ST MARY’S, SCILLY 49’55”04N 006’18”48W
Just the name Scilly conjures a magic all of its own. It is a places of crystal clear waters where palms droop and the sun gleams off white sands. And in the sailor’s mind, it is also a treacherous reef that has claimed more ships than any other point around the British coast.
Most notoriously, four ships and 1,450 souls of the returning Gibraltar fleet under Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, were lost on the Western Rocks in 1707. “As you fly in here it looks stunning from the air – deserted white sandy beaches and piercingly clear seas,” says harbourmaster Dale Clark. “But of course it’s not always like that – something we like to mention to people.”
The Isles of Scilly are a collection of five main inhabited islands and some 140 offlying islets scattered in an archipelago 35 nautical miles west of Penzance. Lying on the same ancient granite outcrop which gives Cornwall its mineral wealth, the islands contrast rocky moorland with pristine sandy beaches and rich farmland.
There is some thought that it formed a single large
