Midnight on Lundy

GOOD NEWS! Midnight on Lundy has just been made a Book of the Month on the high profile web site Lovereading4kids. The reviewer says, 'Without doubt Victoria Eveleigh is the best contemporary writer of pony stories around.'

The island of Lundy is twelve-year-old Jenny's world, with its close-knit community of islanders and lighthouse-keepers. But soon she must go to boarding school on the mainland, leaving behind everything she loves - including Midnight, the wild stallion she has secretly befriended....

Price £8.50 Paperback

Midnight on Lundy is fictional, but it was inspired by many tales of Lundy (which is a real island off the North Devon coast) when it was privately owned, and of a legendary stallion called Midnight.

There have been free-living ponies on Lundy since the 1920s when the owner, Martin Coles Harman (Diana Keast's father) introduced some New Forest mares and a Welsh stallion to the island. In the1930s a colt called Midnight was born. He became the herd stallion and, because he refused to be caught, he stayed on Lundy until 1961. Most of the Lundy ponies alive today are related to him. Please look at the Lundy ponies page for more information.

Lundy is a very special place for all sorts of reasons - marine life, birds, geology, history, mythology, scenery, plants and a special quality which can't easily be put into words.

Chris and I spent our honeymoon there, and we have returned many times since. Although we usually stay for less than a week, visiting it feels like going home. If it feels like that for us, imagine what it must feel like for Diana Keast (pictured above) whose family owned the island for many years before they sold it in 1969. Diana was a great help when I was writing Midnight on Lundy, as were many other people. For example, Peggy Garvey (also pictured above) bought the real Midnight when he was shipped to the mainland and, together with Mary Martindale, ensured that Lundy ponies survived by establishing a herd on the mainland founded on Midnight's bloodlines.

Annie Alford has visited Lundy since she was a little girl (her grandfather was Felix Gade, who was the resident agent on the island for many years). She has lived and worked on the island, and she owns an elderly Lundy mare called Stonechat who is still kept on Lundy. Kate Ogilvie was brought up on Lundy (her father, John Ogilvie, was the farm manager) and she had to go away to boarding school on the mainland because there was no school on the island. She was one of the many people who inspired me to write the book. Her mother, Penny Ogilvie, was also very helpful.

Annie and Stonechat on Lundy, May 2010

When our children, George and Sarah, were younger they had a pony called Streamways Kittiwake (Kizzy for short) who was a Lundy x Welsh Cob. She was bred by the Oldham family in Georgeham, and Mary Oldham told me that Kizzy's great great grandsire was a legendary stallion called Midnight, who was known as 'the Grandfather of all Lundy ponies'. A quest to learn more about Midnight led to many new friendships and (after several years and frequent trips to Lundy for research!) resulted in the publication of Midnight on Lundy.

Sarah and Kizzy, ten years ago	Kizzy and her foals. She's back with the Oldham family, who bred her. This was taken in December 2009. Croyde is in the middle distance and Lundy's on the horizon.

The Lundy gallery has photos of some of the places mentioned in the story.

Lundy is owned by the National Trust and managed by the Landmark Trust. You can find out more about Lundy by visiting the web site www.lundyisland.co.uk.