Couple who met on Bardsey Island to be its new wardens
A couple are returning to the remote Welsh island where they first met - and this time they will be living there for three years as its wardens.
Mari Huws, 27, and Emyr Glyn Owen, 33, will be looking after Bardsey Island off the Llŷn Peninsula from September. The couple replace the Scharer family, who left their role after their son was injured on a beach. The wardens will safeguard the environment that attracts scores of holidaymakers in the summer. Ms Huws, from Penygroes in Gwynedd, and Mr Owen, from Llansannan, Conwy, said the appointment was a chance to "realise a dream". The couple met for the first time on the island, known as Ynys Enlli to the Welsh-speaking couple, while playing a five-a-side football match there. The island boasts ten cottages that are home to holidaymakers who come to the island for a summer retreat and urban escape. There is no electricity, and cold water is fed to the homes from a spring. When they were told they had been appointed as the new wardens, Ms Huws said they cried with happiness: "Our dream is coming true - and being able to do this with Emyr - that's better than a dream." The couple said they sat down and listed the pros and cons of trying for the warden jobs. "The biggest con about trying for the job was the disappointment we would have felt if we didn't get it," said Ms Huws. They are also under no illusions - it will be a "challenging job". "It's going to be a lot of manual work, painting and gardening and decorating, but it will be rewarding work - and for every short and cold winter day, there will be magical long days in the summer," said Ms Huws. "Apart from waking up every morning to one of the best landscapes in Wales, we're looking forward to having a wild, windy office and a new challenge every day. "I can't wait to plant the garden in the spring and see what grows by the summer, and for all the buzz of the season when we welcome everyone to the island." Known as the focus for the early Celtic Christian Church, the island was home to a monastery in the 6th Century, and was reputed to be the burial place for 20,000 "saints" in the middle ages, with three pilgrimages to Bardsey said to be equal one to Rome. "We're at a perfect time in our lives to be able to pack up and live on an island in the middle of the sea for three years as well," added Ms Huws. "We look forward to the challenge and the unique experience of living on Bardsey all season - a pack of cards, loads of books, a sense of humour, rolling up sleeves - and hello."