The Scilly Isles are a perfect example of the sort of place that so close, yet so far. You can just about see them from Land's End on a clear day, but they only merit one page in the local newspaper, and aside from the constant whir of the helicopter blades, it would be easy to forget that they were there. In fact, the largest island, St Mary's, only has a population of 1,666 and the smallest, little more than 70. Alarmingly though, despite their diminutive size, the Isles were officially at war with the Netherlands as recently as 1986!
So in keeping with my obsession with following the compass points, two weeks ago (I know, it's a shamefully late entry this one) I boarded an absurdly small plane at Land's End and took off for St. Mary's for four days of exploring.
I've been to the Scilly Isles before - once when I was a lot younger for an extended stay, and twice more recently for day trips - but I've only ever really known St. Mary's, so this time I resolved to get to know the other islands; St. Agnes, St. Martin's, Tresco and Bryher. This primarily involved getting a launch from St. Mary's each morning to a different island, and then spending the rest of the day walking that island's coastal path.
On the first day after settling in I donned my oh-so fetching shorts and set off for St. Agnes via quite a few seal colonies, and the Bishop's Rock Lighthouse, the most south-westerly outpost of the British Isles.
Leaving aside my odd obsession with lighthouses, there's something quite inspiring about Bishop's Rock and the real sense of isolation there - even from St. Agnes it's little more than a speck out to sea. In fact, it's this sense of isolation that makes the Scilly Isles such a wonderful place. When the weather's bad the islands can be cut off from the mainland for weeks at a time. I've commented before on how I've grown tired about visiting places on my own, but I never felt that way on Scilly, instead, it almost felt like the right way to experience the islands. Sitting on the top of Bryher, looking over the archipelago to Tresco, Samson, St. Mary's, St. Agnes, Gugh and Annet, and not being able to hear or see another soul apart from the boats cruising between the islands was a fantastic experience and one that I'd have happily sat for the whole day enjoying.
This isolation goes beyond setting the islands apart from the mainland, and it even contributes to each island putting forward its own unique character. It's hard to convey just how different each of the islands feels. St. Mary's is the busiest, but even there, most of the hustle is concentrated around the main town and quay with the rest of the island feeling deserted at times.
St. Agnes was the first island I visited that I hadn't been too before, and seemed to be the most celtic, and remote, of all the islands. It's connected to the island of Gugh (population: 3) via a sandbar that's only crossable at low tide, and it's separated from the rest of the islands by a deep water channel.
There was a real feel of a different world walking around the Atlantic coast, no more so than when I came upon a truly beautiful beach that had been filled by people creating structures of standing stones.
There must have been thousands, and it has hard not to marvel that people had bothered to make them in the first place, and that someone hadn't come along and knocked them down in the name of fun. But aside from the atmosphere, the scenery didn't seem that different to the ordinary Cornish coast. So onto Tresco.
Tresco has something of a bad press on the islands. It's the only private island and is rather exclusive, and that seems to lead to quite a lot of resentment among the other islands. It's a shame, because Tresco is really a stunning island with a sub-tropical garden that I'm told has even made its way into the Dutch geography curriculum! But there is an air of pretentiousness there which does detract from what could be called the most beautiful island.
Bryher had to be the island that took me most by surprise. Stuck out to the north, only one side is visible from the other islands, and it's the bit that's hidden that's the most remarkable. Constantly battered by the Atlantic waves, Bryher acts as a sea wall for the rest of the islands and has the feeling of a remote headland. The coast itself can only be described as barren and rugged, but that's what's so wonderful. Compared to the managed beauty of Tresco, Bryher's a perfect example of how beautiful nature can be when it's left to do it's own thing. The fact that the north of the island shelters the rest of the island leaves the middle of the island a little tranquil oasis, and probably leaves Bryher as my personal favourite of the islands.
On the fourth day I set off for St. Martins, little aware of what to expect, other than that the fact that it's home to the Rough Guide to Britain's Best Beach. St Martin's is quite accurately described as one big beach home to an island, and the whole coast is practically covered by white sands.
But despite their beauty, they're all almost without fail, deserted. And that's just it with the Scilly Isles. The majority of visitors to the islands come on a day trip, and then tend to stay on St. Mary's, or perhaps visit Tresco. It's unusual to spend longer, or to take a day trip to another island, so so much of what's on offer gets missed. Admittedly, the fact that the island's aren't overrun lends a great deal to their appeal, but I can't help wishing that more people took the time to really appreciate the place. In fact, in the end, some people did. The weather closed in on the final day such Land's End became fog bound and grounded my flight. Luckily I was staying with a friend, but the other's on my flight were day trippers who hadn't packed for an overnight stay, nor had banked on having to pay for accommodation. I really had to sympathise with them, but at the end of the day there's a little part of me that thinks any reason to spend a little longer on the islands has to be good.
Before this trip I had little idea of what the islands held. Ironically on leaving I noticed the following sign on the walkway over the runway:
Funny, loitering on the Scilly Isles is just what I want to do more of.
1 comment:
Tresco? For a minute I thought you said Tesco! I alway's wiki the places you talk about Jack, so interesting!
Jeremy
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