Not a Cheap Date
⬅ previous ⬆intro next ➡Day 9 ~ Tuesday 10 September ~ Tresco
Today's island-hopping will be taking us to Bryher properly, not just a brief stop at the jetty as we've done several times now.
Dramatic sky on Amanda's morning run. But will the blue or the grey win out for the day?
We have this small church just behind our back garden, but this is the first time we've visited.
It's quite simple inside, but not totally spartan...
As you can see from this carved screen at the back of the choir seating.
The boats have a definite Viking look to them which I don't quite understand. The Vikings definitely knew and visited Scilly, but don't appear to have ever had any great presence or lasting influence. The text on the shield reads, "We pray you remember in the Lord, Cicely Francis Dorrien Smith, born November 4th 1882: died at Rouen April 18th 1915"
The Dorrien Smith family are the leaseholders and business operators of Tresco today, but at that time, they held the rather grand title of "Lord Proprietors of the Scilly Islands", so she was clearly a woman of local importance. As you might guess from the date and place of death, she was serving in the First World War, and it turns out that the Imperial War Museum website has a bit more information about her: https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7688269.
We'll take the ferry even if this chap is showing us an alternative method.
At extreme low tides, it's even possible to walk between the two islands, and since 2015 they've taken to hosting a short pop-up festival on the sandbar in the summer months. Sadly the next scheduled event will be on the 19th, over a week from now and long after we will have left, but we saw it on the Devon and Cornwall program I mentioned at the beginning.
There doesn't seem to be a "you are here" marker, but we've arrived here at Church Quay on the right hand side of the map. A little above it, you can see "Bar" which is where Anneka Rice built the low-tide key.
Amanda recognises many of the place names from the book she's currently reading: "Hangman's Island" by Kate Rhodes. [Look at the top right of the map.] It's one in a series of murder mysteries set in the Scilly Isles, and Amanda reckons it's excellent. I've not read it myself but the Amazon consensus is largely positive, although there are apparently quite a number of factual errors that grate on people who know. Fortunately neither of us are sufficiently familiar with Scilly locations, bird species, the sailing times of the Penzance ferry and so forth, to be put off by them being wrong.
This is the church that gives the quay its name. It's quite small, but then considering the number of residents on the island (177 according to the 2021 Census), it's arguably surprisingly grand.
Most of the fabric ov the building dates from the 19th century, although the roof was replaced in 1930 and this is one of four stained glass windows installed in 2007. Regarding the latter, the building is Grade II listed, and the listing (from 1975) specifically mentions "Late C19 stained glass windows." They may be the two you can see in the end wall in the exterior picture, but if so, they weren't interesting enough for me to take a photo of them individually.
Down on the beach, and the blue seems to be winning out for a bit.
More seals.
But as we continue our walk, the grey is fighting back.
Out to sea, the Atlantic is looking a bit rough.
But by contrast, you can see how sheltered the water between Tresco and Bryher is.
From a little rocky beach we look back across at King Charles' and Cromwell's Castles.
Tucked away in a corner of the beach, it would be easy to miss the route over this stile.
Even when you're on the route, it would be pretty easy to miss it.
We've seen quite a few repurposed telephone boxes over the years, but the exact nature of this one is a bit unclear. I suppose it's a sort of rock garden and sweet pea trellis in a glassless greenhouse.
Another hint at the strength of the prevailing winds.
They're using the low-water quay now. That's where we'll return from later.
What have we here? Some kind of kiosk.
Oh, it's a little honesty shop.
Well we quite fancy the sound of some macarons.
We haven't got any cash with us, but that's no problem.
Success!
Oh, yes, I've got my hood up and my jacket fully zipped. As you may deduce the sunshine completely lost out in the end. It's windy, cold and a bit damp now.
Definitely low tide! It'll be a while before we can get our boat back, and with the weather turning, we will seek out a warmer spot to wait.
"Olivia's Kitchen" looks a good bet.
And so it proves. A pleasant little spot to have a coffee or a beer, and maybe a bit of cake.
Back at the cottage, it's our last night on Tresco, so we will raise a glass of Cornish fizz, then have dinner at the "Ruin Beach Café".
Seems quite simple and relaxed.
A little bit of sea-themed decoration.
But gosh, the food is a bit grander than the name and general appearance of the place might lead you to expect. They have pizza as well, but it looks pretty posh too. Bland pub grub it ain't.
We eat and drink well (if not inexpensively). Another solid recommendation from us.
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