Have you been to the Isles of Scilly and visited St. Agnes? What did we miss by only being able spend the afternoon on it. What do we need to check out on a future visit?
the church is worth a look ( regardless of your beliefs)as there are some beautiful stained windows (modern, and my particular favourite is the Lighthouse window by Oriel Hicks " and the Lord said let there be light..." It always makes me cry! ) and somehow it is in the perfect setting for a community whose lives are so ruled by the sea..the board at the back of the church lists rescues and losses at sea, it makes for sad reading but having been out to the Bishop it brings it home to you.. its my favourite church..anywhere! and a wander over Wingletang to Beady pool to hunt for one of the 17th century ceramic beads which occasionally appear washed ashore from a wreck.
Worth walking round the island of St Agnes. On the south part of the island is Wingletang Bay, a lovely place to picnic. Also known as "Beady Pool", the bay is famous for a wreck in the 1600s when a load of beads were washed up on the beach, which can still be found occasionally if you have a lot of time to look. (I found one many years ago!)
Hi Ruth, reading your reply, it sounds like I missed quite a special point on the island, and I agree that the lighthouse stained glass window sounds lovely. An excellent quote to go with it, and you're right about how perfect it is for people whose lives can so often be dictated by the sea! I'd heard about these beads on the Isles of Scilly but hadn't realised it was on St. Agnes where you're most likely to find them. I certainly have a few places on the bucket list for whenever we managed to make it back there. Thank you
Wingletang and Wingletang Bay look amazing. As suspected, we missed a bit of a treat, but I have new things for my bucket list when we manage to make it back!
Wingletang Down ,it’s my favourite part of St.Agnes to walk around ,lots of interesting granite formations a bit like a low lying Logan Rock near Porthcurno in Cornwall. Plus of course the Turks Head the view across to the Gugh definitely imo is the best view from any pub window or garden in the world.
Many years ago my parents (who visited the Scillies regularly) were asked to baby sit the Island of Gugh when the only couple on the island travelled to the bigger islands to get married. Mum told me that the couple had to come back on a tractor trailer as the tide was coming in. A few years later when my parents had their house built, they named it The Gugh.
I can't imagine being asked to baby sit the island - what an awesome responsibility. Coming back on a tractor trailer sound brilliant, and I don't blame them for calling their house Gugh after that experience!
The islands really are stunning. So easy to do anything - you just rock up and go. No need to pre-book inter island boats, and the nature is just there every day. I can see why you say it's the best holiday you've ever had. Do you go back regularly?
@@jackwatsonepic626 Wow, that's a long journey, but still worth it. I grew up in Washington and went to school in Sunderland! Do you drive down to Cornwall or go by train?
Caroline, Your videos of Isles of Scilly (Cornwall) made me think of "Doc Martin" the TV show. It was filmed in Cornwall. I enjoyed watching that BBC show. I love the seaside and the birds and sea life. If I lived in the UK it would be in the Cornwall area. Thanks for sharing that part of heaven with us. Cheers ☕☕🤠
Sorry for the a delayed reply, it's been a manic week at work last week. You're right, it's Port Isaac in Cornwall where they film Doc. Martin. I'm part of a few Cornwall Facebook groups and people often post photos when they've visited and filming has been taking place. I can understand why you'd want to live somewhere in Cornwall if you were UK based, it really is a stunning part of the UK. Sadly, because of this, property prices are incredibly high, exasperated by people who purchase 2nd homes for holiday-ing in! Cheers to you too ☕☕
Fantastic video showing off the amazing wildlife and the beauty of the islands. The Sea King was one of the boats that was around in the 1960s when I was a kid, as were the Guiding Star, Surprise, Britannia and Golden Spray. Amazing to think how old these boats must be.
I thought the Sea King looked like an older style of boat, but at the same time, beautifully maintained as the paintwork didn't make it look old! The amount of times we ended up on this boat during our stay - it became a bit of a joke in the end. We definitely used the Britannia a couple of times, and I know we didn't go on the Golden Spray (I mean, what a name, I'd have remembered if I had done!) but I can't remember about the other 2. Thank you so much for your kind words about the video. I always hope I can do a place true justice when I visit and always hope I can capture the true essence of a place.
When I used to go there it was rare to see more than one yacht in any of the bays. The Bishop is a great trip on a calm day, but if it's rough or even a good swell, give it a miss. Question for you. What was the boat you went out on. Was it the old Swordfish or the Sea King? Excellent video. Thank you. By the way, they used to pick up the rubbish by tractor, and I assume take it back to St Mary's.
Thank you for answering the query about the rubbish - and that makes sense as I saw the tractor on those paths. We were on the Sea King... and that boat kept serving us several times across our visit to the islands, we became rather fond of it! Thank you so much for your kind words!
When myself and my brother was there I said I will stay on the quey and mind the bags while you locate the campsite . But we soon realised that nothing gets pinched on the island because there is no where to go 😂 it's just a small island . Now on the mainland Britain you couldn't leave anything unless you locked it up
Too right about mainland Britain, it's such a shame! We travelled in Jordan at the back end of 2021 and I remember locals talking about how they hear in the cities in Europe, there's lots of petty crime, pick pocketing, especially of tourists, and it's because in Jordan, this is virtually unheard of. One gentleman who we got chatting to in the capital of Amman said he'd left his keys in his parked car because there was more chance of him loosing his keys whilst out and about, than of someone stealing his car. Had I known the Isles of Scilly were so similar, I'd have been telling them all to visit these so their opinion could have been changed!!
we got to "the Bishop" this May as for the first time in 18 visits as for once, the sea was calm enough...if anyone gets the chance while visiting, they should do that trip. Agnes is my husbands favourite island, mine is Bryher, but we stay on St Marys as that gives us easy access to all of them! great little video and we cant wait to go back.
