Welchman Hall Gully

Welchman Hall Gully is part of the same limestone cave system as Harrison's Cave next door, except that here the roof fell in, leaving a deep narrow ravine with cave formations still visible in the walls and stalactites meeting stalagmites in places to form columns. A Welsh settler's descendants planted it in the nineteenth century with tropical species from around the world, and the National Trust maintains it as a walk of about eight hundred metres through the gully floor under a closed canopy. The island's green monkeys, brought from West Africa in the seventeenth century, come through in troops early and late.

What you actually see

• The collapsed cave - formations and columns in the gully walls.
• Green monkeys - troops moving through morning and late afternoon.
• The planted collection - tropical species gathered since the 1860s.
• The canopy - closed overhead for most of the walk.

When to go

December to April is the dry season. Green monkeys are most reliable early in the morning and in the late afternoon, when they come through to feed. The walk takes about an hour on a made path.

Honest expectations

Monkey sightings are not guaranteed and midday visits usually see none. The gully is short and the walk takes an hour. It is next door to Harrison's Cave, which most visitors do instead. Feeding the monkeys is discouraged and has caused problems where it happens.

Nearby

Harrison's Cave is five minutes; the Flower Forest is ten minutes.