What follows is the contents of a small guide book issued by the Lord Stoner and his company for the benefit of visitors to the island. It may help you to understand what you see on your visit to The Island. It may not.
The
Isle of Stoner
A brief
history of The Island, its people and its railway
The Island
The Isle of Stoner is a rocky island about 100
miles south of the coast of Cornwall. It is slightly over eight miles long and
just under two miles across at its widest. It is roughly the shape of a carrot
and it has numerous small islets off its coast. It now has a population, not
including visitors, of 4044 souls. There are three main settlements: St Ruth,
the capital on the South Eastern coast: Smallchurch, which is roughly central
and Port Lucy, which is at the thinnest part of the island near the western
tip; this is known as Roach End. Port Lucy has the biggest harbour on the
island and virtually all imports and exports go via here. Being in the middle
of busy shipping lanes the island has three lighthouses and benefits from
frequent calls from cross channel traffic.
The island has a central spine of hills which rise
to around 600ft high. Numerous small rivers run down to the sea. The two
largest of these are The Song and The Loose, which gives its name to Port Lucy
where it runs into the sea. The first section of the River Loose from the sea
to Arnold Lane Wharf was canalised with a lock at each end. Being largely
pointless as a means of transport neither lock sees much use anymore. At the head
of the River Song is The Singing Lake, this is the only inland body of water
any bigger than a village pond on the whole island. It is located on a plateau
not far from Smallchurch.
The coast is a mixture of high, rocky cliffs and
sandy beaches. The Eastern end of the island, known as Flame End consists of a
dozen or so small islets called The Hot Rocks. Thus named because of the
turbulent currents which flow this way and that between them. The largest of
these small islands is linked to the main island by a rope bridge and has a
small military encampment with its own 15inch gauge tramway. Originally built
during the Napoleonic era it was last used during WW2 and is overlooked by a
lighthouse which warns shipping of the hazards presented by the island. To the
North of Underhill is Wrecker’s Bay, this has four more small islands. It gets
its name from the legendary practice of setting false lights to lure
unsuspecting ships to wreck on the rocks. The locals would then plunder
whatever cargo they could. There is no record of this ever actually having
taken place: everyone likes a good story.
Port Lucy has a small harbour just large enough to
berth the smaller of the cross-channel ferries and there is also a small fleet
of fishing boats resident there. Additionally, this is where any ‘new’
locomotives or rolling stock must be brought ashore. The railway station is
alongside the harbour and the locomotive and carriage works are just along the
mainline from here.
The Western end of the island is relatively flat
and the lush green grass is ideal for the dairy herds that provide milk for the
cheese industry based at Three Bridges and Creamery.
The Eastern end of the island is far rockier and
the two largest quarries, Stone Farm and New Stone are both here. Town Quarry
is the smallest of the three, near Underhill but has workings which date back
to prehistoric times. It has a network of underground workings where bone made
hand tools have been found.
A brief history of island life
The island has been inhabited at least since the Stone Age and there are
various sites of archaeological interest. Near Blackhill there are a series of
earth works that are believed to be the Iron and Bronze Age burial sites of the
earliest ancestors of the current Lord Stoner. There are also round, flat areas
which were very probably the site of round houses.
The Romans appear to have taken very little notice of Stoner, the island
didn’t have anything that they couldn’t steal from somewhere else. Then they
were too busy with mainland Celts to bother with the few hardy souls they would
have found if they had taken the time to invade.
In 597AD, St Augustine landed at Lower Bay mistakenly believing that he
had arrived in Southern England. He met Lord Stoner and convinced him that
Christianity was the way forward and so pre-dating the conversion of Æthelbert
in Canterbury by a couple of months. Christianity took a slender hold on the
minds of the islanders and to this day the belief in a more animistic,
spiritual approach is still widespread within the population.
In the late 680ADs the first record of ‘The House’ appear. ‘The House’
is the home of Lord Stoner and his family. It has been much extended and
modernised over the years, the last major changes were made during the
Victorian era by the same Lord who had the foresight to build the railway and
much else of the infrastructure we see today.
Once the Vikings had established themselves in Britain they eventually
got round to visiting The Isle of Stoner, arriving in the late 880sAD. Rather
than their more famous raping and pillaging approach a few farming families
settled in the far west of the island and the roots of the capital town, St
Ruth were planted.
Time rolled along in an uneventful way on the island (it still does) and
it wasn’t until 970AD that the Lord of Stoner swore allegiance to the English
King, King Edgar. This contract was to see the island protected by and much
influenced by the British way of life; it has been seen as a very shrewd move.
It gave little away and gained a very powerful ally.
On September 26th, 1066, William of Normandy passed by on his
way to a certain field in Southern England and it wasn’t until the 1080s that
any Normans made their way back to Stoner. The main thing that they brought
with them was a love for and an ability to make cheese. This would go on to
become more important as history strolled on. The Doomsday book makes no
mention of the island so we can imagine that it was considered to be of no
importance whatsoever.
