Monday 13th September 2021 Once again the extreme tides meant that we would have more time than usual on St Martin’s and would therefore have time to walk all round the island, which is the northernmost of the inhabited onesmaking up the Isles of Scilly. The Firethorn dropped us at the quay in Higher Town. In what must surely be one of the most prosaic examples of place naming in the UK, the three main settlements on St Martin’s are called Higher Town, Middle Town and Lower Town, although it could be argued that the use of the word “town” must itself have required quite a feat of imagination: in the 2011 census the island reported a population of just 136. Initially we set off to walk anti-clockwise round the island towards the highest point at its northeast corner on Chapel Down, passing an unexpected vineyard on the way. The highest point is dominated by a large red and white striped daymark or unlighted beacon, reminiscent of the upper section of Tintin’s rocket, which was visible from some distance across the bays and inlets as we walked. The date above the blocked, arched doorway on the daymark reads 1637 but […]
Daily Archives: 17/09/2021
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