The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-28)

The Sunday Times November 28, 2021 21

1 mile

St Mary's

Hugh Town

St Martin's

Bryher Tresco

St Agnes

Penzance

30 miles

Left: the

lighthouse at

Peninnis Head,

St Mary’s.

Above: Penzance

Helicopters and

the Star Castle

hotel. Above

right: the beach

and harbour at

Hugh Town.

Right: the bar

and one of the

cabins on the

Night Riviera

THE DAREDEVIL WHO SWAM FROM LAND’S END TO ST MARY’S

A less orthodox way to get to Scilly

is to swim. The local artist Mark

Richards, then 58, made the 28-mile

crossing from Land’s End to St

Mary’s in September 2019, simply as

a personal challenge. “I’d already

done the Scilly Swim Challenge,

where you swim between the

islands,” he says. “I wanted

something bigger, so I swam round

Cornwall, from Bude to Plymouth,

in sections. But I still wanted

something harder and further. I

supported a friend who swam the

Channel. She took 20 hours but she

was so brave. I wanted to know if I

was made of that kind of stuff.

Two fantastic women,

Beth French and Alison

Streeter, had swum to

Scilly but no man had

done it. I set my

heart on it.

“I got in touch

with the local

fisherman who’d

supported Beth on

her swim. I’d done

1,000km in training

and it was just a case of

waiting for the smallest

neap tide and a weather window.

This took a frustrating three

months and I finally went

on September 9.

“I did the swim in

20 hours. The first

half took six hours

and I felt great,

but then the tide

got really difficult

and it took twice

as long to do the

second half, into the

darkness. All

I could see was a

red light on St Mary’s,

which didn’t seem to get any

closer. I was swimming through

phosphorescence, which was a

magical experience and gave me

something to focus on.

“At 2am, 800m from the shore,

the skipper of the boat said he was

going to pull me out if I didn’t make

it in 20 minutes, as it was getting too

dangerous. So I charged on. I’ll

never forget the feeling of seeing

the seabed, rocks and seaweed

coming up towards me. I’m really

proud that I just kept swimming and

didn’t give up.”

markrichardsart.co.uk

Interview by Sue Bryant

Mark Richards, left, swam

28 miles to St Mary’s, above

PIXEL PRINTS, ROBERTHARDING, PARKERPHOTOGRAPHY/ALAMY; SCOTT RAMSEY

mainland on the Scillonian,

grabbed dinner and a glass

of wine near the station, then

reboarded the sleeper for the

9pm return to London.

At some point in the night,

with the carriage’s rhythmic

rocking and swaying, I

conspired to fall out of my

bunk. Only a short distance,

with no harm done, but

perhaps this was a message

to a creaky-boned

septuagenarian. Next time

I’ll stay a few days and tackle

the Scillies at the more sedate

pace they — and I — deserve.

Malcolm Ginsberg was a guest

of Great Western Railway,

which has Sleeper Advance

returns from £124pp. Dinner in

the Pullman on the daytime

service costs from £25, with

£10 extra for steak (gwr.com).

Penzance Helicopters has

returns from £129pp

(penzancehelicopters.co.uk).

See visitislesofscilly.com

company, was a time of

reflection. “The Isles of Scilly

have an enduring appeal

and the last 18 months have

really demonstrated what

we hold dear: a sense of

community, the healing

power of nature, the great

outdoors and the freedom

to roam,” he told me.

As any visitor to the islands

knows, changeable weather

means travel plans are rarely

more than a broad starting

point. And so it proved with

us. “Please come back early.

We have weather problems.”

This was the ominous message

from Penzance Helicopters

waiting for us when we

returned to the Star Castle.

The helicopter check-in

desk at the airport has a feed

from a camera at Penzance

Heliport. If, at the heliport,

St Michael’s Mount is still

visible, the service can

operate. It was shrouded in

mist, so we returned to the

A London-Penzance sleeper

service has operated on and

off since the late 19th century,

with the Night Riviera

undergoing a revamp in 2018.

It is, by a distance, the most

agreeable way to arrive in the

West Country. You depart from

Paddington shortly before

midnight, long after the tide of

commuters has subsided, and

arrive into Mount’s Bay as the

sun is rising behind the Lizard,

bathing St Michael’s Mount in

soft morning light, and the

seagulls are noisily searching

out their breakfast.

The traditional way of

reaching the islands is on the

venerable Scillonian ferry

service, on which Wilson was a

regular passenger. It operates

year-round, with a famously

lively two-hour forty-minute

crossing during which

sightings of basking sharks,

whales and dolphins are

common.

Time was of the essence,

though, so we upgraded

to Penzance Helicopters,

which zips passengers across

in just 15 minutes and affords

views of those dazzling white

beaches and implausibly

turquoise waters. (When

you’re approaching from

the air, shielded from the

elements, those Caribbean

comparisons don’t seem quite

so far-fetched.)

St Mary’s, Scilly’s primary

island, covers just six square

miles. Having landed and

set out to explore, I was

heartened to find so much that

remained familiar from my

visit all those years ago.

West of St Mary’s main

settlement, Hugh Town, is

the 500-year-old Star Castle.

During the English Civil War

it accommodated the future

Charles II; since 1933 it has

been a hotel and is still going

strong, with fine dining and

a snug basement bar

(star-castle.co.uk). It’s housed

within the old fortress, built in

the shape of an eight-pointed

star, with views that extend for

miles; from here you can see

the other four inhabited

islands of the archipelago —

St Martin’s, St Agnes, Bryher

and Tresco — and many of the

140 uninhabited islets.

The island’s electric golf

carts were new to me,

however. They’re available to

rent through the Scilly Cart

Company and perfectly suited

to the slower pace of life in

these parts — and the narrow

lanes (scillycart.co). From

Peninnis Head in St Mary’s

south to Bar Point in the north

it’s only three miles, so it

doesn’t take long to get a really

good sense of the place.

We buzzed past deserted

coves, rolling farmland and

exuberant gardens bursting

with the kind of flora that

you wouldn’t find in much

of the UK (the microclimate

here works wonders). We

happened upon Holy Vale

Vineyard & Winery, where

tastings can be arranged

(holyvalewines.co.uk).

About 1,800 people live

on the island, a population

that’s dwarfed in a typical

year by visitors. Tourism is a

cornerstone of the economy —

so how has everyone coped

with recent challenges?

Lockdown, according to

Nick Bond of the Islands’

Partnership, a local tourism

Sightings of basking

sharks, whales and

dolphins are

common from the

Scillonian ferry