Hi Ruth, sorry for the a delayed reply, it's been a manic week at work last week. Wow, 18 visits and you finally got to do the trip, I bet you were thrilled! I guess May must have been a good month this year as we too were there late May into June, and despite doing this on our 1st day through fear that it may not run again during our stay, most of the days during our holiday, they ran this boat trip! Really interesting to hear which islands were yours and your husband's favourites. I don't think we did Bryher full justice as we did a wildlife tour with Will Wagstaff in the morning so was more fixated on the flora and fauna rather than the island itself, and we never made it back to St. Agnes on the trip, so again, 1/2 a day seems a little unfair to judge it on. Like you, we found St. Mary's to be very practical for access to the other islands, but I also surprised myself with how much I enjoyed exploring St. Mary's - we had an epic day exploring the island in the middle of our trip and we saw and did so much. Do you have another trip already booked, or just hopeful for when you do get back again?
What a lovely boat trip to start the day, shame you picked the wrong side - hate it when that happens. Same applies to buses and planes!! Loved the lighthouse and all the details you gave, I find those places so interesting. The steps and ladder to get in looked crazy!! When you see it in such calm waters it's hard to imagine the waves crashing over the top of the whole thing let alone causing damage to the lantern - how frightening it must have been for those inside. The water is so clear!! Some parts of the island remind me of the tranquillity and isolation of northern Scotland, in fact it's how I always imagined some of the smaller islands up there to look (plus a few more hills inland).
We too often likened the 'views' of the islands to those in Scotland, especially the Isles of Lewis and Harris. But our experience up there was quite chilly in the height of summer, but we were super lucky with the weather for our whole stay on the Isles of Scilly, and the culture down there is very different too. I'm with you on the bus/train/boat situation and being on the wrong side. It's the sort of thing I usually try and look up, but because we didn't know if this trip (or which trips) would run whilst we were there, I hadn't done my research. That said, I did very little research ahead of this trip and it was one of the wonderful things about it, minimal effort (past booking accommodation) but maximum rewards once there!
Super day out. I loved seeing Bishops Rock Lighthouse and your exploration of St Agnes. I often have wanted to go but then headed off elsewhere as I was concerned there might not be enough to do. Looks a good start to your stay.
Hi Ivor, sorry for the a delayed reply, it's been a manic week at work last week. Much like you, I wasn't sure about what there was to do on the Isles of Scilly as they're not commercialised and you need to find your own fun, but with not much research, I quickly realised a day trip from the mainland wouldn't be enough, and in the end, we filled a whole week with no effort, and there's still parts of all of the islands we visited that we've not seen and would love to go back to see. If you enjoy having nature almost to yourself, you like walks (I couldn't class any of the walking we did as hikes) good food, very welcoming locals and beach-y activities, you'll find more than enough to do!
How are you doing mrs Caroline thank you for sharing your trips with us encourage to explore places unknown to us as always iam gathering main information about places you visited briefly here it’s Bishop Rock is skerry off British coast In northern Atlantic Ocean known for light house in western most part of Isles of Scilly archipelago offs southern western tip of Cornish peninsula of Great Britain . Guinness book of records lists word smallest island with building on it . Bishop Rock comprised 145 islands of only six of isles have been inhabited at one point in time . The lighthouse is not for sleeping there are two bedrooms and one bathroom holiday cottage with uninterrupted views of sea . In 13 th century John de allet under jurisdiction and his wife Isabella Bishop Rock there are western rock gilistone teer where admiral shovel in mass association wrecked in great naval disaster of 1707 shovel remains where repatriated to England by order of Queen Anne shortly after burial in Isles of Scilly light house constructed in 1858 built by Jane Walker automated 1992 heritage grade 11 listed building. There are too Walker first tower , second tower keeper dwelling in 1946 bbc sent reporters to Bishop Rock part of program of round Christmas massage used before Second World War .
Hi Khatoon, I am well thank you, I hope you are too. Despite all the research and reading I did for this trip, I had no idea Bishop Rock was in the Guinness book of records for being the smallest island with a building on it, but once I read it, It makes sense as it's tiny! We were lucky enough to visit the 6 islands that have been inhabited at some point. It's fairly standard to visit all 5 of the currently inhabited ones, but for Samson which no one lives on now, boats only run on some days and we got lucky with one running on one afternoon whilst we visited!
Been to the isles of Scilly told everyone it was like going to the Caribbean but cheaper ; stayed at st. Agnes camping 🏕️ ; to me " the best island among the other 4 The reason they leave mountain bikes unlocked is because you're wasting your time pinching (stealing) it Because you can't go nowhere 🤔 these islanders live a completely , different lifestyle to us UK residences on the mainland could you imagine having honesty boxes on the mainland , lol
The St. Agnes campsite looked like a dream and if I camped, based on the sites we saw (I didn't see the one on Bryher) I think I'd have opted for St. Agnes too 😍 The thought of honesty boxes and unlocked bikes in South Croydon makes me laugh at how ridiculous the idea is. I LOVE their way of life, and trustworthiness - even if it is because you wouldn't get far with the bike!
