Tresco

The Isles of Scilly off the SW coast of England is the UK's largest archipelago. There are about 140 islands, most of them just rocky outcrops providing a haven for wildlife and sea birds. Five of the islands are inhabited and as long as the weather is OK you can visit them by boat from the island I'm staying on, St Mary's. The B and B where I was staying received a daily timetable showing which islands would be accessible by boat that day with the times of outgoing and return sailings.  All things on the islands were reliant on weather and tides. As the weather was looking good I took the boat to the island of Tresco.

Tresco is a small family run island. In 1834 the Duchy of Cornwall leased the islands to Augustus Smith, a Hertfordshire squire. He successfully brought prosperity to the islands. He built his home Tresco Abbey alongside an old priory and also created a world class garden with plants from around the world. The Tresco abbey garden is internationally known for its sub tropical flora and fauna and a place I was keen to visit. Today Robert Dorrien Smith and his wife Lucy run the business as the Tresco Estate. There is a community of about 150 people permanently living on the island.

The islands are small enough to walk around in a few hours. This is my first visit to the Isles of Scilly and I couldn't believe how beautiful the beaches are with their white sands and turquoise sea.

I stopped at this beachside cafe for lunch which was absolutely delicious. Should have taken a photo but had eaten it before I thought of taking a photo!

However, this was the view from my table.

After lunch I carried on walking around the island.

I left the coast here and walked inland to the Tresco Abbey Gardens

The Abbey entrance.

This small decorative bridge takes you into the gardens. So follow me as I walk around.

Red squirrels. I only see grey ones where I live.

A shell decorated summer house.

There were numerous pheasants strolling through the undergrowth.

I returned to the pier in time to catch the last boat back to St Mary's. Time to say goodbye to Tresco with its fabulous beaches and beautiful garden. I wonder what the other islands have to offer.

Isles of Scilly

After a few days in Cornwall I bid farewell to my friend who was returning to London via train and I went off to Newquay airport where I left the car and took a flight to the Scilly Isles. This small group of islands is 28 miles off the SW tip of England. You can fly to the islands from Land's End, Newquay or Exeter or a ferry from Penzance. I had chosen to stay on the island of St Mary's, the largest at 2.5 square miles.

I was due to fly at 2pm but had received a phone call the previous day to say it was unlikely my flight would be going due to high winds that were forecast. Instead my booking had been changed to 8am to ensure I got onto the island. There were 13 of us on the flight plus the two pilots and the flight took just over 20 mins.

So as dawn was breaking, it was goodbye to Cornwall.

and hello to the Scilly Isles. We were only flying st 500 ft so the views were great.

We landed on the island of St Mary's and there were taxis waiting to take passengers to their accommodation as part of the Skybus service.

This is Pelistry Cottage, the B and B, where I would be staying for the next few nights

Just one row of houses separates the front of the cottage from the sea.

 Behind the cottage and another row of houses is this view of the sea. I am staying at the narrowest part of the island.