Scilly Ramblings

The first three days of our stay on St Mary’s were spent exploring as much of the island as possible.

Day one got off to a bit of a false start. We were on our way to the lifeboat station when we got caught in a hailstorm. We managed to keep Racheal dry and cover her with her waterproof poncho, but by the time we had got her sorted, Summer and I were both soaked. We kept going and sheltered in the RNLI shop until the heavy rain passed over. The volunteer on duty was Sue, the kind lady who had lent us the cover for Racheal’s chair. The Treki had been getting increasingly difficult to push. One of the brakes felt like it was partly engaged all the time and, on our way back to the cottage to dry off, it locked completely. Sue had recommended the bike hire/repair man, Chris. With Racheal transferred into her other chair and safely in the warm with Summer, I popped round the corner to see if he could help. A disc behind the brake disc had broken, so he could only disconnect the brake to make the wheel run freely. Easier to push, but not so easy to control on some of the downhill sections of our walks.

With dry clothes on, the sun now firmly in the sky and a freewheeling Treki, we set off again. We walked north, following the west coast of the island on the coast path. It had a few challenging spots either steep, rough or both. The wind was a factor when finding somewhere to picnic, but we came to the perfect spot just as we wanted to stop for lunch. A thick hedge had a shelter cut into it complete with a bench and space for Racheal’s chair, and with gorgeous views of the harbour. Continuing along the path we came to a road leading to ‘Juliet’s Tea Garden’. It had been recommended to us, but the four large steps made it inaccessible. We continued a little higher, to the golf club, where we enjoyed a coffee and stunning views of the sea. Refreshed, we set off again, heading northwards. Beyond Telegraph tower, we turned onto an unmade road which eventually became a grassy path leading to the Ancient Village. It was a peaceful place to sit for a while and imagine early life on the islands, living in basic round houses, farming the land and fishing the sea. We took a more direct route back to the cottage, pausing now and then on well placed seats. We had walked about 5 miles and been out almost all day so we were hungry. The Thai takeaway provided a good meal and we slept well that night

The next day we decided not to venture so far, partly because rain was forecast though it only fell in occasional short showers. So, dropping washing off at the laundrette on the way, we followed the road to Old Town. There we walked to Tolman Point and stopped in a café for lunch. We thought about following the coast path to Peninnis Lighthouse, but only got as far as the tiny church, just around the bay, before realising it was a bit too ambitious even for us! Instead we took the church drive back to the road, retracing our route towards Hughtown until we reached the hospital, and followed an easy track to the end of Peninnis Peninsula. As there was still plenty of the afternoon left, we made a detour to the Phoenix Craft Centre where a number of craftspeople have workshops and galleries. Beautiful things to look at, but mostly too expensive for gap year souvenirs. The rain started again as we left, so we dashed into a convenient café, The Gig, across the road and almost on the beach. It was a fairly short walk back to our ground floor flat when the rain stopped.

Our third consecutive day of Scilly rambles, which at times felt like all out hikes, took us to the east of St Mary’s island. We followed the road until we came to a track which took us to Carreg Dhu Gardens. A beautiful, peaceful, cottage garden with lots of paths and different areas to explore. From there the track took us to Longstone café for morning coffee in the sunshine. Here we also found a fully accessible youth hostel, which might have been a good option for us to stay, had we known about it.

The track took us a little further before we turned onto a path through a wood, alongside a small stream, and out onto a road once more. Soldiering up a hill, we found Mike in his wood workshop. (We later discovered he was the husband of our new friend, Sue.) We chatted awhile, then continued up the hill. To reach our goal of Pelistry beach, overlooking Toll’s Island, we had a bumpy, steep, downhill track to negotiate. By the time we got there, we were ready for our picnic and a well earned rest. A sand bar connects the island to St Mary’s at low tide. We watched it disappear below the waves as we ate.

What goes down must come up! Getting Racheal back up from the beach was quite a workout for Summer who does the lion’s share when the going is tough. Thankfully there was another café at Carn Vean, a short walk along a level path, once we got to the top. Sitting in the garden with a cuppa and a cake, we were entertained by some very tame garden birds. Recovered, we continued our circular walk, all on roads, via the ‘Higher Moors’ and Old Town back to our temporary abode. That evening we were treated to a beautiful sunset, which we popped out to watch and photograph.