Trip reports

THE SCILLY ISLES

Saturday, 18 April 2009

In April the Group visited the Scilly Isles where we were lodged in a variety of B & B's on St Mary's. The plan was that we would all do our own thing rather than explore in a group. This worked out fine as people were able to follow their own inclinations and go at their own speed. A number of us took advantage of the guided tours given by the resident wildlife guide, Will Wagstaffe and were rewarded with sightings of, among other things, Temminck's stint and woodchat shrike. Others made a beeline for Tresco's Abbey Garden - a fabulous place where exotic plants, which on the mainland would be confined to the greenhouse, flourished in the open. One could happily spend a full day there, which was as well given the £10 entrance fee: Scilly is not a cheap holiday destination.
Some of the more physically active members of the Group decided to explore as many of the inhabited islands as possible and one, Pru, visited some uninhabited islands with a local archeologist to explore the Bronze Age and Romano-British Iron Age remains. Several of the more intrepid Group members sailed round the jagged Western Rocks to Bishop's Rock Lighthouse seeing on the way, gannets, puffins, shags, razorbills, guillemots, a peregrine and plenty of seals. All in all a very successful trip which provided something for everyone.