Scilly season: A day trip to Tresco

ISLAND PARADISE

Kirstie Newton takes a day trip to Tresco

Sparkling white sands and cerulean waters, palm trees and subtropical temperatures, meals al fresco on sun-dappled terraces. We’re not talking about the Med here, but the Isles of Scilly, the UK’s most southwesterly outpost.

The archipelago sits 28 miles from Land's End, and a helicopter flight makes short work of that distance – it takes just 15 minutes, and you can fly in and out of different islands (St Mary’s and Tresco) making it the perfect location for a day trip.

My partner and I took advantage of a rare child-free week during the holidays to get up bright and early and drive down to Penzance Helicopters ahead of the rushhour traffic. The heliport is just off the A30, with on-site parking or an electric shuttle bus connection to the railway station. We checked in; for a day trip, there’s a 5kg luggage allowance, perfect for a backpack (those staying on the islands a little longer can take 20kg).

We boarded, and as the helicopter rose from the ground, I couldn’t help feeling excited. We flew during the summer heatwave, in azure blue skies. The view from the window was truly magnificent, with Mount's Bay and St Michael’s Mount to one side, the West Cornwall coast to the other: Mousehole, Newlyn and Land’s End. Not only was Longships Lighthouse clearly visible, but also Wolf Rock - and the Isles of Scilly approaching on the horizon.

Our destination was Tresco, which has been under the stewardship of the Dorrien-Smith family for nearly two centuries. The current generation strives to maintain its feel as an escape from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Rural yet coastal, wild yet generously luxurious, remote yet seamlessly easy to reach; here, families come together, couples retreat and there is, quite simply, time to be.

One of the best ways to see Tresco (and indeed the Scillies in general) is by bicycle. The island is about two and a half miles long by a mile wide at its broadest

point, meaning you can nip from one end to the other in no time. You can hire bikes from Smith Square – the island’s administrative hub.

While there, we popped into the Flying Boat Club for coffee. Try the traditional Scillonian Tattie Cake, a sugary fruit-filled confection. “I presume it doesn’t actually have potato in it?” I asked. I presumed wrong. You’d never know, so don’t let it put you off.

We needed to work the cake off before lunch, so we jumped on our steeds and headed off in the vague direction of Old Grimsby (as I hail from Great Grimsby, it always gives me a thrill to visit its remote namesake). Our coastal route was studded by blue and white agapanthus, aka African lily; we stopped off for a paddle on the fine white sands of an unspoilt beach, with hardly anyone else in sight. Such bliss. (If the sun isn’t shining, the spa is a worthy alternative, with pool, sauna and steam room). Eventually, we reached one of Tresco’s many historic sites: the Old Blockhouse, a 16th-century fortification built by the government of Edward VI to protect the islands against French attack. Close by is the Ruin Beach Café, where we ordered sumptuous meat and seafood platters to share (and a glass of chilled rosé for me), and lunched over the most stunning beachfront view.

However, we skipped dessert with the intention of enjoying Troy Town ice cream at our final stop of the afternoon: Tresco’s famous Abbey Garden. Dubbed “a perennial Kew without the glass”, it’s home to 20,000 plants from more than 80 countries, from Brazil to New Zealand and Burma to South Africa.

We couldn’t have picked a better day to wander through this exotic landscape, dotted with beautiful ruins and scupltures. The garden is also home to the Valhalla Museum, with its evocative collection of shipwrecked figureheads collected across the islands and now part of the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

This left us at the right end of the island to check into the tiny heliport, just a twominute walk away. Our time was up all too soon, and off we flew, past the Minack Theatre, where a performance was in full swing. It was just one more sign of how Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are full of life: the place to be. l

Find out more about Tresco by following its feeds on Facebook/Instagram @trescoisland, or visit www.tresco.co.uk

Penzance Helicopters offer flights to the Scillies from £139 return. Penzance Heliport, Jelbert Way, Penzance TR18 3FL Facebook/Instagram @penzancehelicopters www.penzancehelicopters.co.uk