Tresco Times 2025 Yearbook by Tresco Island

OUR VIEWS ARE CLEAR

Welcome to Tresco 2025

As I write this, 2025 is underway, and the island is bustling with decorators, plumbers, electricians, engineers, and more, all engaged in our busy winter schedule as we prepare for longer and sunnier days. We eagerly anticipate the island coming to life with the arrival of our many Islandsharers, friends, and visitors.

Over the last few years since my brother Michael and I took ownership of the family business, it has been a pleasure to get to know and work alongside the extraordinary community of people who live and work on the islands and make everything happen here.

Operating 28 miles off the Cornish coast presents unique challenges, calling for a self-reliance that surpasses that of most mainland estates. I want to pay tribute to the managers, engineers, recycling operatives, technicians, chefs, transport and boating operators, gardeners, landscape, farm and woodland managers, housekeepers, retail staff, administrators, accountants, and everyone who contributes to the hospitality we hope you enjoy.

There is no doubt that independent private sector businesses are facing headwinds, exacerbated by a government that seems disinterested in the challenges faced by rural communities. However, I am continually inspired by the resilience and support of our community, and as a wise person once said, “We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

We remain steadfast on our journey and look forward to a promising and successful year on the island.

Lastly, I pay tribute to Tom Matthews and his team on Tresco and at Nixon Design for another splendid Tresco Times Yearbook – we hope it brings you joy in reading.

Adam Dorrien-Smith

EDITED BY Tom Matthews

editor@tresco.co.uk

DESIGN & ART DIRECTION nixondesign.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Agnes Chapman Wills

PUBLISHED BY

The Island Office, Tresco, Isles of Scilly TR24 0QQ

PHOTOGRAPHY

Principal Photographer: James Bowden

Additional photography: Tom Matthews, Seb Gibbs, Rob Besant, Rebecca Rees, Ellie Tabron, Greg Caygill

WITH THANKS TO Hattie Garlick, Duffy Bloomfield

Crowe, Anna Parkes, Stuart Kettle, Clare Hargreaves, Charlotte Grant, Jilly Halliday, Richard Kearsley

Deltor UK, Long Acre, Saltash PL12 6LZ

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In this issue

P14

Pride of the fleet

The men braving the islands' elements

P22

A hive of activity

A bee-friendly base for Scilly's liquid gold

Features

P38 Five reasons to fly by helicopter in 2025

A journey to remember

P66 Season of change

Our refreshed cottages

P70 A patchwork of paintings

Creative fundraising for island families

P72 Breathing space

With artist Stuart Kettle

P76 Echoes of the deep

The treasures of Valhalla

Regulars

P6 Reflections

Looking back at 2024

P10 On the horizon

What's coming up on Tresco

P78 #MyTresco

Seven decades of stays

P80 Islandshare

Your chance to call Tresco home

P30

The wild ones

A family escape to Hell Bay

P40

The healing power of gardening

From sowing to harvest with Kate Lawson

P50

Waves & wellbeing: A day of wild wellness on Tresco

Relaxation tuned in to the elements

P62 The wildlife wanderer

Will Wagstaff's lifelong passion for Scilly's wildlife

Tresco: 28 miles off the Cornish coast. Somewhere else altogether.

Pictorial overview of two thousand and

twenty four

Congratulations to our sister business in Bristol, Number 38 Clifton, one of just ten hotels across the southwest to receive a coveted Michelin Key – a new award recognising the most outstanding hotels in the UK and Ireland. Number 38 has 12 stylish bedrooms in a beautifully refurbished Georgian merchant’s house at the top of the city and a ‘home away from home’ feel. Why not book a stop-over when you’re next travelling to Tresco? Number38clifton.com

Thirty eight

Two

We were delighted to welcome our new jetboats – Lightning and Thunder – to the Isles of Scilly in May. Built in the UK and involving our boating team at every stage of the process, the vessels are 20% more efficient, far quieter, and much more comfortable, with inside seating for all 12 passengers. Together, the new boats represent an investment of over £1.5 million in the islands’ transport infrastructure. His Royal Highness The Duke of Cornwall welcomed the vessels to Scilly during an official visit to the islands.

Five

We’re constantly striving for a greener Tresco; this year, there were five standout successes. St Nicholas Church was awarded Silver Eco Church status and island recycling man Sam started running regular beach cleans, welcoming guests and locals alike. In spring, incredibly rare and beautiful ringed plovers nested on our beaches; moreover, a lovely team of islanders continued to monitor the number of bats on Tresco regularly. Finally, last winter, we welcomed dozens of Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust volunteers to help uproot and remove rhododendrons across our Sites of Special Scientific Interest, carrying out dry stone wall clearance and much more.

Three & two

In late 2023, freight driver Hristo and wife Grace introduced Arthur to the island and then blessed their marriage on Valhalla lawn a year later. In January, The New Innʼs head chef Liam, fiancé Lora and little boy Gus met newest family member Winona, and in July, cottage department duo Magdalena and Michal welcomed baby Michalina. In October, Tristan and Andra Dorrien-Smith celebrated their wedding on Tresco.

Nine

Tresco & Bryher Gig Club’s ladies Czar crew made history by winning all nine trophy races, while our menʼs crew had their best season for a few years. 2025 is set to be historic too, thanks to designs for a new gig shed and plans to restore the Sussex gig.

We welcome farmer Sam Phillips to Tresco as a non-exec Director. Sam will work alongside our island farm and land management teams to develop a 20-year stewardship plan to protect and enhance Tresco’s unique and precious landscape and maximise our food production potential. Sam is a professional farmer from the Cotswolds who not only cares for his family farm but also neighbouring estates.

Twenty

Scillonian IV will take to the seas in 2026, making the journey to Scilly by sea faster, more comfortable and more accessible, and delivering more passengers to the islands. The keel of the new vessel – and a new freight ship for the islands – has already been laid, and work is progressing apace, ready for the boats to enter service next year.

One hundred

In April, our cosy coastal inn made it into The Times and The Sunday Times’ 100 Best Places to Stay in 2024 list, highlighting its charming atmosphere, beautiful interiors, suntrap terrace and classy bedrooms. Also gaining recognition for their hard work is the team at Hell Bay Hotel, who retained both their 3 AA Rosette award for culinary excellence and 4 Red Star Inspector’s Choice award, recognising Hell Bay as one of the best hotels in the UK (fewer than 150 other hotels nationwide have achieved this recognition – and only one other in Cornwall). Thank you to every single one of the team!

We bid a fond farewell to two longstanding islanders as Ellie Tabron, Sam Austin, and their three children, Jude, Etta, and Maud, begin their 10,000-mile journey to another – altogether bigger – island: Australia. Sam worked in Tresco Stores for over 20 years, and Ellie previously worked in the Island Office before becoming a full-time mum and launching her own photography and design business. We wish them all the luck in the (other side of the) world.

Four

Thirty five

Congratulations to islanders Richard Hobbs and Dan Etchells, who have celebrated a combined 35 years of voluntary service as Community First Responders (CFRs) on Tresco. Our CFRs are dispatched whenever a 999 ambulance call is made on Tresco and are usually with the patient within minutes, providing emergency care until the paramedics from St Mary’s arrive. In November, Richard celebrated 25 years of service, and Dan celebrated 10 years. Thank you to Richard, Dan and our other volunteer community responders for all they do to keep islanders and visitors safe.

Ten thousand

Sealegs Hire

On the horizon 2025

MARCH

8th – 13th Rewilding within – a Blockhouse retreat: A personal development journey guided by nature herself, the retreat – led by Esmée Halliday and Issy Malloch-Brown – will use yoga, breath work, meditation, wild swimming, and local, conscious food to nourish the body and soul.

14th – 22nd Festival of Wellness:

Come to life after winter and greet the spring equinox on Tresco with a week of holistic wild wellbeing, inspired by the island and carefully curated for all. Enjoy meditative morning yoga, indulge in spa therapies derived from the ocean waves, and explore gentle introductions to trail running and cold-water immersion. Participate in breathwork sessions, gardening, and floristry against the stunning backdrop of nature and the rhythmic tides, all as the island awakens for the season.

tresco.co.uk/festival-of-wellness

KATHARINE WALKS

Tresco is rich in history, with burial chambers and prehistoric sites all over the island. Delve into its deep and fascinating past with a guided walk led by archaeologist and St Mary’s local Dr Katharine Sawyer.

Apr 2nd, 16th, 30th

July 9th

May 14th, 26th June 18th

Aug 6th, 20th, Sept 3rd, 17th Oct 1st

Find out more at tresco.co.uk/archaeology-walks

11th – 20th Walk Scilly: Enjoy 10 days exploring the Isles of Scilly on foot. Guided by local experts, Walk Scilly is a celebration of our islands and the rich history and archaeology that lies here.

22nd – 26th Gem spring yoga retreat: As nature reawakens for the season, join island yogi Gem in making use of outdoor spaces and Scilly sea air.

WILDLIFE WALKS

Soak up the wondrous wildlife that graces the Tresco shores with local wildlife expert Will Wagstaff.

April 10th, 24th

June 10th, 24th

Sept 8th, 23rd

May 8th, 22nd

July 8th, 17th

Oct 7th, 16th

Find out more at tresco.co.uk/wildlife-walks

29th Low Tide Event: Shortly before low tide, our Tresco Team journeys through the shallows to set up on the sandbar as the water recedes. When the tide is low enough, people begin making their way across from Tresco and Bryher, meeting in the middle to enjoy a totally unique Scillonian soirée on the sandbar. After just an hour or so, when the klaxon sounds, it’s time to head for dry land as the tide turns!

MAY JUNE SEPTEMBER

2nd – 5th Gig weekend

From its humble beginnings in 1990 with 11 wooden pilot gigs taking part, the World Pilot Gig Championships line-up now runs to around 130 boats of both men’s and women’s crews, making for one of the most spectacular sporting events in the country.

