Wednesday 15th September 2021 Land’s End is undoubtedly beautiful but the site is also unashamedly commercial. As well as the spectacular craggy rocks, breaking waves and uninterrupted views there is a signpost giving the distances to New York and John O’Groats. During the day there is a man offering, for a price, personalised photo opportunities which include the date and individual messages on two extra panels. Before breakfast we seized the opportunity to avoid the queue and take a free photo at the Lands End signpost before the man reappeared. We had booked entry tickets to St Micheal’s Mount for 11:00. Usually a boat trip is to be anticipated and enjoyed but we found were a little disappointed that on the day of our visit we would not be able to walk The Causeway in either direction due to the tides. On the way over it seemed to be “Take your Dog to work Day”: a very chilled spaniel was supervising the crossing. The trip across to the little harbour is brief and a metal footprint at the top of the steps up to the quay marks the spot where Queen Victoria first set foot upon the island in 1846. […]
2021 Isles of Scilly
Tuesday 14th September 2021 The helicopter ran smoothly this time, if a little late, and as the first helicopter of the day rose . . . . . . we left blue seas surrounding Tresco and clear skies overhead. However, we were soon flying above the cloud cover and when we landed back on the mainland . . . . . . the skies were becoming more overcast. Following a tasty breakfast on the front in Penzance we walked along to the Art Deco Jubilee Pool. Matilda remarks on this every time she flies over: when seen from above the deep turquoise of the pool situated right by the sea is more vibrant than this photo reflects and it looks so very inviting. The Jubilee Pool is described as one of the best pre-war lido’s in the world. It originally opened in May 1935 and is a rare survivor from this hardier bygone age of open air swimming. It was damaged by storms in February 2014 but following major structural works reopened in May 2016. The large triangular seawater pool is usually a few degrees warmer than the sea and the water in it is replaced by tidal movements. In […]
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 […]
Sunday 12th September 2021 After seeing people floating seemingly effortlessly around Coniston Water and Lake Bala, Robert had been keen to try stand up paddle-boarding [SUP]. We had also seen people inflating them in a car park in Llanberis and so he felt it would be possible to fit them in Al, the camper van. Since a minimum water level is required for a SUP, this was also affected by the tides but we found we could catch the boat to Bryher and hire them from the very helpful people at Hut 62 then catch the boat back. On arrival we were given a life jacket, a SUP and a paddle each and then a brief lesson. It is important not to drag or beach a SUP in case the fin snaps off. Paddle-boarding is all about balance and core strength, neither of which are Matilda’s strong points. She did not manage to stand up from kneeling on the board but her swimming costume did stay dry. She felt she should have practised this on dry land in advance. Robert, however, after a slightly shaky start, managed to stand up and move smoothly round the bay. Although Matilda stayed kneeling, […]
Saturday 11th September 2021 Once again there were limited boats we could catch from Tresco because of the extreme tides. However, this also meant that we would have more time on the island we visited. We therefore waved goodbye to the girls at our cottage and set off to catch a boat to St Mary’s. On the quayside, we saw the helicopter arrive, running only a little late, and watched as it left with the girls on board. Once on St Mary’s we set off to walk around the entire island. The coastal path goes up past Juliet’s and then on to . . . . . . the ancient Iron Age village at Halangy Down. The site was inhabited until around 600-700 AD and the ruins here were uncovered between 1964 and 1977. Much of the stone from the site was removed in the 19th century to build a new pier at Hugh Town. Providing you have line of sight to this modern telecoms tower, you can get a 4G signal on the islands so not everywhere is covered. St Mary’s is known as the site of the tower from which Marconi heard wireless signals transmitted over 30 miles […]
Thursday 9th and Friday 10th September 2021 Since the tide continues to fall as you walk between Tresco and Bryher we had been advised to start walking about 30 minutes before the tide reached its lowest point. About an hour and a half before that, the crossing looked like this. The water soon receded. Eagle-eyed Jaime spotted a baby cuttlefish about the size of a thumbnail in the shallows. Even though it appeared almost transparent, it managed to squirt out a significant amount of black ink in an attempt to scare us off. Although it is called a walking tide . . . . . . on this day it was more like paddling. It was important to watch where you put your feet. Matilda asked the girls to look for interesting shells so that she could keep them as mementoes and say she had picked them up, if not exactly off the ocean floor, then perhaps off the seabed. All four of us . . . . . . made it across safely. Having reached Bryher we had to wait for the tide to rise so that we could catch a boat back. We took a walk . . […]
Wednesday 8th September 2021 After the travel stresses of the previous evening, we decided to treat ourselves to breakfast at the Flying Boat Café and Deli [see Dish of the day]. The extreme low and correspondingly high tides have an impact on the timings of both the Scillonian and the boats between the various islands so although we would have liked to go to St Mary’s to meet our daughters, we found we might not have been able to get the first boat after they landed back to Tresco with them as this was reserved for new arrivals. We therefore stayed on the island to wait for the girls to appear. Matilda had cajoled both daughters into coming to Tresco this year as it coincided with a “walking tide” – one that is low enough to allow people to walk between Tresco and Bryher. At 0.6m it was slightly higher than is recommended for the crossing but it was good enough for us. To fill the time before our daughters’ delayed arrival we took a stroll to the point where it is recommended people start the walk to make sure we knew where to begin the next day. Some people […]
Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th September 2021 We like to break up the journey to the Scillies and take in a few interesting sights on the way. This year our first overnight stay was Charlestown where we had a lovely view over the harbour from our room window. We had visited briefly last year and decided it was so picturesque it would be worth an overnight stay to allow us to sample the local hostelries . . . . . . and the atmosphere at the harbour-side bars in the evening. Well rested after an uncharacteristic lie-in we took a quick stroll in the morning before leaving to take a look at St Austell. Matilda had been expecting a castle keep on a mound, based purely on the brewery logo, but instead we found St Austell Market House which is apparently said to be “the jewel in St Austell’s crown”. During the middle ages markets and fairs were often held in churchyards, but Edward III passed a law prohibiting such events on church land and markets therefore had to relocate. Records show that in 1791 a small market building stood here but the successful town outgrew it and in 1842 […]