Tresco Times Spring 2012 - Volume 6.3

It’s not just in the Abbey Gardens thatyou’ll find flowers - traditional scentednarcissi are still grown by the Christo-phers at Boro Farm. As with many Scil-lonian flower farms, they supply Scentfrom Scilly of St Martin’s, who spe-cialise in flowers by post. See inside for a special offer for allour Tresco Times’ readers!

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Bringing the Last Pieceof England to the World

BIH stay in Penzance until 31st Oct 2012

A closer look at the new Sea

Garden Cottages

Visitors to the Abbey Gardens often pose the question “When is the best timefor the flowers?” There isn’t really an easy answer to this, as was proved inJanuary. The 2012 New Year Flower Count, despite being delayed by a gale,was a tremendous success, with over 230 different species and variety of plantin flower...in the middle of winter! Pictured above are the horticulturalaccountants responsible for the tally: student gardeners Emma Bagnall-Oakley and Larissa Litchfield, with Head Gardener Andrew Lawson lurking inthe undergrowth. More news from Curator Mike Nelhams inside...

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Aloe! Aloe! I shall say this only once...New Year Flower Frenzy inthe Abbey Gardens

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“Our Views Are Clear.”Spring 2012 VOLUME 6.3

THE TRESCO TIMESSTILL FREE AND STILL MAKING SENSE OF SCILLY

Bringing the Last Pieceof England to the World

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Tresco Times

For those who prefer a hotel-style holiday, four new one-bedroom cottageswill be available on a nightly dinner, bed and breakfast rate, with mealsserved in The Ruin, our new beachfront restaurant. This will bring to a totalof nine our one-bedroomed Sea Garden Cottages. They all have an open -plan sitting room and fully-fitted kitchen downstairs (for those who wouldrather cater for themselves), with the bedroom, balcony and ensuitebathroom upstairs. The one-bedroomed cottages are characterised by theirdistinctive clay-tiled roofs and cedar-clad exteriors.In addition, there will be seven new rental properties available on a weekly basis. Six ofthese (Samphire, Seapink, Starfish, Seahorse, Lobster and Oyster) sleep six to eightguests, while Sunfish can accommodate eight to ten. These will all be furnished andequipped to the usual high standards expected by our guests.Further to the rental cottages, there are two new timeshare properties opening their doorsin May. Abalone and Nautilus have been converted from the Garden Wing of the IslandHotel, with Abalone sleeping up to ten guests and Nautilus sleeping eight. These two willbring the total of timeshare properties at the Sea Garden Cottages to nine. Pebble, Pearl,Coral, Rockpool, Driftwood, Seagrass and Flotsam were completed last year, when theinteriors below were photographed.Guests at the Sea Garden Cottages will also be able to make use of the handsome indoorswimming pool, gym, sauna and jacuzzi a moment’s walk from their cottage. Also openingthis spring is the new beachfront restaurant, The Ruin. Sited just above the sandy curve ofRaven’s Porth by the ruins of an old smuggler’s cottage, The Ruin will bring a new style ofeating out on Tresco with its wood-fired oven.

The final stage of the exciting new Sea Garden Cottages at the Island Hotel is nearingcompletion. Officially opening in May, this phase of the two year project will provide ourguests with not only the highest quality accommodation but also an even greater degreeof flexibility as to how they choose to holiday on Tresco.

The Sea Garden Cottages at the Island Hotel

View from the new Sea Garden Cottages

Sea Garden Cottage Indoor Swimming Pool

Tresco Times Spring 2012_Layout 1 06/02/2012 19:14 Page 2

Tresco Times

Insular ThingsIt would seem that no issue of the TrescoTimes would be complete without mentionof Eve Cooper, who once again has beenmaking the headlines. In September a special service was held atSt Nicholas’ Church to celebrate Eve’saward of the St Piran’s Cross. The awardis the gift of the Bishop of Truro, the RightRev. Tim Thornton and the ceremonyusually takes place in Truro Cathedral. Evechose to have her’s on Tresco and theservice was led by island favourites CanonDonald and Reverend Margaret Marr,pictured right with Eve.As one would only expect, St Nicholas waspacked to the rafters, as congregations

from all of the islands were represented. The St Piran’s Cross is in the form of abroach made from Cornish silver and it wasawarded to Eve in recognition of all herwork both for the church and thecommunity on Tresco. In his address,Canon Marr observed that he had met a

number of saints in his time and few ofthem were as fun to be with as Eve. Headded that recounting Eve’s qualities andacts of service would have taken days,causing the congregation to miss the buffetlunch being held in her honour at theCommunity Centre!