7th – 12th Amanda Hoskins Art Break: Get inspired by the island landscape and capture your surroundings on a canvas with a painting holiday led by an artist from Newlyn School of Art.

17th – 26th Creative Scilly: Many local artists and creatives will be opening their galleries and studios for a range of workshops, together with an ensemble of pop-up theatre, music and poetry across the five islands.

5th – 10th Maggie O’Brien

Art Break

3rd – 8th Paul Lewin

Art Break

18th – 23rd Sam Boughton Art Break 9th Low Tide Event

17th – 22nd Imogen Bone

Art Break

AUGUST

23rd – 31st Ocean Scilly: Celebrate the seas that surround the Isles of Scilly by championing all waterborne activities, sea life, vast maritime heritage and everything on, in, and above the water.

OCTOBER

1st – 6th Autumn yoga and meditation retreat: With Gem Hansen and Will Harrigan.

15th – 20th Iyengar yoga retreat: With Lucy Aldridge.

10th –13th October Seas the Brew festival:

Bask in October’s glow with a long weekend to remember. From guest ales to music from our shores and beyond, there is simply no better way to relish all that autumn has to offer. With local makers and artisans at the fore, explore the best of the islands and end each day with rosy cheeks, salt on your skin and the lull of music from The New Inn…

WALKING TIDES

Throughout the year, there are times when the moon makes for magic and the watery barrier between Tresco and Bryher fades from existence for a while. Step onto the sand bar, search for critters that lurk on the sea bed, and soak up the land normally masked by ocean.

Jan 31st Feb 1st, 2nd, 28th

Mar 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st

Apr 1st, 27th, 28th, 29th

May, June, July, Aug no walking tides

Sept 9th, 10th

Oct 7th, 8th, 9th

Nov 6th, 7th

Dec no walking tides

21st – 26th Imogen Bone Art Break

@sjhiggins66 #MyTresco

150

You can’t even dream a whole dream can you?…

@fiwalksandpaintsthesw #MyTresco

So I am in heaven

106

@forestfix #MyTresco

Discovering the magic of the Scillies through new eyes.

#MyTresco

Your island images

@smoothiewhat #MyTresco

I can’t quite believe my eyes…

@forestfix #MyTresco

Come on, Grandpa, we’ve got exploring to do.

@becky_sketches #MyTresco

Relaxing at the Ruin.

DON’T FORGET TO SHARE

Share your images on Instagram using #MyTresco and yours could appear here next year!

@chronicles_of_ludd #MyTresco

Tresco a couple of days ago.

@jane_ann_walto #MyTresco

639

Early morning beachcombing.

@stephenbeynon #MyTresco

A good surface on Pentle today. A bit in it for both bat and ball.

@annasislandstyle #MyTresco

Throwback to last week when the calm weather brought these two on an island hopping adventure from Bryher to Tresco and beyond.

@annasislandstyle #MyTresco

157

OMG – no filters, no tweaking –these are the colours of nature a la Tresco today!

@jonotaylor84 #MyTresco

131

Full of colour. Watsonia ‘Tresco Hybrid’ with Agapanthus africanus brightening up a dull day.

@treve.willis #MyTresco

Watch out! Incoming… there were certainly plenty of molluscs dotted around the rocks, although it wasn’t obvious what they were so intent on.

@julianhumphrys #MyTresco

Taking a break on the Isles of Scilly. Look who joined us for coffee!

@kathyroddy #MyTresco

@bexiharris #MyTresco

Tresco Day 2 Part 3 - Post roast lap of the island and the blue skies and sun came back out! Pub to Apple Tree to Pentle to Block House.

@bryhertom #MyTresco

Beautiful weather and a strong-minded little man with his big plans for our days out. Remote-control-boating, underwater-swimming, gardenadventuring, island-wide-cycling, rock-climbing, beach-playing goodness for the soul.

Pride of the fleet

WORDS: Tom Matthews

As the sun spills golden light over the archipelago, the channel between Tresco and Bryher echoes to the gentle hum of a solitary outboard engine approaching the boats bobbing at their moorings. For the boatmen, the day has begun.

The team at Tresco Boat Services start early, for in an island community, very little happens without boats. Life here moves at the pace of the tide, and if that lunar cycle is the clock, the boats are the pendulum, endlessly moving back and forth and making the whole place tick. Their ceaseless movement through the tapestry of azure waters and emerald isles orchestrates the heartbeat of the community.

Every day, the ferries and jetboats carry hundreds of passengers to and from flights and ferries, school and nursery, hospital appointments, shopping trips, island-hopping adventures, wildlife expeditions, and supper boats, quite literally from dawn to dusk.

Alongside the trusty ferry Firethorn, two new jetboats – Thunder and Lightning – joined the fleet in 2024, representing an investment of over £1.5 million in the islands’ transport infrastructure.

The new boats, built in Pembrokeshire, are quieter, more fuelefficient, and significantly more comfortable, with both indoor and outdoor seating for all 12 passengers. It’s no exaggeration to say they have been transformational for everyone that uses them – from locals on a winter shopping trip to visitors using them to reach the mainland on fogbound days.

Needless to say, the boatmen are very proud of their new vessels. After all, for them, the sea is not just a job; it is the very essence of their being – though it would perhaps be a poetic license too far to say that Scillonian saltwater courses through their veins.

Indeed, only two of the six boatmen are ‘islanders’; among the others, there’s a Cornishman, a New Zealander, a South African and a Somersetonian.

Andrew Hulands grew up on Bryher and, as a child, once moored his bed to the door handle and bailed out his bath all over the floor. His future was plain to see, as was that of fellow islander Brandon Kershaw. “I was a little nerd growing up on St Mary’s, watching all the boats at the quay,” he laughs.

Charlie Shuldham, hailing from the rolling hills of Somerset, freely admits: “I became a boatman by accident!” Similarly, Harvey James’ life on Tresco started with managing The Ruin Beach Café before replacing sea views with a life on the ocean waves when a trainee skipper position arose.

“I mean, workplaces don’t get much better than this, do they?” he muses, gazing out from the wheelhouse across a sparkling sea. From the wheelhouse windows, the boatmen navigate shimmering waters framed by breathtaking landscapes, often accompanied by leaping dolphins, basking seals and wheeling seabirds.

Among the more unusual trips are the occasional landings on Samson, when the Firethorn’s bow steps open and passengers jump onto the sparkling sand below, with no quay or jetty in sight.

“You’re always quite nervous you might leave someone behind on the return journey,” laughs Brandon.

Of course, it’s not always plain sailing. There are many days when, office-bound, I deeply envy the boatmen as they top up their tans steaming around the archipelago. Yet come wintertime, when roaring gales and storm-slung spray lashes these shores, the rhythm of the islands is still set by the boats, and the boatmen must brave the elements. There are still children to get to school, hospital appointments and flights to make, and the odd birdwatcher to ferry about.

On rare days when severe storms or the quietness of the islands in winter confine the boatmen to the harbour, attentions turn to maintenance, much of which is done by the boatmen and marine engineer. Every few years, however, each vessel goes to the mainland for the nautical equivalent of a spa day – albeit one that lasts months and costs tens of thousands of pounds.

This is particularly the case for the oldest vessel in the fleet –Firethorn of Bryher. She came to Scilly in 1991, having been designed from the keel up by island boatmen David Stedeford and Kenny Jenkins, who, back then, ran her as part of Bryher Boat Services.

Is she the boatmen’s favourite?

“We all love Firethorn, and there’s no doubt she’s the pride of the fleet, but it’s horses for courses,” says Charlie. “The new jetboats are absolutely brilliant; they’re a real step change in our service to our guests and the island community. They’re fast, quiet and really comfortable. They were purpose-built for Scilly, much like the Firethorn, and she’s still going strong after more than three decades, so they’re a real investment.”

Firethorn’s enduring success is largely thanks to the foresight and vision of David Stedeford, but that wasn’t his only legacy to boating on Scilly. Do the boatmen have a favourite passenger?

“David!” reply Brandon and Andrew in unison.

Many of the boatmen learnt their trade under David’s expert guidance.

“David just wants to see people succeed,” continues Brandon. “There’s always something new to learn and often a funny story where you’re not the first to make a certain mistake; someone’s usually done it before, which helps!

“I mean, workplaces don’t get much better than this, do they?”

“It must be quite nice for him to sit back watching everyone now, as the next generation, knowing he had a big part to play in getting to where we are.”

“It’s his legacy,” agrees Andrew.

Today’s boats may be equipped with radar, sonar, chart plotters and all manner of other technology, but there is no replacement for local knowledge passed down the generations – especially somewhere like Scilly, which is believed to have more shipwrecks per square mile than anywhere else in the world.

Indeed, to pass the local boat licensing ‘tickets’, boatmen must navigate without technology, demonstrating an in-depth knowledge of marks and passages to ensure they’re on the right course to avoid hidden reefs, rocks and wrecks.

“It’s a responsible job,” says Harvey. “You’ve got dozens of lives in your hands. You can’t blindly follow technology – and not just because it could fail. Some parts of Scilly haven’t been surveyed since the 1800s, so you’ve got all the modern technology, but it’s using really old data.”

pinnacles like Tearing Ledge and Hellweather Rocks hint at the area’s grim past – and the responsibility shouldered by boatmen venturing to the outer edges of the archipelago.

The boatmen of Scilly are masters of their craft, understanding the subtleties of the tides and the moods of the sea. For the passengers, an unexpected route or unanticipated landing spot often adds to the sense of adventure. Whether heading around the north end of Tresco or the back of Samson on a very low tide, or landing at spindly Long Point on Tresco, passengers love the sense of adventure, but for the boatmen itʼs always about keeping the vessel and passengers safe.

Each evening, as the sun dips below the horizon, painting the sky in hues of pink and orange, the boatmen reflect on another day well spent.

The waters around Scilly are rich in marine life but also hold their secrets, demanding respect from those who dare to navigate their depths. For this reason, the bond between boatmen goes beyond mere friendship; it is a connection built on shared experiences and mutual respect for the ocean’s whims.

