Transporting a 22-tonne crane from Tenby to Caldey Island was plain sailing this week - thanks to the Royal Marines!

The service stepped in on Wednesday afternoon to lend a hand with a landing craft to take the machine to its new home on the island.

The operation, carried out as a training exercise by the service’s 11 (ATT) Squadron, based at Devonport, was watched with great interest from Tenby’s Castle Beach.

For Caldey Island Estate manager, Ben Childs, the crane’s sea voyage represented the final piece in a logistical jigsaw that had taken several months to solve.

“We are very grateful to the Royal Marines for coming to our rescue, particularly Colonel Armour for setting the wheels of the exercise in motion and Sergeant ‘Robbo’ Roberts who was in charge of the landing craft,“ he said.

“There was a great effort from the Caldey islanders in getting the crane up the beach to its new location in the workshop garages at the back of the monastery,  and a special thank you to Andrew Aldred, our outstanding engineer and fixer of anything, for another huge achievement.

"We’re looking forward to seeing the crane at work very soon.”