Before my visit in June 2012 I couldn't find much information about how accessible the island is. I walked along the coast path to it from Marloes Youth Hostel but the path down is very narrow, steep and overgrown at this time of year. The path comes down on the Marloes Sands side, so I then had to walk across some dry rocks and boulders and then 30 metres of slippery seaweed covered rocks over to the Albion Sands side from where I thought it would be easier to access Gateholm. Albion Sands is a delightful beach and I had it to myself. The walk across the sands to Gateholm is easy but the island is fringed by 35 metres of huge boulders many of which were covered with more slippery seaweed. I was on my own and had no phone signal, so decided to go no further than the middle of the boulder field. I would have liked to reach above the high tide zone but had I reached this I couldn't see a way up on to the flat top of the island, as the sides are very steep on all sides.
I don't know how people accessed it in the past but they obviously did, as there are more than 100 Romano British hut circles on the island and one book I read said sheep were grazed on it in more recent times.
In the early 18th century it was owned by Charles Philipps and it stayed in his family until the 1890s when it was sold to Lord Kensington.
Albion Sands and Gateholm
No way up here
Inaccessible Cliffs
Gateholm from the cliffs above Albion Sands
Gateholm Stack
Gateholm Stack
Albion Sands and Gateholm
Albion Sands and Gateholm with Skokholm in the distance
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| Gateholm and Marloes Sands with Skokholm in the distance |
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Gateholm from the cliffs above Marloes Beach with Skokholm in the distance
It's pretty easy to access the top of Gateholm - the route up is on the Marloes side, but requires a bit of scrambling across the rocks to reach.
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