Tresco from Plumb Island
Bryher from Plumb Island
Plumb Island at low tide
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Island 211 - Plumb Island, Tresco, Isles of Scilly
Plumb Island is a very small tidal island located 100 metres off the west coast of Tresco. It is approximately 50 metres long by 30 metres wide. It is a limpet shape and is covered in Hottentot figs and a few scrubby trees. It is obviously visited on a frequent basis, as there was a clear path to the top of the island, where I sat and ate my lunch.
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
The Isles of Scilly Revisited 2014
After a gap of 11 years I thought it was time to revisit the Isles of Scilly and collect a few of the tidal islands off the inhabited islands. I flew from Newquay Airport to St Mary's in a 16 seater plane. The car park at Newquay cost me £69.50 for 7 days, which I thought was a bit expensive + you also have to pay a £5 Airport Development Fee and the cost of the return flight was. You can also fly from Lands End or Exeter. It is cheaper to travel by boat from Penzance on the Scillonian III but the journey to the Isles of Scilly is often very rough as it heads into the prevailing wind and many people I know who have been on it have been seasick. The Scillonian only runs from mid March to early November. There is no longer a helicopter service to the Isles of Scilly.
The first smell I noticed after leaving the airport was an unusual but not unpleasant mixture of wild garlic and narcissi. Daffodils and narcissi grow everywhere in the Isles of Scilly, not just in the cultivated fields. They were still in full flower in mid March but if you visit in the summer you will miss these cheerful flowers.
I timed my visit in mid March carefully to coincide with low tides in the middle of the day. However what I hadn't realised was that almost all of the boat operators hadn't started running yet. I think this was partly because Easter this year isn't until later in April. Thankfully the owner of the Sapphire was running his boat and visiting Tresco and St Agnes was no problem. However due to very low tides in the case of Bryher and the fact that the hotel, pub and all the cafés and restaurants on St Martin's were closed they were both off the menu. I did eventually get to St Martin's on one of the small boats used to ferry the local residents back and forth. I will be back sometime to visit Samson and the tidal islands off Bryher.
The lack of open cafes on all the islands was good for the waistline. However there isn't much to do on the Isles of Scilly that doesn't involve walking and after a 9am start and with 12-13 miles completed by 4pm what I really wanted to do was sit down in a café with a cup of tea and a piece of cake and have a rest. The only food shop on St Mary's is the Co-op, which wasn't well stocked and often ran out of sandwiches, fruit and vegetables. I didn't starve but it is just as well that I don't mind eating cold spaghetti hoops out of a tin while sitting on a bench on a windy seafront while the seagulls eye up my tea! There is no shortage of benches on St Mary's. Most of them are memorials to people who loved the Isles of Scilly and were frequent visitors.
The Kaffeehaus on St Mary's, which offers German food, was open but it was a couple of miles from Hugh Town, so I only went there once. Old Town Café was only open for 4 hours during my week long stay but I did manage to arrange my itinerary, so I could visit it. However the best café I found was the Dairy Cafe on the seafront in Hugh Town. It may not serve the best food in the world but it was reasonably priced, the food was tasty, the staff were friendly and most importantly it was open most days. I think most of the pubs in Hugh Town were open too but I didn't go in any of them.
While sitting on a bench eating a packet of cheesy Wotsits one day I dropped one on the ground and then had my closest encounter ever with a thrush, who hopped under my legs and ate the whole Wotsit over a period of about 10 minutes. I don't normally encourage wild animals to eat junk food, or indeed consume it myself, but this was a delightful encounter. I noticed that other birds on the Isles of Scilly were also much bolder than their mainland cousins e.g. blackbirds and the normally very shy wren.
I stayed in the excellent, comfortable and friendly Wingletang Guest House in Hugh Town, St Mary's. It was only a couple of minutes walk away from the Co-op and the Harbour.
The first smell I noticed after leaving the airport was an unusual but not unpleasant mixture of wild garlic and narcissi. Daffodils and narcissi grow everywhere in the Isles of Scilly, not just in the cultivated fields. They were still in full flower in mid March but if you visit in the summer you will miss these cheerful flowers.
I timed my visit in mid March carefully to coincide with low tides in the middle of the day. However what I hadn't realised was that almost all of the boat operators hadn't started running yet. I think this was partly because Easter this year isn't until later in April. Thankfully the owner of the Sapphire was running his boat and visiting Tresco and St Agnes was no problem. However due to very low tides in the case of Bryher and the fact that the hotel, pub and all the cafés and restaurants on St Martin's were closed they were both off the menu. I did eventually get to St Martin's on one of the small boats used to ferry the local residents back and forth. I will be back sometime to visit Samson and the tidal islands off Bryher.
