‘I’ve had one of the most remote jobs in the British Isles – it’s like I’m A Celeb and we could only shower once a week’

An environmental communicator who has worked “one of the most remote jobs in the British Isles” on an island many have “never heard of” has likened the experience to I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!

In 2022, Chloe Hurst, 29, who lives near Falmouth, Cornwall, stumbled across the opportunity to volunteer as an assistant estate warden on the Calf of Man – an island off the south coast of the Isle of Man, owned by Manx National Heritage.

Accessible by boat only, the Calf extends to approximately 600 acres and is home to a plethora of flora and fauna, including birds, seals, dolphins, moths, butterflies and insects – yet Chloe said “not many people know it exists”.

For nine months, Chloe lived and worked on the island, carrying out day-to-day estate and habitat management, conducting wildlife surveys, ringing migratory and breeding birds, and looking after the farmhouse and hostel, which has one shared bathroom.

She described the Calf as “a paradise island” but said you have to be “pretty hardy” to work there, as she and the other three wardens could only shower once a week and supplies and food are only deliverable by boat.

Although Chloe missed those “home comforts”, she said working on the Calf was “one of the best years of (her) life” and she even returned to the island this year to work as a paid estate warden for another nine months.

Chloe told PA Real Life: “It’s like I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in a way.

“When you’re put in those environments, you do find out things about yourself and you might be surprised at how well you adapted or how hardy you are.

“I’ve learned a lot and I’ve grown a lot, and I’m really grateful for the experiences I’ve had there, and that’s why I went back.”

Chloe, who has degrees in Environmental Science and Conservation and Biodiversity, said she has “always had a passion for travel and adventure”.

While working at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Gweek in 2022, she discovered an article about working on the Calf of Man – an island she had “never heard of” at the time – and it piqued her interest.

With a “yearning for something more adventurous”, she went onto the Manx Wildlife Trust website and decided to apply for the volunteer assistant estate warden role.

“I saw an article about one of the most remote jobs in the British Isles and I thought, ‘Oh, that sounds interesting’,” she said.

“There are two paid wardens and two assistant wardens on the Calf – two of which are bird and two of which are estate wardens.

“Being one of four wardens, it was a risk going to work in a remote place with three other strangers, but it was all quite exciting.”

The Calf is accessed by small boat operators running return trips from Port St Mary and Port Erin and the journey can take 40 minutes – although sailings are subject to suitable weather conditions, the tide and the availability of the boatmen.

Chloe said her friends and family thought she was “crazy” for wanting to work on a remote island for nine months, but she had this “gut feeling” that she wanted to experience life on the Calf and embrace its “outdoorsy” lifestyle.

“There’s no pub, there’s no shop… but I was just willing to go for it,” Chloe said.

Chloe explained that the wardens sleep in the farmhouse on the island and there is a hostel attached to it, which can accommodate up to eight guests over the summer months.

She said the island has Wi-Fi – although it can be slow – and they have generators and a battery bank that help to power appliances like the shower and dryer.

The wardens collect rainwater in large tanks, which passes through a filtration system to make it safe to drink, but when it comes to showering, Chloe said this can be a “deal-breaker” for some people.

“Water consumption needs to be monitored very closely, and we don’t get to have showers very often for that reason – we only shower once a week and we have to keep those showers short,” Chloe said.

“A lot of people I know struggle with that… but we’re all in the same boat. If one of us smells, all of us will be smelly.”

A typical day would see Chloe waking up at 5am to help with bird ringing, which involves catching birds, securing a small metal ring around one of their legs and recording the species, age, sex, wing length and weight.

The Calf is often described as the ideal destination for birdwatchers and Chloe said around 150 bird species have been recorded there, including seabirds such as Manx Shearwater, Razorbill and Shag.

She would then complete other tasks, such as cleaning, fixing gates, conducting wildlife surveys and managing habitats, and she has been fortunate enough to see seals, dolphins, porpoises, whales and “beautiful moths” on the island.

“We basically monitor anything and everything that’s on the island, from insects to the bigger animals,” she said.

“I didn’t know much about moths two years ago and then my mind was completely blown. It has changed my whole perspective.”

People from the Isle of Man and further afield often visit the Calf, along with kayakers, paddle borders and those with private boats, but Chloe said she has only ever seen around 40 people on the island at once.

She loves interacting with visitors and showcasing the conservation work they do – describing the job as “very rewarding”.

However, on occasion, she and the other wardens can feel “cut off and isolated”.

She explained: “If the weather’s bad, it’s simple, we can’t get the boat – we can’t get supplies, we can’t get food, we can’t get off.

“Emergency-wise, we’d have to call the coastguard and get helicoptered.

“There were times where we were waiting two to three weeks to get a boat, so we have to stock up on tinned food before we go out, non-perishable items, and we’ve got an attic with emergency rations.”

Chloe explained that her time on the Calf in 2022 was “profound” for her, and she ended up going back to the island this year to work as a paid estate warden, which has a salary of around £19,000 for nine months.

She said stripping everything back gives you perspective on what is important in life – and even when she has been covered in bird faeces, she has been able to laugh with the other wardens.

Describing the Calf, she said: “It is like a paradise island, it’s absolutely beautiful.”

Chloe is not sure whether she will return to the Calf to work as a warden as she is hoping to try something new next year.

However, she said she will go back to visit for a holiday and would even like to create her “own mini Calf somewhere”, where she can live a “simpler life”.