The old mariners’ maxim “trust in God and an Admiralty chart” suddenly sounds a little naïve.

The coveted ‘AA’ license, to which all Scillonian boatmen aspire, covers “anywhere within the area of these islands,” including, most notoriously, the Western Rocks and Bishop Rock Lighthouse, the final resting place of hundreds of ships and their crews. Granite

Each evening, as the sun dips below the horizon, painting the sky in hues of pink and orange, the boatmen reflect on another day well spent. In this timeless corner of the world, they remain steadfast, doing the work they love, forever entwined with the sea.

With the wind at their backs and the horizon ahead, they don’t just transport people; they carry them into the heart of a living, breathing paradise.

THUNDER & LIGHTNING

TWO NEW JETBOATS FOR SCILLY

Seats inside and out for all passengers

Knots top speed, cruising at 22 knots

In numbers

£1.5m

Private investment in Scilly’s transport infrastructure

300

Passengers carried each day through the summer season across the fleet

Daily trips throughout the season

Subject to weather and tide

See tresco.co.uk/boats or call 01720 423373

Between Tresco & Bryher Daily, several times a day

To St Mary’s Daily (except Sunday)

To St Martin’s & St Agnes Alternating days

Your windblown hair lashes your salt-spray-covered face in a wonderful, wild awakening. In some places, you’d pay for a salt scrub facial. Here, you can just jump on a jetboat and stand square to the wind and waves.

It’s all good if that’s what you’ve chosen, but sometimes, a gentler journey might be just the ticket…

More than 20 years ago, the first jetboats were introduced to the islands, transforming travel for islanders and visitors alike. They might have been revolutionary then, but those boats are now over two decades old. They’ve served Scilly well, but times have changed – even in these timeless islands.

In 2024, a £1.5m private investment in the islands’ transport infrastructure saw Tresco Boat Services take inter-island boating into the 21st century with the arrival of Thunder and Lightning – Scilly’s newest jetboats, built in Pembrokeshire by Mainstay Marine. The boats – significantly longer than the previous jetboats – have

To uninhabited Samson Call to enquire – subject to weather & tide

Wildlife & sightseeing trips –including Bishop Rock Call to enquire – subject to weather & tide

Evening trips Scheduled trips between Tresco and Bryher, and bookable specials to other islands, May to September

inside seating for all 12 passengers. No more salt scrub facials –compulsory ones, at least; there are also 12 outdoor seats for those actively seeking salt spray or watching for wildlife.

Sometimes, speed is of the essence. These new boats can maintain a cruising speed of around 22 knots, travelling to St Mary’s in just five minutes, making the crossing from the mainland in a little over an hour and a half, or taking in a circular trip right around the archipelago in just 45 minutes.

Of course, it’s this beautiful natural environment that so many of us love about Scilly – and that must be protected. The new jetboats are 20% more efficient and significantly quieter. No more awakening to the rumble of a jetboat in the early dawn.

Whether whisking island children to school, marking the start of a holiday on a transfer to Tresco, spotting seals and seabirds off the Eastern Isles, or providing an essential link to the mainland when the fog rolls in, the new jetboats will do it in comfort and style.

A hive of activity

WORDS: Tom Matthews

The next time you’re on Tresco, take a wander down to the little clearing at Rowesfield, just over the banks from Pentle Bay. There, towering above the vibrant pink nerines and golden narcissi, are two structures that look distinctly like they may have just landed from another planet.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. These curious, almost triffid-like tripods are rockets – but far from being invaders from a planet far, far away, they are as local as can be. These are Tresco’s new rocket hives – a science-experiment-come-communityinitiative aimed at creating more sustainable, bee-friendly habitats,

helping these prized pollinators thrive.

“Beekeepers everywhere are really waking up to the need to use more sustainable methods,” reveals Jilly Halliday – the one-woman whirlwind behind the Scillonian Bee Project, which aims to bring the community together to nurture stronger and more sustainable bee colonies across the islands.

“I firmly believe that to achieve that we need to take our lead from nature, looking to free-living bee colonies for inspiration.”

Across the globe, bees are facing an alarming crisis. The assault of habitat loss, the pervasive use of pesticides, the unpredictable impacts

of climate change, and various diseases have led to startling declines in bee populations, with managed hives often creating a false sense of security.

“The future of beekeeping surely must be about learning from nature and trying to mimic it rather than forcing it,” says Jilly.

Looking at wild – or ‘free-living’ – bee colonies around the islands, the beekeepers soon noticed some patterns emerging. The wild colonies tended to live up high, often in hollow tree trunks or within thick granite walls and chimneys, with no real internal structure to support their natural comb building. This contrasted directly with traditionally managed hives, which tend to be at ground level with thin wooden walls and rigid frames within which the bees must build their comb.

“We had to think like bees,” laughs Jilly. “If we were Scillonian bees, where would we like to live?”

Against this backdrop, a chance conversation between Jilly, Adam Dorrien-Smith and Sam Galsworthy over a Christmas walk on Tresco resulted in an introduction to Matt Somerville. “He’s a leading advocate of sustainable beekeeping,” says Jilly.

Fortunately for the islanders, Matt and others before him had been on the journey towards more sustainable beekeeping for many years after witnessing a collapse in the number of bees pollinating the trees in his orchard. This shocking realisation – alongside Matt’s background as a carpenter, cabinet maker and boat builder – galvanised him to develop a more natural form of hive crafted from hollowed logs – the rocket hive.

So it was that on a blustery, misty winter’s weekend, a small swarm of passionate beekeepers, environmentalists and islanders from across Scilly descended on Tresco to construct our rocket hives.

“It was an incredible bunch of people,” Jilly recalls. “We had gardeners, beekeepers, fishermen… All sorts of people, all with a shared passion for doing something truly rooted in the islands to help the bees.”

It wasn’t just the people that were from the islands; all the materials were also home grown. As one of the stated aims of the Scillonian Bee Project is to secure the islands’ biosecurity – preventing the accidental importation of deadly pests and diseases – it was quickly

decided that the Tresco rocket hives would be entirely from the archipelago.

“The wood for the hives and the legs is Tresco Monterey pine and elm that had fallen in winter storms or been pruned to help balance the trees,” says Jilly. “The tops of the hives are made from Abbey Garden bamboo. Even the copper wire used in weaving the hive roofs came from the Dolphin House renovation. You should’ve seen us rooting through the skips!

“It was a true team effort, like a wonderful jigsaw. Matt brought his knowledge of how to make the hives, you had Jof Hicks from St Agnes who could weave the bamboo roofs, Steve and Jamie Parkes knew how best to work the wood…”

Within weeks, the hives had been populated by thousands of freeliving bees, a testament to their careful crafting and natural appeal.

Eventually, it might be possible to take some honey from the hives, but primarily, this project was about protecting our pollinators and being a catalyst for community engagement. Tresco’s residents are drawn together by a shared goal: the conservation of bees and the sustainability of their island – and at the heart of it all is the Scillonian Bee Project, now in its fifth year.

“There’s a real community developing around beekeeping on Scilly now,” says Jilly. “It’s not just beekeepers; it’s anyone and everyone that cares about the environment and nature – which is pretty much everyone that lives on and visits these islands.”

The project embraces a community-focused approach to elevate awareness and enhance island bee populations. Its mission is to educate locals and visitors alike about bees’ vital contributions to pollination, biodiversity, and responsible farming practices.

The project prioritises creating and preserving bee-friendly habitats across the islands, ensuring bees have the nurturing environment they need to thrive. This includes planting colourful wildflowers that paint the landscape and promoting more considered and sustainable land management techniques.

The children of Tresco and Bryher school were encouraged to plant a mini meadow behind Lucy-Tania boutique. Abbey Gardener

“It was an incredible bunch of people,” Jilly recalls. “We had gardeners, beekeepers, fishermen… All sorts of people, all with a shared passion for doing something truly rooted in the islands to help the bees.”

“There’s no need to import bees from outside the islands – with all the biosecurity risks – to have a sustainable, healthy population of bees across the islands.”

Brett Haythorpe and other islanders have come together to manage St Nicholas Churchyard in a more sustainable way, resulting in a more tranquil, reflective and picturesque place, but also in an award as an Eco Church.

Alongside this more community-focused work, the project also aims to create a legal ringfence around the islands for biosecurity.

“Scilly is one of the few places in the UK that hasn’t been affected by the varroa mite,” explains Jilly. “The only other varroafree areas of the country are the Isle of Man and Colonsay and Oronsay, Orkney and a few other islands in Scotland, so bringing in bees from elsewhere risks importing this parasite that, once here, would be impossible to get rid of.

“A legal ringfence around the islands would have other benefits. As well as preventing disease, it would also allow our local bee populations to adapt to the archipelago conditions, meaning they will be more productive, healthier and really able to thrive.”

However, there were initially concerns that, in such a closed ecosystem, inbreeding could be an issue. Fortunately, Jilly and the team of scientists behind the Scillonian Bee Project had a solution that, once again, relied on the local community.

Over the last couple of years, visitors and islanders – including many children from Tresco and Bryher school – have participated in a unique project that has seen the islands at the forefront of bee-based science yet again: Game of Drones.

“We had to find out if drones – boy bees – cross water,” explains Jilly. “If they didn’t, we could have a problem with inbreeding within individual islands, but if they did, it means the hives across Scilly could all interbreed, which would get past that issue.

“There was no concrete proof that they did cross water, but anecdotally, you’d hear of some types of bee flying around while people were out on boats, so we wanted to see if we could prove that drones did cross water, giving us a sustainable – if closed – ecosystem.”

The first attempt, in 2022, involved marking drones within hives with coloured harmless markers – a different colour for each island. Hives on each island were then regularly monitored to see if drones from other islands could be spotted.

The 2022 project yielded no positive sightings, so the following year, the team changed tack.

