifting music] NARRATOR: We often head to islands for leisure, for a retreat from busy lives, a chance to do new things, things that aren't possible on the mainland.

Those who live on islands strike a balance-- hard work, but a chance to live a life unlike anywhere else.

♪ ♪ On the southwest coast of England, a two-hour ferry ride from Devon, lies the island of Lundy.

[soft music] It's famous for its wildlife, including deer, ponies and seals.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Island handyman Ian has finished up for the day.

IAN: This is what we do on the island.

We want some food.

[chuckles] I've got to feed the wife somehow.

So we've got to go out and try and catch some pollock, maybe bass, if we're lucky.

And avoid the big bull seals.

NARRATOR: The island is a marine nature reserve.

There are strict rules for where people can fish and what they can catch.

IAN: Lundy's got like a no-fish zone, which is basically the whole of the east coast, which is really good for marine life.

But you've got the-- the bay area and then the whole rest of the island and the south end of the island and the north end of the island you can fish.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Lundy has enabled Ian to combine his love of fishing with another of his great passions-- kayaking.

IAN: When I come to the island, you know, it's a perfect opportunity to bring my kayak and try the waters over here.

Once you get out on the water, it's one of the most relaxing times of the day.

All you got is the sound of the sea, you know, the occasional seagull.

[seagulls calling] Just being out on the water, it completely gives you time to think.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ You've got, like, the gannets plunging into the water.

You've got seals popping up saying hello.

Complete freedom.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ And the fishing is just a bonus part of it.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [grunts] ♪ ♪ It's a pollock.

Good.

Stick that one in the bag for dinner.

[chuckles] ♪ ♪ All right.

Get one for the wife.

♪ ♪ It's a bit hit or miss, you know.

But fishing's not about catching fish, really.

It's just about being out there and enjoying nature and enjoying everything around you.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ But when it's lovely and flat, you think about all sorts of things.

Yeah, it's just a time to contemplate where you are in life and where you're going in life.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: And today, Ian's landed a real catch.

Pretty successful.

[chuckles] I'm absolutely buzzing, to be honest.

We've got some real nice fish.

So yeah, I've got these two little ones.

And I caught big brother.

It's not a bad catch.

Well, I'm going to go to gut him, you know, and prepare him and then cook him down the allotment with some nice fresh veg.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ When I come to the island, I was given the carpenter's house.

And you get this garden as part of that.

♪ ♪ When I first sort of seen it, I was devastated because I thought I was going to see this amazing garden, and it was eight-foot deep with brambles and-- and, yeah, it broke my heart to see it like that.

NARRATOR: Over the past year, Ian has cleared and planted the patch of land, turning it into a horticultural haven.

IAN: I've been working on the first part, which was mainly the vegetable plot, and that's been feeding me for the past six months.

Inspired quite a few of the other islanders to do some gardening.

So then we decided to-- pumpkin competition would be a good way to keep the motivation going.

It's Big Al.

Big Al, and Little Phil, and we've got a net over there.

I'll feed him beer.

He likes ales.

Yeah, ale is his favorite.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: And Big Al's success could be down to Ian's method for looking after his allotment's soil.

IAN: When I get a catch, I like to put it in the soil because it enriches the soil.

There you go.

Yum, yum.

So I'll dig up a trench and just throw the guts in.

♪ ♪ Sort of chop them in a bit.

A little bit gruesome, but it makes good veg.

Nothing goes to waste on Lundy.

[chuckles] ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: It's not just people who get to live a dream island life.

Their unique habitats provide homes where wildlife and nature can thrive, where less of our footstep is felt and the natural order can give unique species the chance to live and grow.

♪ ♪ Although part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands, Alderney sits apart.

♪ ♪ Geographically more isolated and exposed than its sheltered neighbors, it's known locally as the only true Channel Island.

♪ ♪ This evening, railway volunteer, Suzy, is off to meet her favorite residents of the island-- the blonde hedgehogs.

Torches, gloves.

Notebook.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Blonde hedgehogs are rare, with populations found in just two places in the UK-- Alderney and the Orkney Island of North Ronaldsay.

They often live alongside their more familiar brown cousins.

Suzy began monitoring the hedgehogs almost 15 years ago as a volunteer in a scientific study.

You have to see the beautiful sunset as we come round.

I just found they were so fascinating.

They seemed to know where they were going.

There's no messing about with them.

They just get up and trot off.

And they're so cute.

Their little ears and noses.

[curious music] NARRATOR: And it's a task she's been doing ever since.

Tonight she's joined by Matt.

MATT: Hi, Suzy.

Hi, Matt.

Looks like a good night tonight.

Let's go and have a look.

Plenty of bugs about.

I've got my thermal camera.

So-- SUZY: Hedgehogs, they're coming after me.

Ha-ha.

MATT: There's one just over here on the thermal camera.

SUZY: Hello, little sweetie pie.

You are a little cutie, aren't you?

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: The hedgehogs are nocturnal, so night is the best time to spot them.

And the blondes aren't native to the island.

