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THE SCILLY ISLES DID YOU KNOW

1. The Royal Connection

The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate essentially owned by the Duke of Cornwall. The Duke of Cornwall is, by tradition, the eldest son of the monarch. Therefore, Prince William, also Duke of Cambridge, is the present Duke of Cornwall.

The Duchy of Cornwall owns most of the land which makes up the Scilly Isles and nearly one third of the residential buildings on the islands. Dolphin House on the isle of Tresco is, or was, owned by King Charles III. It may actually have been owned by the Duchy, meaning Prince William owns it. If the latter is correct then the Duchy of Cornwall owns the isle of Tresco. Prince William would be the owner of the island on which he owns a house.

I further understand that, when the Royal family or their friends are not using the house it is available for private rent. If my plans to travel England from September 2023 come to fruition then I shall have a word about a possible four night stay.

Tourism is the most important industry on the islands with almost 100,000 visitors in the summer during normal times. Flower farming is also an important part of the local economy, helped by the mild climate. The scented Narcissi are a particular favourite. With so many uninhabited, perhaps hardly ever visited by humans, islands, wildlife and nature thrive. The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust, which manages around 60 per cent of the area of the Isles, including the uninhabited islands, plays an important role in protecting wildlife and their habitats. The Trust pays a rent to the Duchy of one daffodil per year!

Now about that four night stay. I've just had a quick look around my garden and I can do a tulip and an unnamed purple thing. Is that suitable your Royal Highness?





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2. The Scilly Isles Eat

Obviously, being a group of islands, sea food is not only popular on the Scilly isles it is also extremely fresh. However, on my only visit (3 hours) I am certain I bought some fudge. I know from my many months spent there that you can get fudge nearly everywhere in Cornwall so this would seem likely but I have no proof. I did then do a quick google and discovered there are now at least two places on the Scilly Isles who make and sell fudge so that is what I have decided the Scilly Isles eat.

It seems that fudge was invented in America as recently as 1886. However when you use a recipe that includes clotted cream, for which the west country of England is famous, then you can see why it has become so popular in this area. There are no doubt many recipes for making fudge and some will have a secret ingredient that gives that fudge a unique taste but the general principle seems to be to boil unrefined caster sugar, golden syrup and clotted cream, adding any colouring or flavouring, like vanilla, that you want and when it has reached a certain temperature, remove it from the heat and beat the mixture, tradition says by hand, until it becomes thick. This can take ten minutes it says. Then put it into some kind of tin and leave it for 30 minutes. Mark into squares, or any shape you want I guess, and leave until set. Some people then cut it into squares, or the shape they have marked, and store it in an airtight container. This seems to me like a waste of an airtight container so I would save on that by eating all the fudge at once.

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3. Scilly Isles VIPs

Seven random people who were born in the Scilly Isles in the last 100 years:-
Needless to say with a total population of just over 2,000 people, the smallest on our journey, it has not been possible to find, despite endless research, seven VIPs for this section. I did find two who might fit:‐
Sam Llewellyn (Author) and the late Stella Turk (Zoologist, Naturalist, and Conservationist).

Normally mothers are taken to Cornwall to give birth or to the main island of St. Mary's so I guess Thea Windrige Hicks who was born on St Agnes (population 73) in 2013 is pretty special as she was the first birth there since 1937. Meanwhile, Marcus Daniel McLachlan missed out on being born on St Martin's (population 142) as his mother was airlifted to Cornwall for his birth. He wasn't born in Cornwall either as he arrived in mid-air, in a helicopter, somewhere over Cornwall. Bit VIPish too.

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4. Richard Remembers

I have visited the Scilly Isles just once. It was a long time ago, a very long time ago. No, it wasn't still joined to Cornwall, don't be silly.

I had a choice. I could go by helicopter or on a boat. I don't like heights. I also believe that the laws of physics dictate that any machine with rotating blades on its roof should not actually ascend upwards but should basically screw itself into the ground.

I went by boat. It took about 3 hours and, luckily, about the same time coming back. You may laugh at that statement but I once flew from Melbourne in Eastern Australia to Perth in Western Australia. The flight was 6 hours, Australia is a big country, but I was told it would only take 5 hours to come back because of the prevailing winds. I never found out as I so loved Western Australia I never flew back, spending the rest of my time there and then flying back to Europe.

It was lovely weather for my ferry trip to the Scilly Isles, a calm sea, a little breeze and warm sunshine. It was summer. Sometimes the Scilly Isles can catch the full force of a gale coming across the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, journey times mean you only have about 4 hours on the island of St Mary's which is where the ferry landed. Actually I landed, the ferry stayed in the harbour.

I remember a very blue sea, lots of yachts in the harbour, houses and cottages tumbling down the hills around the harbour (not literally, I'm being poetic here) and loads of greenery and flowers. We walked around, had lunch, my memory says fish and chips (my stomach says let's go back) and it was all very leisurely. I would love to go back one day and visit a few more islands, still in a nice, leisurely way.

As my mother is no longer alive I will not have to be on the lookout for British Prime Minsters. Harold Wilson, one of whose sons I was at school with, holidayed on the islands. Mother said if she saw him she would give him a piece of her mind. She wasn't a fan. He is actually buried on the islands. Mother's ashes were thrown into the sea off the Essex coast; maybe she's made it round there.





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5. Owlbut's Birdwatch

The storm petrel is a little bit bigger than a sparrow. People think it may be called a "storm" petrel because sailors associated seeing the birds with bad weather. The storm petrel is largely found on islands on the west coast of England. It only comes to shore to breed and then at night. They are present at the breeding sites from May to September. You may see some offshore in October when they fly south to waters off South Africa.

They often feed in flocks and will follow ships, especially fishing trawlers. This is probably as they eat fish, plankton and crustaceans. When they feed they hold their wings up in a "V" pattern.

Storm petrels appear all black but with a white patch on their backs. They have brown legs and a black, medium length, hooked beak. There are 25,700 breeding pairs in the UK.

Storm petrels are between 14 and 18 cms in length, have a wingspan of between 36 and 39 cms and weigh between 23 and 30 grams.





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Two extra sections, "It Happened Here" and "Now That's Weird", will appear on 25 November 2024