“We marked the drones when they were out at drone congregation sites around the islands,” explains Jilly. “These are places where the boy bees gather in the hope of meeting a queen to mate with. So instead of marking bees in their hives and hoping they would go out, we marked them at the bee nightclub and then followed them home!”

The rocket hives surrounded by nerines in the autumn light

Beeswax carved and formed by the bees themselves. Meticulously planned for maximum efficiency, the bees create a 6mm gap so that they can work back to back

the

Aside from

rocket hives, honey is extracted from several bee colonies across the island

Jilly and the community scientists checked hives across the islands, painstakingly looking to see if any of the marked drones would appear in another island’s hive. Alas, once again, the experiment didn’t give the much-hoped-for results.

“We weren’t going to give up,” says Jilly. “So, in 2024, Stephen Fleming, Matthew Elmes and I ended up kayaking to the uninhabited islets between Tresco and St Martin’s with a theory that perhaps the bees were using this as a land bridge.”

Their hunch turned out to be correct, and over the following days, marked drones were found in hives on both Tresco and St Martin’s – finally incontrovertible evidence that drones do indeed cross water. A few days later, marked drones were even found on Samson – an almost 2km flight over open water from the nearest known bee colony.

The discovery of this irrefutable scientific evidence – made right here in our tiny patch of paradise – could have profound international implications yet to be fully understood. For the Scillonian Bee Project, though, the implications are clear.

“We know that we don’t need to import and interfere,” says Jilly. “There’s no need to import bees from outside the islands – along with all the biosecurity risks – to have a sustainable, healthy population of bees across the islands.

“Nature knows best and she will develop a Scillonian Honey Bee that’s adapted to the islands, free of varroa mite, and can thrive here.”

From rocket hives and careful land management helping colonies survive and able to thrive here, to Game of Drones demonstrating that Scilly’s semi-closed honey bee ecosystem is sustainable, 2024 has been quite a year for the Scillonian Bee Project.

As the plight of bees remains a pressing global concern, the Scillonian Bee Project illustrates how passionate collective action –rooted in love for the environment – can lead to meaningful and lasting change. After all, when bees thrive, we all reap the benefits of their hard work.

Join a Bee Tour

Jilly runs occasional bee tours, taking in the nectar-rich Abbey Gardens and explaining more about our hives and the Scillonian Bee Project. The tour usually ends with a tasting! Look out for posters on-island.

Bee Here!

We’re careful always to leave our bees with sufficient honey to over-winter, so Tresco Honey is rare. If youʼre here at the right time, you’ll find jars for sale in the Garden Shop when thereʼs enough to spare.

The Spirit of Bruce Christopher Rum

Distilled on St Martin’s by SC Dogs, this spiced rum heroes homegrown honey and honours a muchloved island beekeeper. Find it behind the bar at The New Inn and Ruin, at Tresco Stores and the Garden Shop and at tresco.co.uk/shop

Liquid Gold

Tresco honey may be rarer than bees’ teeth – but there are a few ways you can taste this magic nectar…

Matt Somerville passing on his knowledge of natural bee hives to the island using a trunk of Tresco elm

Tresco Honey Spiced Rum Crème Brûlée

METHOD INGREDIENTS

1 pint double cream

110g honey

175g egg yolk

50g caster sugar

125ml SC Dogs Spirit of Bruce Christopher Honey Spiced Rum

ONE Mix together the sugar, honey, yolks, and spiced rum. Don’t over-whisk, or you’ll have bubbles on your brûlée.

TWO Bring the cream to a boil, pour over the yolk mixture and mix.

THREE Strain the mix through a fine sieve and pour into ramekins.

FOUR Cook in a preheated oven in a bain marie at 110°C for about 20-30 minutes until set.

FIVE Once cooked, chill until set firm. Sprinkle with caster sugar and blow torch the top.

Best served with lime sorbet, honeycomb, a drizzle of honey, and a tot of rum

The wild ones

Journalist and author HATTIE GARLICK reflects on family time well spent at HELL BAY HOTEL , Bryher...

If you had to pick one word to sum up modern family life, what would it be?

Loud, probably. Chaotic, perhaps? Fast-paced, definitely. My children are now 10 and 13 and honestly, a lot of the time it feels like watching Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. They run rings around me, their legs and our lives moving in a highspeed blur of school events, social events, deadlines and dramas.

It is glorious but also... exhausting. Sometimes my mind wanders to the depictions of childhood we still read about, each night, in the 10-year-old’s books. The ones enjoyed by Julian, Dick and the rest of the Famous Five, or Susan, Roger and the other Swallows and Amazons. Where youthful adventures are not powered by screens and parentaltaxi-services, but by push-bikes, picnics and sweet country air.

The trouble is, that world doesn’t exist anymore. Or, at least, I thought it didn’t until we arrived at Hell Bay Hotel, on Bryher. On this tiny, half-square-mile-sized island, that story-book freedom has been condensed into its purest form.

Although, in fact, the adventure begins the moment you leave your front door. First, you travel down to Penzance, the very southwesterly tip of England’s toe. Once here, you may already feel that you are wobbling on the very edge of the word. In fact, you are about to plunge over the side.

Sensible (or time-strapped) families opt to take a helicopter or plane from Penzance over to Tresco. We, however, chose the slower, more scenic route and boarded the early-morning Scillonian ferry, pulling out from Penzance harbour as the sun rose over its waters, skirting the Cornish coast and waving to seagulls, coastal walkers and the monumental Minack Theatre before heading out into the deep, uninterrupted blue.

A few hours, and a further boat later, we were tipped out onto the shore of what was, it seemed, a desert island. White sand glittered. Reeds waved in the breeze. Birds chatted confidently. Then, the Hell Bay Hotel’s Land Rover appeared on the quay, to chauffeur us to our final base. Not quite deserted then, but as close as a family living in the realm of reality, rather than fiction, would want to get.

For a start – and the hotel’s shuttle service aside – there are no cars on Bryher. No roads either, we realised as we bumped across the island. Though tiny, Bryher is big on drama. The shore we had landed on was smooth, sandy and serene.

But as we drove, the landscape changed radically. Scarlet lobster pots nested in sherbet-yellow and parma-violet shades of heather. Chalk boards pointed towards adventures at promisingly named places like ‘Fraggle Rock’. Rocky coves and granite stacks appeared on the horizon, waves erupting against them. It all felt rather uncanny. The colours were super-real, not like those anywhere else I have been before, and much more like the images summoned in my imagination by those classic children’s books.

This untamed side of the island, where the hotel sits on a slither of land surrounded by wild water, is a landscape that fires up imaginations. Like Neverland, it summons

pirates, shipwrecks and treasure troves in the mind. Michael Morpurgo – the best of all children’s authors – knew it. He set many of his books here and, over the next couple of days, our children lived and breathed both the freedom and excitement he created on their pages.

Over the course of 72 hours, we roamed the island’s footpaths, conquering the island, refuelling on local fudge from the honesty boxes that dotted our way. The children left us for dust. They were free and we – knowing they were safe – were luxuriantly unworried.

They clambered over rocks, met cattle on empty beaches, watched sea birds and spotted ruins. They hired kayaks and capsized each other into the crystalline water. They made friends with hotel guests, racing paper boats on the Great Pool where – at supper and through the dining room’s long windows – they watched a stately heron stand guard over the darkening water.

And us adults? We swam laps in the hotel’s outdoor pool, stretched in its serene yoga studio, had a massage in the Treatment Shed. We admired the extensive art collection, especially the Barbara Hepworth sculptures.

Mostly, though, we gazed out at the waves that were our constant companion, ebbing and flowing on the horizon as we lay in our bed looking out through patio doors, or crashing operatically against rocks as we sat – warm, contented and comfortable – in the newly renovated lounge.

Bryher may be a picture-book perfect world for children, but it is a heavenly haven for adults too.

This untamed side of the island, where the hotel sits on a slither of land surrounded by wild water, is a landscape that fires up imaginations

For family-friendly breaks and last-minute escapes, see hellbay.co.uk/breaks

When Tresco is your destination, the journey becomes an unforgettable part of the experience.

However you travel to Tresco – by soaring helicopter flight, the scenic Skybus, or the gentler approach of the Scillonian – the adventure begins long before you set foot on the island. Every journey is scenic, but arriving by helicopter is a highlight that sets Tresco apart. After all, how often can you touch down on a subtropical island in such spectacular fashion? We caught up with Penzance Helicopters, operated by Starspeed, to share five inspiring reasons to reach Tresco by helicopter...

1 Go door to door

Flying by helicopter is the only direct route to Tresco, with a door-to-door service from your car to your cottage. When you land, your island home will be only minutes away by electric shuttle bus; meaning that within an hour of leaving your car, you could be in your accommodation. Or perhaps on the beach?

3 Fast-forward to slowing down

A large part of Trescoʼs allure is its slower pace of life – but it’s always good to reach that state of relaxation as quickly as possible. With minimal check-in procedures, a 15-minute flight time, and speedy luggage collection on arrival, the helicopter is the fastest way to transition to Tresco time.

The best bird’s -eye views

There's no denying the magic of flying by helicopter, opening vistas of Cornish coastline, Scillonian seas, and the rich landscape of Tresco. As you arrive, look out for the Daymark; a sure-fire sign that you’re in the right place. On your return flight, watch for the dramatic Minack Theatre, Tater-Du Lighthouse and St Michael's Mount, guiding you back in.

4 Effortless access

On the outskirts of town, Penzance Heliport forms a handy gateway to island adventures. The heliport’s car park is large and secure, and there’s a designated drop-off area right outside the entrance, meaning arriving by road is easy. If you’re travelling by train, a shuttle bus will transport you from platform to departure lounge in minutes.

5 Lightening the luggage load

Flippers or flip flops for the beach? Trail shoes for the north end or dancing shoes for The New Inn? With so many activities waiting, itʼs best to keep your options open. Penzance Helicopters’ 20kg luggage allowance eases those packing pressures, so you can bring everything you need to make the most of the island lifestyle.