The lack of open cafes on all the islands was good for the waistline. However there isn't much to do on the Isles of Scilly that doesn't involve walking and after a 9am start and with 12-13 miles completed by 4pm what I really wanted to do was sit down in a café with a cup of tea and a piece of cake and have a rest. The only food shop on St Mary's is the Co-op, which wasn't well stocked and often ran out of sandwiches, fruit and vegetables. I didn't starve but it is just as well that I don't mind eating cold spaghetti hoops out of a tin while sitting on a bench on a windy seafront while the seagulls eye up my tea! There is no shortage of benches on St Mary's. Most of them are memorials to people who loved the Isles of Scilly and were frequent visitors.
The Kaffeehaus on St Mary's, which offers German food, was open but it was a couple of miles from Hugh Town, so I only went there once. Old Town Café was only open for 4 hours during my week long stay but I did manage to arrange my itinerary, so I could visit it. However the best café I found was the Dairy Cafe on the seafront in Hugh Town. It may not serve the best food in the world but it was reasonably priced, the food was tasty, the staff were friendly and most importantly it was open most days. I think most of the pubs in Hugh Town were open too but I didn't go in any of them.
While sitting on a bench eating a packet of cheesy Wotsits one day I dropped one on the ground and then had my closest encounter ever with a thrush, who hopped under my legs and ate the whole Wotsit over a period of about 10 minutes. I don't normally encourage wild animals to eat junk food, or indeed consume it myself, but this was a delightful encounter. I noticed that other birds on the Isles of Scilly were also much bolder than their mainland cousins e.g. blackbirds and the normally very shy wren.
I stayed in the excellent, comfortable and friendly Wingletang Guest House in Hugh Town, St Mary's. It was only a couple of minutes walk away from the Co-op and the Harbour.
Thursday, 5 December 2013
Island 210 - Newquay/Towan Island, Newquay, Cornwall
This island is referred to both as Newquay Island and Towan Island. It is a small rocky tidal island located on Towan Beach on the north coast of Cornwall in the middle of the town of Newquay.
The island has a single house built on the summit, which can only be accessed via a private suspension bridge. The house was sold at the end of 2012 and is now available to rent as self-catering holiday accommodation. The house has been renamed The House in the Sea and it isn't cheap to rent - up to £5000 for a week in peak season! For that reason I contented myself with a climb up from the beach on the south side of the island. I climbed up above the high tide level and sat there in the sunshine for the required 10 minutes. It looked like there was once a footpath leading up to the house from the beach but it had been blocked off a few metres above the high tide level and is now overgrown anyway.
The island has a single house built on the summit, which can only be accessed via a private suspension bridge. The house was sold at the end of 2012 and is now available to rent as self-catering holiday accommodation. The house has been renamed The House in the Sea and it isn't cheap to rent - up to £5000 for a week in peak season! For that reason I contented myself with a climb up from the beach on the south side of the island. I climbed up above the high tide level and sat there in the sunshine for the required 10 minutes. It looked like there was once a footpath leading up to the house from the beach but it had been blocked off a few metres above the high tide level and is now overgrown anyway.
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| Towan Island looking west |
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| Towan Island looking west |
The suspension bridge doesn't show up clearly against the sky
Towan Beach, Newquay - looking east
Towan Island - the suspension bridge from below
Thursday, 31 October 2013
Birnbeck Island, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset - so near, yet so far
Birnbeck Island is very unusual in that it is connected to the mainland by a pier. I am not sure of the exact difference between a pier and a bridge but it is always described as a pier in this case. However the pier has been in a dilapidated state for some years and was closed to the public in 1994 because it was deemed unsafe, so I have not been able to visit it.
In 1847 work began on a suspension bridge to the island but this was never completed due to bad weather, bankruptcy and strikes.
In 1847 work began on a suspension bridge to the island but this was never completed due to bad weather, bankruptcy and strikes.
The foundation stone of Birnbeck Pier was laid on 28th October 1864 and it was officially opened on 6th June 1867. It was designed by Eugenius Birch (1818-84), who designed 14 piers around Britain. It consisted of a 317 metre long pier between the mainland and Birnbeck Island and a 12 metre long timber and iron jetty, which extended westwards,
Many of the visitors to Birnbeck Pier arrived by paddle steamers. It was particularly popular with visitors from South Wales, as pubs used to be closed in Wales on Sundays. The original jetty was dismantled in 1872 and was replaced by one, which was 76 metres long, on the north side of the island. A stone pavilion, containing a concert hall and refreshment rooms, was built on the island in 1884. The pavilion burnt down in December 1897 but was replaced by a building designed by Hans Price & Walter Wooler in 1898.
