Isles of Scilly Discovery Holidays
Enjoy a car-free, care-free holiday!
Visiting St Mary’s, St Agnes, St Martin’s, Tresco & Bryher
Saturday 12th May – Saturday 19th May 2012
Price £595 per person
May Discovery Holiday [FULL]
Banish those winter blues and come to the glorious Isles of Scilly for a wonderful spring break. May has a particular charm with its ever-changing light and the abundance of spring flowers (such as the three-cornered leek!).
Staying on St Mary’s, you will visit all the inhabited off-islands of St Agnes, St Martin’s, Tresco and Bryher, enjoying a full day on each. On Gugh (a separate island attached to St Agnes by a tidal bar) the ghosts of former bulb fields can be seen, as well as Obadiah’s Barrow and the Old Man of Gugh!
The May Discovery Holiday differs from that in June as it offers a whole day’s exploration of the island of St Mary’s. A gentle walk past beaches of glistening sand (once used for drying ink) and wonderful views of Hugh Town, leads to the magnificent prehistoric burial chamber at Bants Carn, perhaps 5000 years old, and the nearby settlement on Halangy Down, where you can see the ruins of houses and yards occupied 2,000 years ago. A short coastal walk through Monterey pines and over sand dunes leads to the beautifully situated prehistoric entrance graves at Innisidgen and views to the mysterious, and possibly Arthurian, Eastern Isles. Past Watermill Cove a grassy path leads to the lovely beach at Pelistry and Toll’s Island.
Not to be missed is the Napoleonic and later watch house at Mount Todden, set within a Civil War earthwork. Contemporary graffiti can still be seen inscribed on the interior walls. Constantly changing scenery leads to Porth Hellick Down where a superbly maintained prehistoric tomb can be entered, and where a Byzantine coin was once found!
A turfy downhill stroll leads to the memorial to the famous and much-respected Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell marking the place where his body was washed ashore in October 1707. He died, with about 1,500 others, when his ship, the Association, was wrecked on the Western Rocks with three other vessels.
The walk then turns inland across wooden walkways through the marshland of Higher Moors, with wildfowl and tussock-sedges, and then through the Tolkienesque elm woodland that leads to Holy Vale in the heart of the island. From here, and if time permits (it usually does!), a refreshment break can be enjoyed at the Longstone Heritage Centre where their cakes just have to be sampled! See also their fascinating displays about island history.
The half day excursion takes place on the Garrison, where a visit to a pottery is usually possible. The Garrison has an amazing range of defensive structures dating from the late 16th century to the Second World War. The real gem is Star Castle, built in 1593, and still in use today as a hotel where you can enjoy lunch if you wish. The views from here across St Mary’s harbour and neighbouring islands are stunning. We might even see a Scilly shrew!