The healing power of gardening

WORDS: Agnes Chapman Wills

Tucked behind the vast shelterbelt in Tresco Abbey Garden is a little corner of paradise. Whilst you might single out striking protea, sharp puya or exotic nikau palms in the main garden, veer left when you cross the iconic blue bridge, and you will happen upon something just as powerful and poignant. A cacophony of vivid dahlias, shiny chillies and triumphant pumpkins, this peaceful and productive space feels sacred, serene, fragrant and inspiring.

Walk down the line of lavender with its nectar-feeding insects, and you will likely spot a solitary figure. Concealed amidst towering sweet peas and climbing beans, knelt down in the earth harvesting,

digging and weeding, or perhaps even feeding a mischievous red squirrel a hazelnut or two, Kate Lawson wears the crown in this vegetable kingdom.

Yet, Kate had to embark on a long journey to find her haven, and today, the kitchen garden feels even more magical due to her own personal odyssey.

It began in Oxford, where Kate started paving her way for a career in horticulture – quite literally – by transforming a community garden, completing a traineeship at Oxford Botanic, working at St Anne’s College, and obtaining her RHS Level 2.

“Working in a kitchen garden means doing all aspects. You see everything through, from seed and propagation to harvest, and I love that. It’s an amazing space, and I’m so lucky to work in this way.”

Although she didn’t know it yet, Kate was beginning to discover the things she loves most about life on Scilly. She moved to Devon and began work at Buckfast Abbey, where she worked on the grounds and swam in the Dart at lunchtime. Although she didn’t know it yet, Kate was beginning to discover the things she loves most about life on Scilly. Yet there were more adventures to be had before she found her way to Tresco.

“I did a charity walk in Peru,” she recalls, “and I returned all inspired, so I applied to do the Kew diploma.”

Although she travelled to London for the interview, life in the city wasn’t for her. She longed to remain in the peaceful westcountry, and her honesty with the interview panel caused them to say: “Have you thought about working at Tresco Abbey Garden?” It was something of a light bulb moment.

With Tresco now on her horizon, Kate moved to Cornwall and started a course at Duchy College.

“I used to go down and look out to the Isles of Scilly,” she recalls. “I’d sit and watch the sunset and hope I could end up there eventually.”

Then, one day, as Kate walked into college, someone said, “Have

you heard there’s a chance to work at the Abbey Garden for a week?” Before she knew it, she was packing a bag and jumping on the six o’clock train to Penzance.

“I was here for a week and then stayed another as I loved it so much,” Kate recalls. “Next thing I knew, Mike Nelhams asked me if I wanted to take on the newly developed Flying Boat area. I never went back.”

After that, Kate was a part of the cottage garden team for 12 years. She fell in love with Head Gardener Andy and became Kitchen Gardener in 2019.

As she put down roots on Tresco, Kate found great peace in her environment. But it wasn’t just the garden that created this sense of peace – the island as a whole lends itself to tranquillity and wellness.

“Over the years, I have been involved in everything from gig rowing and choir to marathons and triathlons. The community here is like nowhere else,” she explains. “I love sea swimming, and we’ve just bought sea kayaks, which are amazing for exploring the islands.”

Like the plants she trains to climb, Kate’s confidence has grown –although she is ever modest when praised, downplaying the immense amount of work she does all year round.

“Working in a kitchen garden means doing all aspects. You see everything through, from seed and propagation to harvest, and I love that. It’s an amazing space, and I’m so lucky to work in this way.”

Yet it is not just Kate who has marvelled at the power of the Abbey kitchen garden over time. Back in 1834, Augustus Smith –amidst his obsession with exotic plant species – would have greatly emphasised having a productive patch to strive for self-sufficiency.

Over a century later, Robert Dorrien-Smith worked to

ensure the kitchen garden was open to the public. Today, under the stewardship of Adam Dorrien-Smith and with guidance from farmer Sam Phillips, plans are afoot to develop a 20-year land stewardship plan for the island that will maximise our food production potential.

The plot may have moved around over time and certainly shifted and morphed, yet it has remained productive throughout, providing for the Dorrien-Smith family and, more recently, supplying island eateries too.

“Every time we get a glut of something, it goes to the restaurant kitchens or to Tresco Stores,” says Kate. “I think it’s really special for guests to stop and talk to me about the produce I’m harvesting in the morning, only to then see it sold in the island shop or on a specials board later. It’s a lovely aspect of what I do, and I will keep passing on as much as I can.”

In addition to sowing, planting, tending and harvesting, Kate has been working with St Agnes fisherman Jof Hicks to create sustainable pot buoys. She has harvested a wonderful crop of shiny bottle gourds and looks forward to hearing if they will sink or float!

For Kate, gardening is a form of creative expression, and she has a lot in mind, notably a cucumber tepee and perhaps a pumpkin arch one day. The garden is also made more magical by the many companions she shares it with. From husband Andy and the regular gardening volunteer Pauline to the animals she adores, Kate is most alive in and amongst the Eden she has created.

Kate’s favourites include Steve the chicken, the blind duck, and Demelza the red squirrel (who visits at least once a day for a hazelnut or ten). She speaks of them fondly and even gazes down at a moulting Roger the rooster to say caringly, “Bless him; he doesn’t have the same gleam in his eye at the moment.”

“I think it’s really special for guests to stop and talk to me about the produce I’m harvesting in the morning, only to see it sold in the island shop later that day. It’s a lovely aspect of what I do, and I will keep passing on as much as I can.”

There is also a practicality to the keeping of animals, Kate assures me: “The chickens will be put in the polytunnel over the winter to fertilise the soil. They will scratch over it, poo, and make it nitrogen rich for the tomatoes next year.”

Always looking forward, Kate hopes to use the no-dig method to improve the soil throughout the garden and pass it on in the best possible state; she is acutely aware of the gardeners who came before her and those that will follow.

“That’s the thing about gardening, isn’t it?” she says. “You tend it for a while and do your bit, and then you pass it on. You’re a part of the garden – not the other way around.”

Once an adventurer searching for her sanctuary, Kate’s mind is now full of the Eden she has built for herself. It is replete with thoughts of beautiful cut flowers and verdant leaves and is brimming with images of cucumber tepees and hatching chicks.

“I’m really keen that the vegetable garden can be a refuge,” Kate says. “It’s not just a productive garden – it’s a sanctuary for people. It’s certainly a sanctuary for me. It is a place that lends itself to healing.”

And this fact is undeniably true; the kitchen garden was first created to provide and then it produced, while also being marvelled at. However, today it supplies, looks beautiful and – thanks to Kate – acts as a refuge for all who wander amongst the buzzing hummingbird moths, soaring sunflowers and clucking hens. There is so much to be said for the kitchen garden.

The sparrows sit and pick the seeds off the sunflowers, the Katy apples shine and the hummingbird hawk moths hover around the verbena; the pumpkins have been harvested, the beetroot are coming up and tomatoes and runner beans are still in full swing. There are onions to plant, and then clearing back and mulching can begin.

No dig means putting down cardboard, a thick layer of compost, and then seaweed from our beaches on top. Leeks grow throughout the winter and leafy plants go in the shade tunnel. We'll start sowing a big range of things in February, including courgettes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, chillies and lettuce.

Irises come out in March and April, tying in with the start of the season; we’ll make weekly bouquets for the Abbey and island restaurants. We’ll also begin harvesting potatoes and planting cucumbers, courgettes and pumpkins.

Winter Autumn Spring Summer

Sweet peas and beans will be thriving and there’ll be lots of harvesting to do. Long, sunny days will be complete with lavender and dahlias. Other jobs will include sowing salad crops, pruning fruit trees and planting delicious vegetables.

Waves & wellbeing

A

WORDS: Agnes Chapman Wills

The Tresco day has just begun… When you’re this close to the ocean, it’s hard to ignore; the day must start with a dip.

You wake to the sound of the sea. An orange glow squeezes through a crack in the curtains, and in the distance, gulls are gently calling. The Tresco day has begun…

When you’re this close to the ocean, it’s hard to ignore; the day must start with a dip. A run to the shoreline, and then one, two, three – submersion. The Atlantic is fresh and invigorating. Will you swim along the coast to Old Blockhouse? Loop around the power cat moored furthest from the shore? The opportunities for adventure are endless.

While the sun evaporates droplets from your limbs, there’s coffee to be had at The Ruin. Sat on the terrace, the warmth sends you into a reverie, but this is no time for rest – there’s an island to explore. Hair damp, you hop on your bike, fly past the morning ramblers, over the sandy tracks, and along succulent-lined roads.

You make it to the Studio. Bike parked, sandals slipped off, and phone out of sight and mind, you’re met with the smell of incense, the ring of calming music, the picture-book view of the harbour. This time is for you. You bend, stretch and move in rhythm with the sea, the tripper boats and the gulls. An hour flies, and you realise that the droning rumble you hear isn’t the gong but your stomach.

Downstairs in the Flying Boat Cafe, you feast on avocado and poached egg, chasing it with a vibrant green smoothie and a steaming tea. Laughter on the beach echoes around. All this before midday –and there’s more. You could take a dip in the outdoor pool; cycle the circumference of the island; pause to explore the gardens. You could search for shells and soak up the sun on the beach.

But today, you’ve decided on the spa. Sandals are stowed once more, clothes swapped for a swimming costume and robe. You sink into the pool, punctuating lengths with time in the steam room, Jacuzzi and sauna. Daring, you make a bold dash towards the sea. Robe abandoned on the slipway, you dunk under the salty surface, laughing. Have you ever felt so free?

A wet footprint trail follows you from shore to spa. It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for. A warming shower, and then you’re led to a secluded treatment room. Facial, wrap or massage – you wish you could try them all. Time stills, your mind quiets. There’s nowhere else you need to be.

Sinking into a chair with a warming herbal tea, you’re struck by the sun blazing on the courtyard outside. In this hidden oasis, you take refuge on a lounger, settled among hanging baskets and plants. You could sit here for hours… in fact, you do.