In 1190AD Richard I visited with his knights to see if he could interest
anyone in joining his crusade against the Holy Land. He found that the locals
were not at all interested and they tried to explain religious tolerance to
him. It did not go well. A farmer and two fishermen were executed as traitors
and any gold they had was ‘taxed’.
All the comings and goings in Wales and Scotland made very little
difference to Stoner and its population, which by 1321 had reached around two
hundred. However, the great famine which ravaged Europe, had a terrible impact
and by the time the crisis was over in 1322 there were only around 70 souls
left.
The Hundred Years war, which raged on and off between Britain and France
had surprisingly little effect considering the island’s position between these
two great nations. When there was a pause in the fighting there was a
collective sigh of relief until word reached ‘The House’ of the Black Death.
Immediately, no one and nothing was allowed to come to the island. This policy
worked very well in keeping the plague away; in fact, it worked so well that no
one came near the place for nearly two decades. It was only when a drunken fisherman,
out from St Austell wrecked his boat at Flame End that the islanders discovered
the truth.
History and various Kings and Queens came and went on the mainland; the
island gradually regained its population who continued farming and fishing. It
was around this time that the various excellent cheeses of the island started
to be sold, off island. Henry VIII formed the Church of England and some of his
administrators arrived in 1535AD to make sure that everyone was saying the
right prayers. They left after a couple of weeks, more confused than when they
arrived. There weren’t any monasteries to destroy and no one seemed to know if
they were Catholics or something else anyway.
In 1577, Sir Francis Drake dropped by to say that he was off round the
world and that he would be back in a while to tell everyone how it was going.
The islanders sniggered and shrugged and forgot all about him. Then in
mid-September 1580, Sir Francis pulled into the harbour at Port Lucy and spent
a couple of days explaining how marvellous the rest of the world was. He left a
sack of potatoes and set off for Plymouth and fame and glory.
Potatoes were a big hit with the islanders and various pleasant cheese
and potato recipes became famous from end to end of Stoner.
In 1604 when King James said he was now King of Great Britain,
fortunately he forgot to mention that this included The Isle of Stoner and so
Stoner maintained its independence. This blissful state continued throughout
the Civil War. The only thing of any great consequence to happen during this
time of unrest was the arrival of tea in 1652AD. Interestingly, this was not
the only herb of note to arrive on the island around this time.
With the Great Plague laying waste to London in 1664 and then most of it
being destroyed in the Great Fire; the only thing of interest to scholars of
island history in all of that, is a mention in the Diary of Samuel Pepys. He
wrote that among the other cheeses which he buried to protect them from the
fire, was half a truckle of Stoner White. The first written mention of this now
famous delicacy.
In the 1750s the age of the canal began. Lord Stoner was visiting
relatives in the Midlands of Britain and was taken for an instructive trip on a
boat on the Trent and Mersey Canal; he was transfixed by this smooth and speedy
means of travel. He knew that The Isle of Stoner must have a network of them,
and thus to join the modern world. He was introduced to canal engineer, James
Brindley and the two men agreed that they would build a first ‘cut’ as soon as
possible. The Isle of Stoner is very hilly and not at all suited to canal
building, it had even less need for them. However, Mr Brindley was offered a
large sum of money to convert the first half mile of the River Loose into a
canal, complete with a lock and a wharf at Arnold Lane. And so, the modern
world came to the Isle of Stoner.
In the 1870s the island had only rudimentary roads and a population of
around two hundred and fifty, but in the 1880s when the railway was built (See
separate chapter for more details.) it enabled the island’s economy and
population to grow considerably. The Lord of Stoner and his family own the
island and everything on it; he and his descendants have run the island as a
benign autocracy since time immemorial. As we have seen ‘The Family’ live in
the ancient ancestral seat known as ‘The House’ and have made their fortune
from the island. They have also spent it there and they are very well respected
and loved by the population; in a recent poll it was found that only thirty
three of the citizens thought that their lives would be better if the island
was run by an overseas government. The Lord of Stoner still swears allegiance
to the British crown, but the island’s laws are made by ‘The Family’ and a
small elected chamber of representatives who sit twice weekly in the town hall of
St Ruth. These good burgers also act as the judge and jury should any crime be
committed. This is a rare event and is usually dealt with equitably. There are
two constables and a police dog (Bacon) on the whole island.
The currency of Stoner is pounds, shillings and pence; there is no
exchange rate as money cannot be imported or exported from Stoner. Any offshore
spending is taken care of by ‘The Family’ or by straight swapping with Island
produce.
The three stone quarries that give their name to the island are all
served by the railway and Stoner granite is much sought after as building stone
on the mainland. The island also boasts a slate quarry which really only
supplies new roofing slates for local use and a small amount to make into
souvenirs. There is subsistence fishing and farming, and also a dairy herd and
creamery that makes the island’s famous herbily infused blue cheese known as
‘Stoner White’. This, along with tourism and granite exports are the main
businesses of the island.
