Unless you are part of the Tresco elite, your entry and exit point to the Isles of Scilly will be the largest island, St Mary’s. It serves as a transport hub, including the main harbour and the location of the only airport. Most of the services you might need are also to be found here.
So my journey away from St Agnes to my next extremity necessarily took me here next. To reach the house where we were staying was a half hour walk from the harbour. It took us through Hughtown, along its pretty beach, and then via a cliff path to the highest point on the islands, called Telegraph. There is an old stone tower here, which is now accompanied by tall, modern radio masts. The view from our apartment looked out over the sea to the west at St Martin’s and Tresco, over which we would watch the sun setting late each evening. It was more than acceptable.
During our week there, we walked the whole of St Mary’s. For a small place it was quite diverse and full of interest, with well-placed cafes and pubs to punctuate our wanderings. There were more well-preserved stone burial chambers, freshwater pools with bird hides, paths through elm woodland, and excellent coastal and cliff walking. The island plant life was exotically lush and everywhere sub-tropical plants and flowers seemed to be thriving. It all looked and felt quite different to where we live.
An example is the local sport of choice: Pilot Gig racing. Gigs are small, open, wooden boats that are rowed over the sea by a crew of six rowers and a cox, and there are weekly races for both men’s and women’s crews. Each island has at least one boat, many of which have been in use for over a hundred years. Many local young people seem to be in a crew and it is not for softies! St Mary’s hosts the World Pilot Gig Championships in early May each year, and it had taken place a couple of weeks ago. We got to watch a Friday night men’s race close up from the judges launch, which was great fun. Many of the participants on this brisk evening were shirtless!
According to Wikipedia: “a gig is built of Cornish narrow-leaf elm, and is recognised as one of the first shore-based lifeboats that went to vessels in distress, with the earliest recorded rescues dating to the late 17th century. The original purpose of the Cornish pilot gig was as a general work boat, and the craft was used as a pilot boat, taking pilots out to incoming vessels off the Atlantic Coast. At the time, pilots would compete with each other for work; the gig crew who got their pilot on board a vessel first would get the job.” And from there, a sport was born!
On St Mary’s, the only island where there is a small loop of road and the locals own cars, you hardly ever encounter traffic of any note. The greatest noise, apart from the wind and the waves, comes from the small aircraft taking off and landing.
To get from here to the mainland, there are three main options. In order of affordability, there are the Scillonian ferry, regular small plane flights, or a helicopter passenger service. On St Mary’s itself there is just the community bus that does a circuit of the island once an hour throughout the day, more or less. It’s quite an experience!
The Scillonian III is fondly known as the “vomit comet” because of its reputation for turbulent crossings. It is scheduled to make the voyage here from Penzance each morning, and returns late each afternoon. We came out to Scilly this way, and were lucky to hit a calm, sunny day when the sea was like a millpond. The next couple of days saw strong winds and the ferry refusing to bring day trippers. What a difference a day can make!
Plane flights can be made direct to and from Land’s End, Newquay or Exeter. The runway sits right on the top of cliffs and the coastal path has traffic lights to prevent walkers from straying into danger when planes are taking off or landing. These are the only traffic lights on the islands!
The helicopter, which flies to Penzance, is one of only two scheduled passenger helicopter flights in the UK (the other being to Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel). For that reason, we chose to treat ourselves, and make our way back to Penzance – and my bicycle – by chopper! There were nine passengers, including the two of us, and the crew consisted of a single pilot. It was all over in twenty minutes, and it was noisy; but it was quite an exciting experience to do once, and I am glad we did it. And now, suddenly, after a peaceful week in a rather gentler and separate world, we were back in a busy town on the mainland.