New Broom in the CottagesTresco’s Cottage Department has seen anexciting development as Ellen Marshallhas joined the team. Until very recentlyEllen was Head Housekeeper at the IslandHotel but with the increase in holiday cot-tages and the renewal of the hotel, Ellenhas now become Housekeeping Managerof the Cottage Department. Ellen will lead ateam of 15 staff at the height of the season,looking after over 90 properties.

A milestone in Tresco’s working history waspassed in September with the retirement ofStuart Jenkins. No more fitting tribute toStuart can be offered than that of RobertDorrien Smith: “Many people will be aware

that Stuart hasnow retired, hav-ing worked forTresco Estate for50 years. Afterleaving school,Stuart was ap-prentice to his fa-ther DennisJenkins. Denniswas the finestengineer thatTresco has everknown and

passed on his extremely high standards toStuart, training him in pipe fitting, plumbing,diesel engineering and boiler maintenance.Stuart has carried out all of these tasks forthe Estate in a fashion which would havemade his father proud.Stuart has been responsible for the watersupply on Tresco for the last 30 years,maintaining the wells, pumps and distribu-tion systems. This has been a vital contri-bution to life on the island.Stuart also gave his time and skill to theTresco Fire Brigade for many years. Dur-ing that time he has dealt with some seri-ous fires at Tresco Abbey, Tresco Stores,The Island Hotel, the old laundry and manyother smaller incidents. He carried out hisduties as Chief Fire Officer to the samehigh standards as his Estate work.I have known Stuart all my life and havegreat respect for his service ethic andsense of responsibility to the community. Iam extremely grateful to him for all the hardwork he has put in over the years. On be-half of my family, I wish him all the best fora well-deserved retirement.”Stuart’s retirement marked an extraordi-nary 100 years of father and son service tothe island. Dennis Jenkins retired in 1984,after 49 years and 11 months of employ-ment by Tresco Estate. When Stuart joinedhim as an apprentice in 1961, Dennis’ offi-cial title was Head Blacksmith, though bythen his duties embraced a huge range oftasks from machine maintenance to plumb-ing and electrics. Dennis’ skills were mani-

A Century of Sterling Service

On his retirement, as well as the traditionalwatch, Stuart received this painting featuring in

the foreground his own boat, Samson.

Stuart and Daphne Jenkins

Richard Hobbs, Holiday Cottage ServicesManager, will be working alongside Ellenand management duties will be split be-tween them.“With 95 cottages between us, it’s going tobe brilliant to be able to concentrate on thethings that we specialise in – Ellen will be incharge of all aspects of housekeeping,while I will be focused on the services andmaintenance issues.”Sounds like the perfect team!

fold. During World War II, Dennis served inthe Royal Engineers in North Africa, Italyand Palestine. His considerable skills sawhim mentioned in dispatches for devising amethod of temporary repair to tank tracks,thus avoiding the need for transporters. Afine example of his craftsmanship and ver-satility is the exquisite model of the pilotcutter Rapid, proudly displayed in the Islesof Scilly Museum.Stuart is looking forward to spending his re-tirement fishing and maintaining hisbeloved boat, Samson. The Tresco Timeswishes him the very best and salutes hisfamily’s service to Tresco and its commu-nity.

Dennis Jenkins, father of Stuart.


Tresco Times

Insular Things

We have other newarrivals to Tresco –with Stuart Jenkins’retirement came avacancy in the is-land’s plumbing de-partment, which hasbeen filled by John

McMurray. John has moved to Tresco with hiswife Julie and their two boys Alexander (8) andAaron (5). The family is very familiar with the is-lands and not only as regular holiday makers;Julie’s father, Aubrey Loze, was for some yearsthe Estate’s financial consultant. Another veryrecent recruit to Tresco is Dan Etchells, whohas come to lend support to Tony Reading inthe IT Dept. We wish them all a very warm wel-come.

A welcome of a different sort was offered on23rd January as the schoolchildren broughtthe Chinese New Year to Tresco in the formof two rather splendid dragons. The drag-ons made their way from the school up toTresco Stores and Island Office, bringinggood luck to all who saw them. The childrenenjoyed a China Day at school which in-cluded Chinese costumes and a Chineselunch cooked by the children themselves.