Another jetty was built on the south west side of Birnbeck Island in 1898, which reached deep water even at low tide. Both jetties were damaged in a storm in 1903. The northern jetty was rebuilt in steel and extended to 91 metres in length: it is still there. The south west jetty was rebuilt in 1909 but closed in 1916 and was dismantled in 1923.
The RNLI opened a lifeboat station on Birnbeck Island in 1882. In 1889 a boathouse was built on the north east side of the island. This was replaced in 1902 by a boathouse on the south east side of the island, which had a slipway that was long enough to allow launching at almost all states of the tide.
Birnbeck Pier suffered a loss in trade when the Grand Pier opened to the south in 1904. However steamers were unable to moor alongside the Grand Pier, so Birnbeck Pier kept its monopoly. Fairground rides, such as a helter-skelter, merry-go-round, hurry-scurry, cake-walk, maze, switchback railway, water chute and flying machine were built on Birnbeck Island in the early years of the 20th century. In 1909 the southern end of Birnbeck Pier was enlarged by the construction of a concrete platform. This new area housed a roller skating rink, a bio-scope (cinema) and a theatre.
In 1941 the island was taken over by the Admiralty and used by the Department for Miscellaneous Weapons Development. It was closed to the public. After the Second World War it was given back to its owners. It then had a succession of owners. The last scheduled sailing from the pier was made by the MV Balmoral in 1979.
In 1984 the pier was damaged by equipment that drifted into it while work was being carried out in Sand Bay to the north of the pier. It was repaired but was badly damaged by storms in 1990 and was closed to the public for safety reasons in 1994.
Birnbeck Pier suffered a loss in trade when the Grand Pier opened to the south in 1904. However steamers were unable to moor alongside the Grand Pier, so Birnbeck Pier kept its monopoly. Fairground rides, such as a helter-skelter, merry-go-round, hurry-scurry, cake-walk, maze, switchback railway, water chute and flying machine were built on Birnbeck Island in the early years of the 20th century. In 1909 the southern end of Birnbeck Pier was enlarged by the construction of a concrete platform. This new area housed a roller skating rink, a bio-scope (cinema) and a theatre.
In 1941 the island was taken over by the Admiralty and used by the Department for Miscellaneous Weapons Development. It was closed to the public. After the Second World War it was given back to its owners. It then had a succession of owners. The last scheduled sailing from the pier was made by the MV Balmoral in 1979.
In 1984 the pier was damaged by equipment that drifted into it while work was being carried out in Sand Bay to the north of the pier. It was repaired but was badly damaged by storms in 1990 and was closed to the public for safety reasons in 1994.
The RNLI carried on using the pier to access their lifeboat on Birnbeck Island until 2013 when they decided it was too unsafe for their crews to use any more. They moved to a temporary boathouse near Knightstone Island. The pier was badly damaged in a storm in December 2015 and a section of the walkway collapsed into the sea.
There have been several plans to redevelop Birnbeck Pier and open it again since it closed in 1994 but so far none have come to fruition. I wish they would hurry up, as this island, although tantalisingly close, is currently unvisitable.
2022 update: North Somerset Council issued a Compulsory Purchase Order to the owners of Birnbeck Pier and Island in 2020 and purchased it from them in 2021. They are planning to work together with the RNLI to renovate the pier and allow public access once more.
Birnbeck Pier from Prince Consort Gardens, Weston-super-Mare
Birnbeck Island from the Flat Holm Ferry
RNLI 1902 Lifeboat House on Birnbeck Island
Birnbeck Pier and Island from Anchor Head in March 2017
Birnbeck Pier and Island in March 2017
RNLI Lifeboat House on Birnbeck Island
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Island 209 - Knightstone Island, Weston-super-Mare
I have been undecided whether or not to include Knightstone Island in my island 'collection', as it is now firmly joined on to the northern end of Weston-super-Mare's seafront. However on a map dated 1806 it is shown as a separate island with a tidal causeway.
Knightstone Island was acquired by the Pigott family in 1696 (they later became the Smyth-Pigotts) and they owned it until the early 19th century. The island was used for fishing and as Weston-super-Mare's first coal yard. It was purchased in 1820 by Mr John Howe from Bristol. He constructed the first medicinal baths there, which were rented in 1822 by Benjamin Atwell. There were hot and cold saltwater baths, a lodging house, public refreshment rooms and a reading room. At that time the island was connected to the mainland by a natural pebble ridge, which was covered at high tide.
