Reasons to visit St Agnes, Isles of Scilly

St Agnes is a small island with a winter population of about 80 people. There's one pub, a restaurant, a cafe, a church, a camp site, a village green. We had a relaxed and peaceful 4 days here in August. You soon find, talking to people, that it is a place that visitors come back to again and again. For many reasons.

1: to stay at Covean Cottage - no en suite, but a most comfortable bed, great breakfasts and co-owner Rosie is just a lovely person. Her partner Zane, is a man of few words but produces the most delicious creamy mushrooms on sourdough. (You get the feeling he'd rather be crafting elegant 4-course dinners, but I don't suppose there's the demand.)

2: the song thrushes. They are all over. We never see them in our garden, but here they are as common as house sparrows.

3: the lack of traffic. There are golf buggies and the odd tractor, but otherwise the island is quiet apart from the black-backed gulls

4. the rocky coastline. You can walk around the island in a couple of hours, longer if you explore every cove and headland. You'll see just a handful of people, mostly as you pass the campsite. If you want solitude, it is plentiful.

5. the sandy beaches. There are several sandy beaches. The one just down from the Cottage (sometimes called Cove Vean) was nice for a swim on a sunny afternoon - I actually persuaded C to come in! And don't miss the rocky sculpture cove, where you can get creative with the stones.

6 the weird granite outcrops - Nag's Head and the little knob rock are inland but much of the coastline is spectacular.



Tips for visitors to St Agnes.

If you're having a meal at the Turk's Head make sure you get your order in before the evening trippers from St Mary's get up from the quayside. (You can sit outside and see the boat arriving.)

The evening bird watching tour is good; the otherwise dour boatman becoming really animated when talking about the birds and the stories of the ships lying on the ocean floor below us.

If you want a newspaper, go to the post office/shop and order it the previous day