But the late afternoon sun calls for a drink. It’s all about balance, after all. A chilled glass in The New Inn’s garden, then a cycle up Dolphin Hill. Dinner on The Ruin terrace is calling – but let’s see the cocktail menu first…

At Tresco Island Spa, treatments use ila’s beyond organic skincare range and Phoenix & Providence products distilled from the surrounding seas

Extend your relaxation from within the spa to the private and peaceful spa courtyard

In this hidden oasis, you take refuge on a lounger, settled among hanging baskets and plants. You could sit here for hours... in fact, you do.

Explore the islands at your own pace with kayaks or SUPs from our friends at Tresco Sailing Centre sailingscilly.com

Alfresco beachfront dining at The Ruin Beach Café

The Ruin Beach Café – home to temptingly fresh dishes fired by island-grown wood

The festival of wellness

14th – 22nd March 2025

Come to life after winter and greet the spring equinox on Tresco with a week of holistic wild wellbeing inspired by the island and carefully curated for all.

The Isles of Scilly are undeniably elemental. Whether it’s your feet sinking into silvery sand, windswept hair whipping your face, or the sea showering you in mist, the environment is hard to ignore.

In March 2025, we’re celebrating the elements with our first Festival of Wellness –a new annual week of wild wellbeing inspired by Tresco and carefully created for all.

Celebrate the spring equinox with time dedicated to mindfulness, meditation, relaxation, and restoration. From morning yoga to spa therapies distilled from the crystal-clear waters of the islands, gentle introductions to trail running and coldwater immersion, along with breathwork, gardening and floristry – there truly is something for everyone.

Exclusive events led by renowned guides will complement daily offerings from island practitioners, all against the backdrop of nourishing nature, the rhythm of the tides and the seasonal shift as the island comes alive.

Lose your sense of time and instead live by the sun’s rise and fall and the ebb and flow of the tides. Rediscover time to be with the Festival of Wellness.

tresco.co.uk/festivalofwellness

Wake early, grab your robe, and head for the beach, all before breakfast

WORDS: Agnes Chapman Wills

It is often believed that islands are slow and unchanging: that their physical detachment from land equates to a separate and perhaps even backwards philosophy. However, on Tresco there is constant movement and dynamism and it materialises in many forms. Seasonal staff arrive from all over the world, families visit year on year – generation after generation – and birds from across the globe circle our skies, returning each year to nest, feed and recoup. There is certainly a current that pulls life to Tresco.

No one knows this more than Will Wagstaff, and when a bird from a far-flung land blows into our archipelago, he is one of the first to hear about it.

Originally from Penarth in South Wales, an adolescent Will first came to Scilly on a family holiday in 1975. Although this was his first visit, Will’s mother had long been acquainted with the islands; her diary from 1938 even went as far as to describe Scilly as a ‘genteel’ place with ‘very attentive boatmen’ – a thought that makes Will chuckle.

When he first stepped foot on St Mary’s, Will was already an avid young birder and he fell in love with the place, visiting as much as he could thereafter. Will’s time in Scilly proved poignant and certainly forged the way for his future. In fact, one of his first ornithological sightings here – the Hoopoe – remains his emblem today.

Although Will went to university and graduated with a degree in

geology and biology, as for so many of us, the islands had got under his skin. He travelled to Scilly in the wake of graduation and spent four months following in the footsteps (literally) of birder David Hunt. When David Hunt sadly passed away in 1985, Will was called on to continue the legacy he had started. When we meet in The New Inn on a crisp October day, it has been 40 years since the beginning of this journey, but the excitement in Will’s eyes when talking about Scillonian wildlife is still plain to see.

In addition to the fantastic species that Will has seen across four decades, the other remarkable fact is that these islands – although small in stature – have catapulted him to distant corners of the globe. Will has built long-standing relationships with visiting cruise ships over the years, leading wildlife and birding tours in The Falklands, Australia and Antarctica to this day.

Will could wax lyrical about all the flora and fauna he has seen but his highlights include a sighting of a Philadelphia vireo on Tresco – a first for Britain – while more recently, despite expecting a quiet week, the island saw the arrival of an Egyptian vulture and infamous Wally the Walrus to our shores.

Will has a sixth sense and notices that which others would ignore. We walk around Tresco, and a fleeting brown speck of

The wildlife wanderer

movement above us causes him to spring into action. In seconds, his scope is pointed directly at what he identifies as a female cuckoo nestled in the trees by the Abbey Pool. As we continue to walk, he isolates bird calls, recounts tales of Tresco’s history and finds unique flora. We also stumble upon a white egret, a stonechat and orange bird’s-foot – Scilly being the only place in the UK where it grows.

Like the ebb and flow of the tide, much has changed during Will’s time here.

“With island weather constantly changing, the wildlife has always varied each year but general trends have definitely shifted,” he says. “In my diaries I kept in the 80s, I wrote of turtle doves and warblers, which are now a much rarer sighting.

“However, Mediterranean gulls and egrets used to be few and far between, but now I see them all the time. Sometimes there are clouds of swallows, sometimes not. It is hard to predict what you might see, although one thing you can guarantee is a few surprises each year as

migration patterns get mixed up and surprising things blow in!”

Despite his journeys worldwide, Will has remained steadfast and loyal to his island home. When asked why he is still here, he replies without hesitation: “It’s the best place in the world. The seasons vary and bring with them new sightings, and there is always something rare – or even unheard of – to be found. This year I saw my first ever South Polar Skua.”

It is thought that there are around 50 breeding bird species on the Isles of Scilly, yet over 450 species have been sighted here. Naturally, this number is ever-growing, with strong gales often blowing in new and unexpected life.

These islands are a passing place for all creatures, great and small. They have an indescribable pull, and Will is certainly under the spell, much like those guests who visit year after year, the seasonal workers who return to make the islands home for summer, and the birds that circle our archipelago, feed from the lush landscape, and nest on rocky and rugged outcrops amidst the big blue.

Whinchat

Annual spring and autumn migrant most commonly found along hedge lines and fences.

Wryneck

The only member of the woodpecker family to visit Scilly regularly, they are rare in spring and scarce in autumn.

Warblers

Species such as chiffchaff and blackcap pass through the islands on their way to breeding grounds.

Autumn

Birds of prey

Pied flycatcher

Occasionally seen in spring but most common in wooded areas in August and September.

Will leads wildlife walks on Tresco throughout the season. Book yours now: tresco.co.uk/wildlife-walks

Only peregrine have bred in recent times, but kestrel, merlin and sparrowhawks visit in winter, with kites and harriers occasionally passing by in spring and autumn.

Swallows

Seen between mid-March and late November each year, a small number also stay to breed in the summer.

Sanderling

Most often witnessed in flocks on beaches such as Pentle Bay between September and May.

Spring

Hoopoe

A scarce migrant from Southern Europe that is unmistakable when seen and tends to favour short sandy turf in March and April.

Great northern divers

A familiar sight on interisland waters between October and May, they also occasionally gather in small groups in late spring.

Sandwich tern s

Out at sea

Puffin

These charismatic birds pitch up on the Western Rocks, Annet and the Northern Rocks between April and late July.

Passage migrants that are numerous between late July and early September, often spotted fishing in the shallow sea between islands.

Reed warblers

Some breed in the reeds around the Great and Abbey Pools, with many more migrating through in spring and autumn.

Wading birds

Breeds like redshank and greenshank reside on the Great Pool, whilst turnstone and ringed plover favour Gleaner Beach or Pentle Bay in winter.

What to look out for on Tresco

And of course, feeling cosy inside is often led by your view of the outside. With such a spectacular outlook, Dolphin House’s upstairs becomes the perfect place to sit and take in the rich diversity of the island, from mature garden to vast Atlantic. The master bedroom features a luxurious en-suite bathroom, while other upstairs guests can ease into island life with a deep rolltop bath.

This harmony between inside and outside, comfort and wildness, is freely found in our cottages’ outdoor spaces. At Dolphin House, double doors lead from the kitchen to the patio – a haven for al fresco dining with sweeping sea views, coffee in the crisp morning air, or a glass of wine under the intense night sky.

Season of change

Winter on Tresco is a time of renewal, as well as rest. This is the season for busily freshening up our cottages –sometimes with a simple lick of paint, but more often with bigger and bolder plans.

At the root of it all lies respect for these traditional and much-loved properties. Last winter, for instance, we helped Dolphin House recover its former Georgian splendour by creating a welcoming Drawing Room and library area, as well as an open-plan kitchen and dining room that’s become the heart of this home.

Dolphin House

At Nurses, Hilltop, Doctors and Reading Room, winter renovations have seen stylish updates, while preserving the cottages’ natural sense of calm.

Here, a countryside setting forms the backdrop for Tresco adventures to the sandy shore, the rugged north end, or the tranquil woodlands.

Doctors

Hilltop Nurses

Reading Room

And, for Moorings and Raven, fresh flourishes make indooroutdoor living feel like a breeze. Moorings now has an open-plan kitchen and dining space ideal for hosting the whole family after an evening dip or shoreside stroll. At Raven, hidden amid a lush garden, new patio doors can be thrown wide to the outside, ushering it in, in all its island glory.

Browse our cottages at tresco.co.uk or chat to an islander on 01720 422849

Raven

Moorings

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The Isles of Scilly is a place that lends itself to creativity. For many, the charm of our distinctive landscape propels them to put brush to canvas and capture what they see, think and feel. Unique, sublime places incite art.

One person who understands the power of artistic representation is islander Duffy Bloomfield Crowe. Originally from St Just, Duffy is no stranger to creative expression. Growing up in such a beautiful place, surrounded by dramatic coastlines and changeable weather, art exhibitions and creative expression were frequent.

“I grew up in a creative household,” she says. “My mum was involved in the art and theatre scene in St Just and my stepdad is an artist who makes sculptures and props for festivals like Glastonbury.”