Dr Edward Long Fox (1761-1835), a physician from Brislington, bought Knightstone Island in 1828. He thought that sea bathing was a good treatment for both mental and physical illnesses. He and his son Dr Francis Ker Fox (1805-83) carried out further developments on the island, including raising the level of the causeway using Cornish granite, building a lodging house for patients and a new bath house (1832).
The island changed hands several more times after 1847 and the buildings on it were rebuilt or re-modelled several times. In 1880 it was bought by Mr Griffiths, who enlarged the open air pool and built a covered pool for women on the north side. In 1894 Arthur's Tower and the other lodging houses on the island were demolished.
Plan of Weston-super-Mare showing Knightstone Island in 1806.
From The First Guide to Weston-super-Mare 1822, edited by Ernest Baker and reprinted in 1901.Knightstone Island was acquired by the Pigott family in 1696 (they later became the Smyth-Pigotts) and they owned it until the early 19th century. The island was used for fishing and as Weston-super-Mare's first coal yard. It was purchased in 1820 by Mr John Howe from Bristol. He constructed the first medicinal baths there, which were rented in 1822 by Benjamin Atwell. There were hot and cold saltwater baths, a lodging house, public refreshment rooms and a reading room. At that time the island was connected to the mainland by a natural pebble ridge, which was covered at high tide.
Reverend Thomas Pruen
bought Knightstone in 1824. He commissioned the construction of
a causeway to the island, which was built above the high tide level, and a low pier, which was used by pleasure boats. He also built an open-air tidal swimming pool on the shore, which was replenished by seawater at every high tide. This was extended into the
current Marine Lake in 1929.
Dr Edward Long Fox (1761-1835), a physician from Brislington, bought Knightstone Island in 1828. He thought that sea bathing was a good treatment for both mental and physical illnesses. He and his son Dr Francis Ker Fox (1805-83) carried out further developments on the island, including raising the level of the causeway using Cornish granite, building a lodging house for patients and a new bath house (1832).
The island changed hands several more times after 1847 and the buildings on it were rebuilt or re-modelled several times. In 1880 it was bought by Mr Griffiths, who enlarged the open air pool and built a covered pool for women on the north side. In 1894 Arthur's Tower and the other lodging houses on the island were demolished.
The island was eventually bought by the
Weston Urban District Council c1896. They enlarged the island by building a new retaining wall on the north eastern side. They built a new swimming pool and a Pavilion, which both opened in May 1902. The Pavilion was
designed by the architect J.S. Stewart and included refreshment rooms, a
reading room, a billiard room and a theatre. It had electric lighting and a hot water heating system. Seawater was used in the swimming pool and a huge settling tank was constructed underneath the pool and Pavilion.
In September 1903 hundreds of people were temporarily marooned on the island and Eddie Bryant, the Pavilion's electrical engineer, was drowned when the causeway was swept away in a storm during a performance at the theatre.
Band concerts, plays, operas and other shows were performed at the Knightstone Pavilion and films were shown but the stage was too small for large productions.
By the 1970s Knightstone Pavilion was struggling financially and it finally closed in 1991. There were plans to convert the site into a leisure complex but these never came to anything and the buildings on Knightstone Island gradually deteriorated.
In 2006-7 the whole island was redeveloped. The Bath House and front section of the ground floor of the Pavilion were converted into commercial premises. The rest of the Pavilion and the swimming pool were converted into homes and two new apartment blocks were built on the island.
The Queen visited to re-open the island's perimeter walkway on 20th July 2007. The Coronation Promenade was first opened in 1953 to celebrate her coronation.
In September 1903 hundreds of people were temporarily marooned on the island and Eddie Bryant, the Pavilion's electrical engineer, was drowned when the causeway was swept away in a storm during a performance at the theatre.
The Queen visited to re-open the island's perimeter walkway on 20th July 2007. The Coronation Promenade was first opened in 1953 to celebrate her coronation.
Entrances to the Bath House on the left and Swimming Pool on the right
The Bristol Queen and the Westward Ho (Flat Holm ferry) at Knightstone Quay.