The Isle of Stoner Railway
The Isle of Stoner Railway was built in 1883 to connect Port Lucy to St
Ruth. There is also a ‘Northern Line’, which runs from Port Lucy to Underhill
that was added in 1897. The railway also boasts three short branches. Two are
in the south, one connects Port Lucy with the lighthouse at Roach End and the
other runs to Arnold Lane wharf on the
canalised River Loose. The third is a short but steep line ascending from St
Ruth to the local beauty spot known as ‘Lovers Leap’ and to the lighthouse at
Flame End. This branch has overhead electrical traction which was installed as
an experiment.
The Lords Stoner always were, and remain to this day, transport
enthusiasts as we have seen with the pointless canal building episode. Having
been invited to the 1870 locomotive trials on the Festiniog Railway, Lord
Stoner was singularly impressed and saw that the future of his island domain
would be bright if only a narrow gauge railway could be constructed there. An
over optimistic venture from the start, the railway was underfunded and badly
built. Being in the middle of the sea made bringing rolling stock to the line
prohibitively expensive. Initially the railway had built a small fleet of
carriages and a pair of tiny locomotives; one a vertical boiler by DeWinton and
the other a more conventional looking unit. These locomotives were very soon
overwhelmed and replaced with three Fletcher Jennings saddle tanks. As time
wore on and locos wore out an odd collection of second hand locomotives and an
assortment of hand me down carriages, being selected more by weight than
suitability, arrived to keep the railway working.
By the 1920s the railway was in a poor state of repair but a hero, in
the unlikely person of one Holman F Stephens, came to the rescue and the
railway was saved... after a fashion. The first thing Colonel Stephens did was
to close the Northern line. He mothballed everything and concentrated on
reviving the main line. He imported locos and coaches from the auction of no
longer needed Lynton & Barnstaple Railway items. The Manning Wardle
locomotive Yeo was purchased and
renamed Song after a local river. It did
not prove to be of use on the heavily graded and poorly built railway and so is
now in the museum at Port Lucy. He also had built a two carriage steam powered
multiple unit to take care of the out of season passenger traffic. This proved
to be a success and a single car unit and a larger diesel electric two car unit
were also brought into service. All three units were converted from earlier
carriage stock in the railway’s own workshops at Port Lucy. Along with a pair
of ancient and peculiar, island built, steam powered trams; these DMUs became
the backbone of the passenger services until the outbreak of World War 2. The
steam locomotives which remained serviceable were mainly used for freight
trains although some internal combustion engines also joined the fleet.
The rest of the 1930s passed tolerably pleasantly and the railway limped
along in a relatively stable way until the outbreak of the Second World War.
The Isle of Stoner was overrun by the Germans in the early weeks of 1940 and
only liberated again towards the end of the war. It was a dark time for the
island and the resistance, known locally as ‘The Cheesemen’ put up a good fight
of continual small-scale destruction which got right up the noses of the
Germans. The railway which was commandeered by the axis forces was as truculent
as the population which resulted in the importing of a substantial quantity of elderly
German rolling stock and locomotives; a small amount of which can still be seen
at work on the railway today having been left behind by the retreating Nazis.
Most was gas axed and put to the torch as a symbol of the contempt the freedom
loving, peaceful islanders had for Hitler’s disgusting ideas.
After the war, the railway and the island as a whole was in a parlous
state but with help from the British government and with the burgeoning tourist
industry the Isle of Stoner Railway was given a new lease of life. In 1960 the Northern
line was dusted down and restored to action by the Preserved Railway
Association and Trust of Stoner. Several, extremely rich, railway enthusiasts
are resident on Stoner and have seen their way clear to make some large
donations to the P.R.A.T.S. and as a result the line has more locomotives and
rolling stock than it knows what to do with. The Lord of Stoner and his council
will only allow ‘incomers’ to join the population if they are prepared to
invest in the island in some way which enriches life on Stoner. As a result,
there are numerous artists and musicians living a very happy life along with
the old families and as some of these ‘incomers’ are wealthy railway
enthusiasts, the railway has benefited enormously.
The government of Stoner still runs the IoSR but with a shrewd eye
towards tourism and an economy on the up, the future of the railway now looks
certain.
The Island in recent years
It was noticed in the early 1960s that the essential character of the
island was starting to be eroded by modern life, more and more cars were being
imported and new-fangled inventions like television were starting to destroy
the very way of life that made living on Stoner the enviable thing that it was.
The Council set down ‘An Act of Stone’, as a Stoner law is known, to the effect
that no new cars were to be imported to the island without the express
permission of the governing body and that TV aerials were to be concealed; also
new building was to be in a style ‘suitable and harmonious’ with island
traditions. It has been easy to enforce these regulations as anyone who did not
enjoy the Island and its peculiar ways would move away. The younger generation
sometimes rail against the ancient and traditional but this is as it should be.
The education system teaches the values of island life and so a peaceful and
tranquil life can be maintained most of the time.
You are welcome to visit the island and as the locals often say, ‘Eat
the cheese and relax.’
By John Wooden – Agent for Lord Stoner
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