Inspired by her mum, who organised a charity art auction in Penwith, Duffy wanted to do something similar and seek out talented

“The evening was a great success,” reflects Duffy. “There was a brilliant turnout, with lots of excitement and suspense from people waiting to see which name Dean was going to pull out of the pot. Seeing the joy on the face of a winner whose name was called for something they loved was great.”

Whilst the event was a fantastic celebration of creative talent, it was predominantly a charitable endeavour.

Living on an island brings with it many unique joys and delights. However, the remote nature of island living can also mean isolation and difficulty accessing essential services. When an islander needs emergency medical care – or even when they have planned hospital treatment –there is nowhere for them or their support network to call their own when they need it most.

Expensive hotel or self-catering stays, calling on the kindness of

A patchwork of paintings

WORDS: Agnes Chapman Wills

artists who feel passionate about Scilly. Between guests, island residents and visiting artists, Duffy knew there was a huge amount of talent around.

With the help of Gallery Tresco manager Anna Parkes and other islanders, Duffy rallied over 80 participants, and each was given a 20cm x 20cm canvas. From there, the task was to paint whatever came to mind when Scilly was mentioned – perhaps a favourite view or cottage, a particular plant species or maybe something more abstract with a Scillonian colour palette.

“When Duffy approached me with her idea,” says Anna, “I was in the happy position to offer real support by way of our large stable of artists, all of whom jumped on board. The resulting works on canvas were a wonderful mix of styles and subjects.”

The canvases came together on a stunning summer’s evening at Gallery Tresco. A queue of keen customers formed outside and the wall was carpeted with a wide array of paintings. It was a poignant testament to the beauty of Scilly and the talent of its locals, as well as adoring fans from further afield.

Tom Rickman, Maggie O’Brien, Nick Botting, Imogen Bone, Richard Pearce, Lizzie Black and Stuart Kettle were just some of the artists taking part and the talent on show was spectacular. Just £75 a ticket and every ticket holder won a piece of art.

friends or strangers, or the very real prospect of being unable to attend treatment or be at a loved one’s side, are all familiar experiences to islanders at these most difficult times.

So a small collective of islanders came together to form The Island Haven, a registered charity aiming to create a facility near Treliske where islanders and visitors – and their loved ones – can stay while undergoing mainland medical treatment.

Thanks to incredible fundraising efforts from islanders, visitors and those who love Scilly, in 2024, the charity purchased a property within a few minutes’ walk of Treliske Hospital in Truro. Work is now underway to renovate and equip the property to provide this much-needed facility: a place to stay in times of need.

A Patchwork of Paintings was a fantastic event and over £7,000 went to The Island Haven. However, by no means is the job done! Duffy hopes to hold another event in 2025 and has even bigger and better plans in store, so keep your eyes peeled for how a creative response on a tiny canvas could make the world of difference.

FIND OUT MORE

Discover The Island Haven project and support the charity at theislandhaven.co.uk – and for those with artistic tendencies, look out for details of A Patchwork of Paintings 2025.

Breathing space

WORDS: Stuart Kettle

Born in 1947 in Nottinghamshire, Stuart studied at the Nottingham School of Art in Drawing & Painting and then went on to work for the BBC and ITV as a Designer Director, before taking up painting full time.

Twenty years ago, my partner Jenni took me to stay on Tresco at the then-Island Hotel. At the time I didn’t know what a profound effect this place was to have on my future painting life.

For some time, I had been looking for a place to focus my work, and the Isles of Scilly became that place, as the artists of St Ives – painters such as Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron, Ivon Hitchens and W Barns-Graham – found inspiration in Cornwall after the Second World War.

I have been influenced by Cornwall and the artists around St Ives. My paintings are an antidote to the noisy, complex world I find around me. The Isles of Scilly have a way of slowing you down: a breathing space. I work to make paintings that help give one time to stand for a moment and lose oneself in the beauty of nature and the everyday objects around Scilly. I know my paintings can sometimes be challenging. My work is about feelings, memories, colour, light, sound and landscape, from the smallest shell to the biggest wave. Every year, I come with fresh eyes to paint different aspects of the islands, some more traditional, others more abstract, but always looking for new ways to express what I see and feel.

I love painting, but it can be a lonely place, so it is always good to have the opportunity to share my work and thoughts with others. I am grateful to Anna at Gallery Tresco for her support and interest in my work over the years.

Last year, I wrote a short poem, which sums up my feelings...

A SMALL PAINTING

A small painting hangs on our kitchen wall Bought on impulse on a summer’s day. Colours to keep the greys of winter out And memories of summer in A blue cloudless sky, white bleached sand Stranded strands of pea-green seaweed peppered with orange and yellow shells I can hear the sound of Oystercatchers and the sea

A moment forever captured in a small painting That hangs on our kitchen wall

Stuart’s work is on display at Gallery Tresco, at tresco.co.uk/ gallery and in our cottages, from which much of the artwork is available for purchase by enquiry.

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Echoes of the deep

Like every good Victorian, Tresco’s Lord Proprietor Augustus Smith was an avid collector. He’s probably best known for the exotic trees and plants, plucked from across the globe, which in the 1830s formed his spectacular Abbey Garden. But his collecting habit did not stop there. He saved figureheads and other artefacts retrieved from merchant sailing ships or steamships that had been wrecked off the treacherous rocks around Scilly, and displayed them on the terrace outside his newly built home. In time the collection outgrew the space, so Smith housed it in a purpose-built loggia near the bowling green. As eye-catching and colourful as the better-known gardens, it still stands there today.

Much of the delight of this motley crowd – dubbed the Valhalla Collection, from the Old Norse Valhöll, meaning “hall of the fallen” –stems from its randomness. So a haughty gilded eagle jostles alongside a turbaned Turk, a robed friar, and a red-faced Scottish chieftain who has almost certainly drunk too much whisky. You wish they could all spring to life so you could listen in on the banter.

Most importantly the collection provides a fascinating insight into 19th-century life across the globe, both on land and on board the ships that the figureheads guided. It recounts the sea-drenched dramas that befell the vessels and is tinged with tragedy too, as the figureheads were retrieved from wrecks in which lives were sadly lost.

So what exactly is a figurehead? Figureheads are carved wooden

sculptures that decorated the bows of sailing ships, the equivalent of today’s ships’ badges and crests. They follow in a long tradition dating back to the ancient Egyptians, who placed figures of holy birds on the bow, believing they would help protect them. Britain’s earliest Royal Navy warships bore carved figureheads of animals too, with lions the most common in the 17th century (although figures of dignitaries decorated large warships.) Then, in 1727, the admiralty issued an order permitting the carving of human figures for smaller ships, a tradition which continued until the late 19th century when iron and steel hulls replaced wooden ships.

The figureheads in the Valhalla collection mostly date from the 19th century. Normally, these represented a member of the shipowner’s family, the owner himself, or figures from history or fiction. The quality of the workmanship – often considerable – showed off the merchant shipowner’s wealth. “By choosing a heroic or favourable person to adorn their ship, owners hoped other merchants would associate their heroicism with their shipping company,” says Simon Stephens, Curator of the Ship Model and Boat Collections at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, which took over ownership of the Valhalla collection in 1979.

Given their exposure to salt water, the figureheads’ condition is impressive. Most are made from pine. In previous centuries, figureheads had been made from oak or elm, but by the 19th century pine was favoured as it was conveniently light, far cheaper, and could be painted to prevent it rotting. Indeed, one peevish TripAdvisor review of the collection – long since removed – exclaimed shock and dismay that the original figureheads seemed to have been replaced by “plastic reproductions”, such is the enduring durability of these magnificent marine artefacts.

WORDS: Clare Hargreaves

One of the Valhalla figureheads we know most about is the enchanting white and gilded Friar Tuck, from the English legend of Robin Hood, which piloted the Liverpool tea clipper of the same name, which was transporting tea from China to London. Why Friar Tuck in particular was chosen as the figurehead is unclear, but we do know the name of his carver – George Hughes, an employee at Alexander Hall & Co, who built the Friar Tuck, along with numerous other clippers. “The size and quality of the carving suggests the clipper’s owners were making good money,” says Stephens.

The amiable friar never reached his destination. When strong winds struck in November 1863, the wooden clipper, along with over 500 other vessels, sought shelter in St Mary’s Roads. Six, including Friar Tuck, were destroyed by the ensuing hurricane, but fortunately the clipper’s 22-strong crew was saved. Some of its precious tea cargo was rescued and taken to London but the locals also managed to “acquire” handsome quantities of the beverage too, enjoying free cuppas for months. The Chinese geese resident on Tresco today descend from geese which came ashore from the vessel where they’d been kept in cages as a source of food.

Many figureheads were female, perhaps perceived as comforting and calming company despite the fact that real-life females on board were seen as bad luck. One with a remarkable story is the life-sized female figure escorting the Spanish barque Primos. Like many of the female figureheads she’s dressed in flowing white robes, gilded at the

edges, and wears a crown. Some say her charms helped rescue one of the crew who, after the barque was wrecked off the Seven Stones reef (where the Torrey Canyon would later sink) in 1871, made a remarkable escape. As the vessel foundered, all 11 crew drowned –except one called Vincenzo Defilice. After swimming for several hours, he found a floating hen coop, which he clambered onto and kept afloat for an hour. He then spied the barque’s figurehead and clung to her, before coming across an abandoned lifeboat in which he rowed himself to shore. Legend goes that the figurehead’s serene expression gave the exhausted sailor strength.

Equally elegant is the similarly attired female guiding the Sunderland-built schooner-rigged screw steamer, the Serica. Her gracefulness contrasts with her everyday cargo of coal, which was travelling from Cardiff to Port Said. But unlike Primos’ female figurehead, Serica’s proved unable to prevent disaster. As the steamer passed Hartland Point on the north Devon coast in November 1893 it was hit by a gale and the master was washed overboard and back again – twice! The steamer limped round to Scilly with her hatch tarpaulins ripped and main cabin flooded, but then hit a rock (subsequently christened Serica Rock), so had to be abandoned.