The Bristol Queen was looking very worse for wear in October 2013
Knightstone Island in 2017
The island has been altered from its natural state so much that it is only from the sea that you can see some of the original rocks
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Former Swimming Pool Knightstone Island from across the Marine Lake
Entrance to the former Swimming Pool
Former Pavilion
Garden of Dr Fox's Tearoom (the old Bath House)
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Plaque commemorating the re-opening of the Coronation Promenade by the Queen on 20th July 2007
Let it Shine mural by Mishfit
This was painted as part of the Western Wallz Project 2023
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Isle of Wight - A look beyond the obvious - see also Island 6
I had previously visited the Isle of Wight (see Island No 6) on 3 occasions - twice as a tourist and once as a volunteer working for the National Trust for a week. In August 2013 I was invited to join the Bedford Outdoor Group for a 5 day walking holiday. My first impressions as I landed at Yarmouth were that the roads were very congested, particularly around Newport. This was to be expected on an August Bank Holiday weekend on an island where tourism is a major part of the economy. However we found that away from the tourist honeypots it was possible to find peace and tranquillity even in the height of summer.
During our visit I tried to find some of the less obvious places of interest on the island.
During our visit I tried to find some of the less obvious places of interest on the island.
2022 update: I visited the Isle of Wight again for a week of almost unbroken sunshine in March 2022 and found a few more less obvious places of interest:
Bembridge
I don't know where these tree stumps have come from but they are quite photogenic
St Helens Old Church
An unusual 3 dimensional village sign at Brading
(with a geocache)
Bus shaped flower planter at Yarmouth Ferry Terminal
The Longstone - above Mottistone
The Longstone
These two chaps guard the entrance to Osborne House
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| Hoy Monument, St Catherine's Down
Michael Hoy, who was a British entrepreneur with shops in St Petersburg and a thriving import/export trade with Russia, had the monument erected to
commemorate the visit to Britain, in 1814, of Tsar
Alexander the 1st, Emperor of all the Russias’. Tsar Alexander didn't actually visit the Isle of Wight however - the nearest he got to it was Portsmouth. The monument is 72 feet high and is built of local stone. Michael Hoy owned a large amount of land on the Isle of Wight and lived nearby for several years.
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St Mildred's Church, Whippingham
Prince Albert is supposed to have had a say in the design of this church but the architect was Albert Jenkins Humbert. It was built in a Rhenish Gothic style with Norman and Italian Romanesque influences between 1854 and 1862. More importantly it has a small café adjacent to the car park. It is close to Osborne House and contains memorials to various members of the royal family.
Thatched Church at Freshwater
St Agnes's Church was built in 1908 by the architect Isaac Jones.
St Agnes's Church was built in 1908 by the architect Isaac Jones.
Italian style Catholic Church at Totland
Well dressing at Whitwell
I have come across the custom of creating decorations around holy wells by pressing flower petals into clay in Derbyshire but was not aware that it also went on in the Isle of Wight.
I have come across the custom of creating decorations around holy wells by pressing flower petals into clay in Derbyshire but was not aware that it also went on in the Isle of Wight.
This wooden lady sculpture is located in Kelly's Copse near Brading
It is in memory of Camilla Petersen, a Danish student who was murdered while sketching on Brading Down in July 2002 by Richard Kemp from Gosport.
Gribble Seat at Yarmouth
A gribble is a tiny marine isopod that eats wood. It is here in Yarmouth because Yarmouth Pier suffered damage from these little creatures and has recently been restored.
Gribble seat in 2022 - minus an antenna
A gribble is a tiny marine isopod that eats wood. It is here in Yarmouth because Yarmouth Pier suffered damage from these little creatures and has recently been restored.
Gribble seat in 2022 - minus an antenna
I don't know where these tree stumps have come from but they are quite photogenic
Tree Trunks on Bembridge Beach 2022
Bembridge Lifeboat Station
The walkway and offshore lifeboat station were completed in October 2010. It is open to the public and is well worth a visit.
A Benedictine priory was founded at St Helens by French monks after 1066. It was dedicated to St Helena, who was the wife of the Roman emperor Constantine. The village was subsequently named after her. A tower was added in the 13th century but the monastery was disbanded due to financial problems in 1414. It was given to Eton College, who owned it until 1799 but they didn't maintain it and it gradually fell into ruin, with many of the stones being taken away and used for various purposes. Eventually only the tower remained. This was bricked up in 1719 and the seaward side was painted white to act as a seamark for sailors. It still has this purpose in association with the seamark on Ashey Down. In the 18th century a new church was built further inland.
(with a geocache)
Mosaic in Yarmouth
"Boat house" near Chilton Chine
Mural at Bembridge
Pilot Boat Inn, Bembridge
Designed to look like a boat
Cowes Mural
Red squirrel carvings at Shanklin Church
Mossy cascade at Ventnor
Carved seat in Yarmouth
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