SUZY: Alderney loves a story.

There are lots of different stories about how they get here.

Look at that little pink nose.

It is true that two of them were bought from Harrods and came over in a Harrods bag on the aeroplane.

There are at least four others that we know have been introduced to the island by people.

NARRATOR: The hedgehog's coloring isn't albinism, but leucism, recessive genes that can cause a partial loss of skin pigmentation and creamy-colored spines.

SUZY: I have described it as having a pink nose and pink feet, whereas your brown one has brown feet and a lovely chocolate brown nose.

MATT: Were there many out last time you were out?

SUZY: Yes, there were quite a few, but what I'm a bit worried about is how small they all seem this year.

I don't know why.

Hello, little one.

We come to have a little look at you.

You're not very big, are you?

MATT: See what you mean about the smaller sizes, those.

Not quite what we would normally expect at this time of year.

No.

I reckon that's probably about 400, 500 grams.

And it probably should 600 to 800 grams.

So I wonder if the hot weather means that there isn't quite as much food around.

It was a very dry spring as well, wasn't it?

It was.

NARRATOR: More than half of the island's hedgehog population is blonde, and they thrive here for a very particular reason.

SUZY: The hedgehogs do not have any predators on the island.

We don't have foxes, we don't have badgers.

The only problem they have is cars.

There are very, very few cars out at night.

Everyone I've seen really has been-- it's been two together, so there's obviously an awful lot of mating going on.

So I'm looking forward in five weeks' time to lots of little babies running around.

Oh, there's one.

He looks healthy enough, doesn't he?

Just on the turn for running away.

SUZY: Yes.

Population numbers appear to be fairly level at the moment.

We had-- last year wasn't too good.

But with all the mating that's going on, I'm absolutely certain we're going to have an abundance of them come October.

NARRATOR: Over the past 10 years, the UK's hedgehog population has declined by a third, but Alderney appears to be bucking the trend.

SUZY: It makes it much more interesting when there's more than one of us.

[chuckles] MATT: Yes.

NARRATOR: The hedgehogs are not only an iconic part of life in Alderney.

As insectivores, they're natural pest controllers, helping to maintain the island's ecosystem.

SUZY: So after they've been up about an hour, the hedgehogs go back to bed for a little snooze.

So I don't think there'll be much about now.

[calm music] ♪ ♪ Right.

Just write up my notes.

That was an excellent night.

We've seen loads of hedgehogs.

Funnily enough, we've seen more brown than blonde tonight.

But an excellent night and it's now time for me to go home to bed.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Living offshore, isolated from the mainland requires dedication, determination and toil.

♪ ♪ For those who love the lifestyle but aren't ready to leave the mainland behind, there's another option that allows you to have the best of both worlds.

[uplifting music] On the south coast of Wales, just a 20-minute boat ride from Tenby is Caldey Island.

♪ ♪ Famous for its monastery and abbey, the island has a steady stream of tourists visiting to experience its religion, its history and its unspoilt nature.

♪ ♪ 20-year-old Billy spent much of his childhood on the island and now works there on the boats, while living just two miles away in Tenby.

MAN: Well, Billy.

All right?

I've been back and forth between the island, you know, since-- since I was about two weeks old.

NARRATOR: His days start on the island's cargo boat, which takes him to work.

BILL: Caldey can be very accessible in the summertime, when you've got the boats running all the time, you've got the passenger boats.

But in the winter, it becomes a lot more challenging because you've got maybe one boat a day, if you're lucky.

NARRATOR: Billy has been working on the island's boat since he was 16.

Now he mans the slipway full-time.

BILL: We're just sort of in limbo at the moment.

We're waiting to hear whether the boats-- the passenger boats will be running or not.

So we're going to hear by 10 o'clock.

NARRATOR: His main role is making sure Caldey's 50,000 visitors a year can get onto the island.

I sort of do, you know, all this slipway.

So this is where everyone lands on the island that come back and forth on the passenger boat.

So we'll get everything ready for passengers.

And ultimately, even if there isn't passengers, we can just pack it all back away, and that way, we're ready.

NARRATOR: His family's roots go back three generations here, and Billy's grandparents still live on the island.

BILL: I think when I got a job on the boats, I think Mum was happy because it's another link to call, you know.

I think she was happy for me, for the fact that I was working there in the place that she sort of loved so much.

In the rougher weather, I mean, it's quite a fast-paced environment because you've got to get the people off the boat, the boat in and out as quick as they can because when it's really pounding in here, you could take some damage.

So you don't want to be-- be hanging around long.

And I mean, it can be really, really hectic.

You know, you can have 1,800 people over a day, erm, seven boats going back and forth.

And it really does get-- get quite intense when you've got, say, 200 people there waiting and saying when's the next boat.

NARRATOR: Today, unfortunately, isn't going to be one of those days thanks to high winds and choppy seas.

So we've just had an update from Tenby, and there's going to be no boats today.

So everything we've done this morning we'll go and pack away again now.

[curious music] So when the weather is bad or the sea is too rough, quite often we have to cancel the boats.