2012 will certainly be bringing some new thingsto Tresco – not least the opening of The Ruin.At the helm of this beachfront restaurant’skitchen will be our very own Pete Marshall, for-merly Head Chef at both the Island Hotel andlatterly the New Inn. Pete is delighted to be get-ting his hands on the wonderful wood-burningoven, from which all sorts of delights will beproduced from fresh mackerel and Tresco beefto sourdough bread and pizzas.

The Flying Boat Club has a new Head Chef aswell, though he is very familiar to us all… forthe past five years Glen Gatland has beenHead Chef at Hell Bay and has been respon-sible for its prestigious Three Rosette-status.His migration, along with wife Tracy and sonJack, from the shores of Bryher may be a sur-prise but Glen has always had his eye on theFBC. “I am sorry to leave Hell Bay in someways but I’ve always harboured am ambitionto take on the Flying Boat Club and give it amore ‘foodie’ focus. It was an opportunity thatI couldn’t miss!” said Glen.

The Chowder Crew - from left - Phil Vick-ery, Robin Lawson, David Reis, GeorgeKershaw, Joe Aram, Garry Budd , JamieParkes and coxswain Steve Parkes

October saw a righteous gathering of local Christian luminaries on Scilly, as the AnglicanBishop of Truro, the Methodist Chair of the Cornwall District and the Roman Catholic Bishopof Plymouth crossed the divide and visited the Isles of Scilly together. Not since the days ofthe 12th century Benedictine priory have there been so many holy men on Tresco From leftto right – Rev. Steve Wild, Methodist Chair of the Cornwall District, Mrs Lucy Dorrien Smith,Mr Robert Dorrien Smith, The Right Rev. Christopher Budd, Roman Catholic Bishop of Ply-mouth, Mrs Eve Cooper of Tresco, Rev. Charlie Gibbs, Methodist Minister of the Isles of Scilly,Mrs Kristine Taylor of Bryher, the Right Rev. Tim Thornton, Anglican Bishop of Truro, CanonPeter Walker, Chaplain of the Isles of Scilly, and Mr David Pender of St Mary’s.

Glen’s successor at Hell Bay has yet to be an-nounced but the Tresco Times has heard ru-mours of a young chef, who has learnt histrade in Michelin–star restaurants…The traffic in chefs between Tresco and Bryherhas been something of a theme recently. TVchef Phil Vickery and an ITV film crew stayedon Tresco this autumn, while filming at HellBay. The programme involved the affable chefvisiting Hell Bay and Kris Taylor’s wonderfulfudge kitchen on Bryher, as well as a trip to StMartin’s to make pasties at the Bakery andsample some wine at St Martin’s Vineyard.Phil’s own contribution was cooking up a deli-cious crab chowder for that hearty band ofbrothers, the Tresco & Bryher Men’s gig crew.So one morning Phil gamely went out for adabble with the lads in the Czar, making use ofthat illustrious gig’s extra thwart. It was this ad-ditional rowing position that earned her in the19th century the nickname of the cut-throat gig.Needless to say, some cruel observers re-marked that “crab chowder” was an accuratedescription of his rowing style as well as hisrecipe. None of the crew complained, thoughDavid Reis was heard to comment to camerathat Phil was certainly a better cook than hewas a paddle!

Wiktoria Wypysznska

Our hearty congratu-lations are due toAdam and TaniaDorrien Smith on thebirth of their son Xanand to Bartek andMagda Wypysznskaon the birth of theirdaughter Wiktoria.

