Isles of Scilly
Early this morning we arrived at the Isles of Scilly which lie some thirty or so miles off the south coast of Cornwall. Immediately following breakfast we took the Zodiacs and made our way through an invigorating breeze to the island of Tresco famed for its magnificent gardens. This gardeners’ wonderland is located on the site of a tenth century Benedictine monastery and was the brainchild of a wealthy retired banker, Augustus Smith, who began work on his garden in 1834. Boasting 20,000 exotic plants from a diverse range of geographical locations around the world this Abbey Garden is unique in the British Isles. The local guides have an intimate knowledge of the gardens and enthusiastically shared this with us.
After the tour of the gardens was completed and we had partaken of a refreshing cup of tea our two naturalists, Karen and Richard, took groups on a nature walk before we headed back to the Endeavour for lunch.
For the afternoon we divided into groups to visit the nearby island of St. Mary. Richard went on a wildlife exploration of the environs of Hugh Town, the capital of the archipelago. Some interesting species were observed including a number of gray seals. The second group was accompanied by Steve and Vinnie and went ashore to examine and discuss the cultural layering of the local landscape. These islands are exceptionally rich in vestiges of the past boasting over one thousand known archaeological sites covering a time span of ten thousand years. Tiny flint flakes known as microliths have been found attest to the presence of Mesolithic people in the area. These hunter – gatherers passively exploited their environment around 8,000 BC. An impressive standing stone made of the local granite dating to the Early Bronze Age was visited as were two sites of Neolithic – Bronze Age date. These latter were examples of so called entrance tombs where the burial chamber is reached via a passage – like feature and are referred to generically as megaliths. Excavation of one of these called Bants Carn in 1900 discovered an amount of cremated human bone and pottery fragments, which were dated between 3000 and 2500 BC. This walk was capped off in the beautiful evening light by the sight of a large number of shags skimming over the azure sea just offshore.
Early this morning we arrived at the Isles of Scilly which lie some thirty or so miles off the south coast of Cornwall. Immediately following breakfast we took the Zodiacs and made our way through an invigorating breeze to the island of Tresco famed for its magnificent gardens. This gardeners’ wonderland is located on the site of a tenth century Benedictine monastery and was the brainchild of a wealthy retired banker, Augustus Smith, who began work on his garden in 1834. Boasting 20,000 exotic plants from a diverse range of geographical locations around the world this Abbey Garden is unique in the British Isles. The local guides have an intimate knowledge of the gardens and enthusiastically shared this with us.
After the tour of the gardens was completed and we had partaken of a refreshing cup of tea our two naturalists, Karen and Richard, took groups on a nature walk before we headed back to the Endeavour for lunch.
For the afternoon we divided into groups to visit the nearby island of St. Mary. Richard went on a wildlife exploration of the environs of Hugh Town, the capital of the archipelago. Some interesting species were observed including a number of gray seals. The second group was accompanied by Steve and Vinnie and went ashore to examine and discuss the cultural layering of the local landscape. These islands are exceptionally rich in vestiges of the past boasting over one thousand known archaeological sites covering a time span of ten thousand years. Tiny flint flakes known as microliths have been found attest to the presence of Mesolithic people in the area. These hunter – gatherers passively exploited their environment around 8,000 BC. An impressive standing stone made of the local granite dating to the Early Bronze Age was visited as were two sites of Neolithic – Bronze Age date. These latter were examples of so called entrance tombs where the burial chamber is reached via a passage – like feature and are referred to generically as megaliths. Excavation of one of these called Bants Carn in 1900 discovered an amount of cremated human bone and pottery fragments, which were dated between 3000 and 2500 BC. This walk was capped off in the beautiful evening light by the sight of a large number of shags skimming over the azure sea just offshore.