But unfortunately, you know, a lot of the time that can be a really last-minute decision just because of the fact that the weather is so unpredictable.

And so is the sea.

NARRATOR: Only one small boat will be docking later today with visitors for the island's guesthouse.

BILL: You can just see them going all the way along the coastline there, because it's a little bit rough out there today.

So I'll tie up the boat and then obviously help the guests with their luggage and help themselves get off the boat as well.

So there's only going to be about 10 of them, so it should be relatively quick.

In and out.

Job done.

You want to come back this way to me.

Come back, come back, come back a bit further.

There we are.

Thank you.

There we are.

Thank you.

Another step there as well.

That's it.

Lovely.

It doesn't happen very often that you'll, uh-- you'll get over to the island on the cargo boat and then the boats are canceled.

But it's all part of, uh-- of working on island.

And that's just one of those things you've got to keep on and-- and figure something else out to do.

See you later.

See you later.

NARRATOR: And today Billy's in luck as Mum, Johanna, who works in the island's gift shop, has time for a walk to the lighthouse.

BILL: It'd be quite nice to not bother going back on the boat and just stay at home.

And now we've got a job here.

I mean, it makes perfect sense, you know.

It's ideal, really, isn't it?

Yeah.

[soft music] BILL: I think I like the lighthouse just because it's one of those things that I've been up there when I was a kid, and it's just that sort of long connection with it, you know.

And it's such a beautiful view from up there.

You know, you've got the views of Devon and Cornwall on a clear day.

NARRATOR: While Johanna's impatient for her move, Billy's not quite ready to be on Caldey 24/7.

BILL: I wouldn't rule it out, but don't actually-- don't know anything for certain yet.

- Maybe if you have a family.

- Yeah.

If you had a family, it would be nice.

Mm-hmm.

Carry on.

The family tradition.

BILL: Yeah.

JOHANNA: One of us has got to live here anyway.

I think to keep it on, so everyone can come visit us.

No, I think even though I don't live on the island itself, I still feel a strong connection to the island.

I think, you know, that is like being an islander, you know.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Less than 30 miles away on Lundy Island, Ian is gathering supplies from the garden to make dinner.

Before making the move to Lundy, Ian had his own allotment on the mainland, which he tended to for 15 years.

IAN: Most of my knowledge has been from the old guys, old women on the allotment.

You can read as many books as you want, but when you sat down having a gin with Doreen, she'll tell you exactly what you need to do.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Gardening on Lundy has been a learning experience.

Turnips are looking good, though.

It's a sheltered garden, but it still gets pretty windy here and it's pretty exposed.

So everything I've grown this year, I've tried to keep quite low.

Like with my tomatoes, I've got two different varieties here.

I think the main difference is the soil.

Because over on the mainland, we've got a real clay soil.

And over here it's really loamy and it's quite dry.

Yeah, perfect.

I use a lot of seaweed and make-- make up seaweed feeds and, erm, nettle feeds.

Oh, lovely.

Some chewed, but still good.

Swiss chard.

Nice.

Black radish.

See, I like to grow stuff that's a little bit different and unusual that you can't buy in the supermarket.

What's the point of just growing your average every day?

NARRATOR: And his approach has proved fruitful.

Well, that's good.

Hm.

You see, I never got to enjoy my corn on the mainland because the badger used to eat it every year.

This is the first year in 10 years, I've been able to eat some fresh corn.

But on Lundy, we ain't got no badges, so-- Mm.

Everything tastes sweeter on Lundy.

♪ ♪ I mean, everything we produce here goes into our dinners and other islanders use it.

I've been giving out cucumbers and veg boxes and lettuce.

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: With the veg harvested minutes ago and the fish fresh from the island's waters, it's time to get cooking.

It's like Gordon Ramsay.

[chuckles] There we go.

Nice bit of lemon.

NARRATOR: And Ian's wife, Sarah, is keen to get stuck in.

Are you hungry?

SARAH: Mm-hmm.

Ready?

Yep.

And a bit of the veg, much as I did help with the veg.

You did help with the veg.

There you go.

Thank you.

That's actually very good.

[sighs] Lovely.

Well, you can't get fresher than that, can you?

It's really good.

NARRATOR: The move to the island was a big change from the couple's life on the mainland.

I love it.

I absolutely love it.

Erm, so relaxed.

I haven't been this relaxed for over probably 25, 30 years.

Yeah.

It's a gentler way of life.

A gentle way of life.

Yeah.

Erm, you just get to appreciate everything a bit more.

♪ ♪ I mean, it takes a certain kind of person to come here.

But, yeah, I do feel completely honored to be here.

And I feel like I need to make it a better place.

I don't want to just come here and then leave again.

I want to come here and make a difference, you know.

I'm pretty happy at the moment, and I think we'll be here for quite some time, yeah.

♪ ♪ We've become part of the island.

It feels like we've been accepted by all the community.

They've been really good to us.

Yeah, and I think we've realized this is the right choice, you know, and we-- we belong here.

♪ ♪ [theme music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