Adam, Tania and Xan Dorrien Smith


Tresco Times

Heliport stays in Penzance

Way back in 1973, I was invited by myclose friend and mentor, the late PeterGrant, to accompany him on a birdingholiday in October to the Isles of Scilly.The Isles of Scilly! Although conjuringup images of a truly West Country“bucket & spade” holiday, I decided totake up Peter’s kind offer and soon wewere Scilly-bound, heaving about on thedreaded Scillonian with the endlessmotion on the rough seas eventuallygetting the better of me. All to be forgotten, excitement took over mewhen we arrived at St Mary’s andimmediately transferred to the Sea Kingbound for St Agnes. Depositing our bags onthe floor of our rented cottage Peter said“Come on David, there’s an RB Fly in theParsonage, you can unpack later”. Off wewent to experience my first Scilly “tick”,closely followed by my second, a yellow-browed Warbler in the Chapel Fields.“Bucket & Spade” – I just could not believe it!Next day Peter marched me off again backto the Chapel Fields where a Radde’sWarbler had been found and then to the Poolwhere a Red-throated Pipit had justlanded…and so it went on. The scene, thetension, the exhilaration, the language, theTurk’s Head, the headache afterwards – it’sall flooding back to me!I returned the next year and distinctlyremember taking an inter-island launch toTresco to look for a Yellow-rumped Warblerthat had been sighted near Cromwell’sCastle but alas, after careful searching wasnowhere to be seen. We returned to Trescothe next day and the warbler was re-locatedalongside the Great Pool, flycatchingamongst the willows in lovely goldensunshine. Well that was it, not just the birds,THE Island. Tresco made a huge imprint onmy mind and I was hooked. This is where Iwanted to birdwatch in future!

until 31st Oct 2012

Birdman David Rosair Takes A Trip Down Memory Lane

Islanders and visitors alike were delighted to hear that Sainsbury’shave agreed to allow British International Helicopters to use theirPenzance heliport until the end of October this year. In mid-January,BIH issued the press release below, confirming this to be the case:Having reached an agreement in principle with Sainsbury's, British InternationalHelicopter Services Ltd (BIH) today (16 Jan 2012 ) announced it will be continuingits scheduled services for the summer season from the Penzance heliport until 31October 2012.Tony Jones, Managing Director, British International Helicopters, said: "We arepleased to be able to give existing and new customers certainty regarding our 2012flight arrangements and be able to reassure them that the service will beuninterrupted from Penzance for another season. I would like to thank Sainsbury'sfor their flexibility in agreeing to this later date. Throughout our negotiations withthem, they have been understanding of both our and the community'srequirements." Ben Littman, regional development executive, Sainsbury's, said: "We were askedby BIH if we would allow Penzance heliport to operate for a further season. Wewere happy to agree in principle to this as we appreciate that minimising disruptionto the service and its passengers is paramount for BIH. It just remains for us toestablish the contractual details of the arrangements”.

The dates for David’s Spring“Birdwatching, Flowers &Butterflies” Tours are:April 25-30: Hell Bay,BryherApril 30-May 5: New Inn, TrescoFor full details of prices andbookings please contact:David Rosair, Island Ventures Tel: 01227 793501Email: [email protected] www.islandventures.co.ukwww.tresco.co.uk

So nearly forty years later, with close onone hundred visits to Scilly and nowannually frequenting Tresco and Bryher inboth Spring and Autumn I simply adorethe place! I have been fortunate in visitingmany archipelagos around the worldincluding the Chatham Islands and Sub-Antarctic islands of New Zealand, theGalapagos & Seychelles, Andamans,Pribilofs & Cape Verdes to name but afew, but NONE can compare with Scilly.The islands are alluring, captivating,enchanting & hypnotic and finding one’sown birds is great fun. Last Spring wehad the pleasure during my BirdwatchingTours of early morning sightings of a

Black-headed Wagtail & Tawny Pipit onTresco, flushing a Quail, a Woodchaton Bryher, along with the rare DwarfPansies and a pair of Ring Ouzels, thefirst Swift of Spring on St Martins withsome dancing Holly Blue butterflies, alovely flock of Whimbrels passing StAgnes with a Marsh Harrier arrivingover Samson.So come on over to Scilly and stay ateither the New Inn on Tresco or HellBay on Bryher. It’s a fantastic venue fora Birdwatching & Wildlife Holiday andyou will fall in love with the place as Idid nearly forty years. Viva Scillonia!


