Caldey Island, Home of the Hospitable Monks of South Wales

Caldey, Home of the Hospitable Monks of South Wales
by Patrick Ellis

Wall Street it ain’t. The financial swordplay of a modern economy is conspicuously absent. The best that the western capitalist industrial machine can manage here is more akin to a contemplative murmur or, dare one say, a softly intoned prayer than the dynamic throb of Tokyo or the City of London. Or even nearby Tenby.

Its as if there is a kind of trade-off. A tacit agreement that yes, income must be generated, but only in small piles thankyou very much. And then only if it doesn’t interfere with the real business of the day.

norman manor caldey island

Overlooked by the Abbey itself, built between 1910 and 1913, Caldey Island’s version of a commercial centre is focused around the village green. The perfumery and gift shop are on the west, while to the south lies the post office with its glass cases serving as the tiny island museum. Here are displayed fossils, ancient human artefacts and body parts and, equally engaging, photographs of an earnest young archaeologist monk unearthing same. At the post office visitors can purchase a selection of the island’s own, rather idiosyncratic, stamps which are sold in the currency of Dabs, a small local fish, and buy a chunk of island
chocolate.

On the green itself and shaded by Monterey Cypresses, planted seven decades ago and having long outlived their original windbreak duties, sits the tea-room. Flanked by a profusion of tables and chairs its a safe bet that every visitor passes through here at least once to sample the home made sandwiches, reminiscent of childhood picnics, and to drink a cup of the ubiquitous tea. It is at one of these sun drenched tables that John Cattini sits while he patiently explains just how the island ticks.

dairy farming on caldey island
Occasionally raising his voice over the interruption of a foraging mallard or keening seagull this soft-spoken man’s words are pleasantly audible against the island’s quiet. Traffic noise on Caldey is limited to the infrequent rumble of a tractor or one of the, fairly dodgy, old bangers that the islanders use to get about in.

catching the ferry from caldy to tenby

He came to learn about yoghurt and cheese making in 1974 but stayed to become, in 1980, Business Manager for the Caldey Island Estate Company. When he describes the island and the community that has settled here it becomes apparent that he thinks it’s a great place to live. As his words insistently infiltrate the tranquillity the sense of separation from the rush and tumble of the mainland is gently affirmed.

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