To Ilfracombe in north Devon a couple of weeks ago to visit Nowhereisland, an island of Arctic rocks travelling up the south west coast. I’m citizen number 11 thousand and something btw. But first went to check out Ilfracombe’s wonderful museum which I visited in 1998, and was so impressed by, among many other wonders, “Batty” Blackmore’s collection of bottled bats, wrote and illustrated a short piece about it then for the Guardian. The 88 year old ‘always had a bat in his pocket’ according to one of the staff at the time. The jars of bats were still there, as well as another intriguing item – a poster advertising the mid 1800s visit to Ilfracombe of tiny “General” Tom Thumb and his delightfully named wife, Mercy Bump.
Nowhereisland arrived and dropped anchor, and its Embassy parked in Ilfracombe carpark, followed by a parade of banners. Artist and creator of the island Alex Hartley posed for the local press (and inadvertently, me). I chatted to Nowhereisland Embassador Jenny from Bristol, who showed me some of the exhibits on display, including one of several plastic ducks placed on the island by mysterious night swimmers, when it was moored off Torquay a few days before.