Look out, too, for the ringleted lady whose Genoese barque, the Indipendenza, was travelling in 1881 from Valparaiso, Chile, to Rotterdam, carrying a cargo of guano (seabird droppings), hooves and horn, all used as fertilisers. After hitting rocks north of the Bishop lighthouse, the Indipendenza was finally wrecked on the Barrel of Butter rocks off St Mary’s. St Mary’s Pool was reportedly “thick with horns,” which must have been a bizarre sight indeed.

lives in Devon. clarehargreaves.co.uk

Random the Valhalla collection may be, but it gives a fascinating insight into Britain’s seafaring past, while also being a vivid reminder of the perils of Scilly’s rock-studded seas.

Explore the collection at the Valhalla Museum, part of your entry to Tresco Abbey Garden. More info: National Maritime Museum rmg.co.uk Clare Hargreaves is a journalist who has worked on, and written extensively about, the Isles of Scilly. A keen sailor and rower, she

What has become an everlasting tradition of family visits to the beautiful Isles of Scilly, first began with a week-long stay in 1968…

In the years since that first visit,, my grandparents Rose and Michael Chapman, along with my mum and her sisters, have stayed in many different places on Tresco, including Dolphin House with its fantastic views, and even Tresco Abbey, located amongst the subtropical Abbey Garden.

Things were, of course, a little different in the Sixties, with Mum collecting milk in churns from the Abbey drive, and befriending a charismatic peacock, affectionately nicknamed Fergus. She was also lucky enough to be picked up by Chocolate the horse and his trap, an experience my sister and I remain jealous of – though we made many bumpy trips from the heliport on the old tractor! Despite these inevitable changes however, decades later, the undeniable charm of Tresco Island remains.

Having grown up visiting Scilly, my sister, our cousins and I have each formed a unique relationship with Tresco, which I have no doubt will remain for many years to come.

In addition to its sparkling tides and ever-enchanting wildlife, the island is also made popular by its friendly inhabitants. Graham the ‘bike man’ has known us both since we could walk (or cycle,) and year on year we look forward to seeing him; he remains a very dear friend to us! We were also deeply saddened by the news of Eddie Birch’s passing in 2022. As an exemplar of all that is so wonderful about

Tresco, Eddie was a truly kind-hearted man, who Mum fondly remembers greeting from Dolphin House as he made his way around the island.

For most of our time here we have stayed in Cobblers, the cosy cottage nestled between The New Inn and Gallery Tresco. We were thrilled to see, when we returned from a brief hiatus in 2014, that the newly refurbished cottage still held its familiar endearing qualities. With its delightfully snug interior, (which is important when the windows are being pelted by a sea storm,) Cobblers is still our go-to getaway and provides a perfect example of the care and attention paid to it by the island staff.

On our last visit we left Tresco with heavy hearts, as we waved goodbye to all the places once explored with my grandparents, whose passing we honoured by reliving our fondest island memories. To quote the words of a friendly couple we met at Blockhouse during our stay, once you visit Tresco you’ll find that “you just get the island,” and soon you’ll be counting down the days until you return.

Having caught the Scilly bug in 1968, the same can certainly be said for us, and like so many others, the sandy lanes and hidden hideaways of this idyllic island will continue to remain a dearly loved home away from home.

THE CHAPMAN FAMILY

#MyTresco

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WORDS: Charlotte Grant

30-year Tresco Islandshare

TRESCO ISLAND IS AN RCI GOLD CROWN RESORT

MONDAY CHANGEOVER

Bay House Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 41 06 Oct 2025

£20,000

Curlew Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 12 17 Mar 2025

Week 15 07 Apr 2025

Week 36 01 Sep 2025

Week 42 13 Oct 2025

Week 43 20 Oct 2025

THURSDAY CHANGEOVER

Dial Rocks Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 38 18 Sep 2025

Week 43 23 Oct 2025

£10,725

£16,000

£35,785

£15,580

Driftwood SG / Band 7 / Sleeps 6-8

Week 40 29 Sep 2025

Week 43 20 Oct 2025

Tresco re-sales

MONDAY CHANGEOVER

Maiden Bower Band 7 / Sleeps 8

Week 12 17 Mar 2025

£37,500

£23,095

Friendship FB / Band 7 / Sleeps 6

Week 13 27 Mar 2025

£23,530

Hilltop Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 12 20 Mar 2025

£12,870

Rockpool SG / Band 7 / Sleeps 6-8

Week 43 23 Oct 2025

£39,520

£36,905

Flotsam SG / Band 7 / Sleeps 6-8

Week 16 14 Apr 2025

£34,895

North End Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 40 29 Sep 2025

£21,385

Reading Room Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 25 16 Jun 2025

TUESDAY CHANGEOVER

£18,564 28yrs

North End Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 13 24 Mar 2025 £7,060 14yrs

Reading Room Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 39 22 Sep 2025

£34,620 34yrs

Sophie FB / Band 7 / Sleeps 6-8

Week 41 06 Oct 2025

TUESDAY CHANGEOVER

£29,169 27yrs

£36,905

Tern Band 8 / Sleeps 8

Week 12 20 Mar 2025

Week 39 24 Sep 2026

£25,385

£57,455

Townshill Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 12 20 Mar 2025

FRIDAY CHANGEOVER

£42,380

Beach Band 3 / Sleeps 4

Week 43 21 Oct 2025

£13,870

Green Band 5 / Sleeps 6

Week 12 18 Mar 2025

£12,870

Merrick Band 7 / Sleeps 8

Week 12 18 Mar 2025

Week 26 24 Jun 2025

£19,890

£53,105

Phoenix FB / Band 7 / Sleeps 6

Week 43 21 Oct 2025

£32,100

Seagrass SG / Band 7 / Sleeps 6-8

Week 42 14 Oct 2025

£36,905

Wigeon Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 12 18 Mar 2025

WEDNESDAY CHANGEOVER

£10,725

Coastguards Band 8 / Sleeps 8

Week 12 19 Mar 2025

Week 43 22 Oct 2025

£17,000

£24,750

Endeavour FB / Band 11 / Sleeps 8-9

Week 42 15 Oct 2025

£37,680

Gadwall Band 2 / Sleeps 4

Week 12 19 Mar 2025

£7,770

Old Mill Band 8 / Sleeps 8-10

Week 12 19 Mar 2025

Week 41 08 Oct 2025

Week 42 15 Oct 2025

£18,720

£27,240

Pearl SG / Band 5 / Sleeps 4

Week 29 16 July 2025

£132,700

Pegasus FB / Band 7 / Sleeps 6

Week 41 08 Oct 2025

£32,100

£15,895

Abalone SG / Band 11 / Sleeps 8-10

Week 20 09 May 2025

£54,160

Heron Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 12 14 Mar 2025

Week 13 21 Mar 2025

Week 40 26 Sep 2025

Week 41 03 Oct 2025

£10,725

£17,010

£15,795

Kittiwake Band 8 / Sleeps 8

Week 13 21 Mar 2025

£25,385

Nautilus SG / Band 10 / Sleeps 6-8

Week 30 18 Jul 2025

£205,000

Sandpiper Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 13 21 Mar 2025

Week 14 28 Mar 2025

Week 42 10 Oct 2025

Week 43 17 Oct 2025

£10,725

£14,745

£15,580

Seaflower FB / Band 7 / Sleeps 6

Week 36 29 Aug 2025

Week 37 05 Sept 2025

Week 43 16 Oct 2026

£73,655

£55,835

£32,940

Seaspray Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 21 16 May 2025

Week 43 17 Oct 2025

SATURDAY CHANGEOVER

Sunfish SG / Band 11 / Sleeps 8-10

Week 41 07 Oct 2025 £44,852 31yrs

WEDNESDAY CHANGEOVER

Coastguards Band 8 / Sleeps 8

Week 23 04 Jun 2025

£36,160 27yrs

Week 41 08 Oct 2025 £13,620 15yrs

Gadwall Band 2 / Sleeps 4

Week 28 09 Jul 2025 £54,000 38yrs

Old Mill Band 8 / Sleeps 8-10

Week 27 02 July 2025

£85,000 33yrs

THURSDAY CHANGEOVER

Friendship FB / Band 7 / Sleeps 6

Week 40 02 Oct 2025 £32,570 28yrs

Hilltop Band 6 / Sleeps 6 Week 42 16 Oct 2025 £12,370 18yrs

Townshill Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 22 28 May 2026 £17,200 11yrs

Cliff Band 6 / Sleeps 6 Week 23 04 Jun 2026 £36,140 33yrs

FRIDAY CHANGEOVER

Abalone SG / Band 11 / Sleeps 8-10 Week 26 21 Jun 2025 £78,780 30yrs

Garland FB / Band 7 / Sleeps 6

Week 25 13 Jun 2025

£37,085

£23,095

School House Band 8 / Sleeps 8

Week 12 15 Mar 2025

Week 13 22 Mar 2025

£19,535

Please contact the Islandshare office on +44 (0)1720 424111 or email islandshare@tresco.co.uk for further details.

SG Sea Garden Cottage | FB Flying Boat Cottage Tresco Spa membership is included in all Islandshare weeks.

Please note: dates are shown for guidance only and do not necessarily indicate the first year of occupation.

£64,708 33yrs

Heron Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 27 27 June 2025 £22,000 12yrs

Rowesfield Band 6 / Sleeps 6

Week 41 03 Oct 2025 £7,405 11yrs

SATURDAY CHANGEOVER

Oyster SG / Band 7 / Sleeps 6-8

Week 28 05 Jul 2025

£173,962 37yrs

Sea Horse SG / Band 7 / Sleeps 6-8

Week 18 26 Apr 2025

Week 19 03 May 2025

£40,000 36yrs

£48,000 36yrs

Starfish SG / Band 7 / Sleeps 6-8

Week 36 30 Aug 2025

Week 37 06 Sep 2025

£87,451 31yrs

£65,591 31yrs

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