Tresco Times

New York Paris Milan

Old Grimsby

If further proof were needed of Tresco’s innate style, it hasbeen provided by those very talented and very tasteful ladiesand gentleman of Liberty. Tresco, its gardens, exotic plantsand art collection, has provided the source of inspiration fora number of beautiful fabrics in the Liberty 2013 FlowerCollection. Liberty has always been famous for its florals andhas been the best printed flower show in the world since thelate 1870s when its first floral block printed fabrics weresold.Last summer, Liberty’s top designers came and stayed at the SeaGarden Cottages, spending much of their time in the Abbey Gardensabsorbing the gardens’ many forms, the foliage and flowers, and makingsketches in preparation for their designs.Emma Mawston, Head of Design for Liberty Art Fabrics, explains: “Wewere drawn to Tresco because of its world famous sub-tropical TrescoAbbey Garden, which didn't disappoint. The garden is not only unique butalso breathtaking and inspiring; we were totally smitten and can not waitto return. The generosity of Mike Nelhams and Lucy Dorrien Smith alongwith the jaw dropping scenery and ambience of Tresco led to a beautifulbotanical collection of original artworks, drawn and hand painted in situ,from hand-cut specimens and montaged from photography.We were also lucky enough to work with Hugo Grenville a successfulpainter who regularly visits Tresco for inspiration and whose paintingshang on the island complementing those of one of my favourite paintersever, Mary Fedden. It is a dream come true to be able to see Mary'sTresco paintings printed on Liberty Art Fabrics.”The Flower Show Collection is an eclectic amalgamation of wonderfuland original botanical creations and will be launched in early 2013. Theexquisite fabrics that Emma and her team have designed will not be onsale to the public until then but we can give you a sneak preview here.As the Tresco Times goes to press the collection is being exhibitedinternationally from New York and San Paolo to Milan and Paris for theworld’s fashion houses. I have been told that the Curator is having a shirtmade for him with the Mary Fedden-based fabric, Abbey Pool. TheTresco Times has asked him to model this splendid garment for our nextissue but apparently Vogue has demanded exclusive rights.The Editor, of course, has his finger practically glued to the pulse of hautecouture and art fabric design but, for the benefit of the Tresco Timesreaders, he asked Emma to talk him through the process of designingsome of these beautiful Tresco-inspired fabrics: 1 Xanthe Sunbeam - hand drawn, over swirls of yellow ink, then drawnover again in rotring ink while still on Tresco. Created as I went on aquest for yellow Flora after the birth of Xanthe, which meansGolden/Bright/Yellow in Greek. Xanthe is also the Oceanid GreekGoddess of the Sun. One of the Flying Boat Club cottages on Tresco iscalled Sunbeam, which fitted the design and went with the name Xantheperfectly. I brought the flowers back with me, dried them and now havethem in a frame in my studio2 June's Meadow and 3 Beth's Flowers, these two designs were bothdrawn by Sholto. June's Meadow was drawn while Sholto was still inTresco on the table outside our sea houses from hand cut specimensfrom the Abbey Garden. Beth's Flowers was hand painted on Sholto'sreturn from photographs he took in the Abbey Garden. 4 Amy Jane was hand drawn by Sheona. Sheona started sketchingwhile on Tresco for this design, but finished the drawing on her return,and was inspired by the mixture of delicate flora, twisting vines and exotictrees found in The Abbey Garden. We also have a sister company inJapan, the Japanese love Liberty Print and especially designs withhearts in.5 Archipelago - Robin created this design. Robin likes to create quirkydesigns that really represent the atmosphere he feels surrounded by.Archipelago also incorporates the amazing shipwrecked figure headsdisplayed in the garden. This design is what we would call aconversational: it is telling a story, where all the statues peepmysteriously among the flowers. The design feels very British but alsovery exotic with its spiky palms and huge succulents perfectly summingup The Abbey Garden.


Tresco Times

The following designs were digitally printed -6 Abbey Pool - this design was created from photographs verygenerously lent by Lucy Dorrien Smith of Mary Fedden's originalpaintings which are painted of and hang on Tresco. The designrepeat has been created by Robin to amalgamate Mary'spaintings and become a homage to her talent on Liberty ArtFabric. 7 Tresco - this design was hand painted with ink by Sally offlowers she collected from windswept sand dunes on Tresco andlandscaped borders in The Abbey Garden. Sally took wonderfulphotographs of these flowers arranged in different design layoutson the beach in Tresco. The design has so many beautiful handpainted elements that many other successful designs could beproduced from it as Sally wanted to represent the rich collectionof plants from around the globe.8 Otilia - this design was created digitally by Sheona. Sheona isour studio digital Queen. Sheona uses photography in the sameway an artist uses paint, manipulating and working with thephotographs in ways you would when creating an originalmasterpiece. The final design is a fantastical and ethereal forestwhich changes dramatically depending on colouration capturingthe gardens diverse tropical foliage.9 Marina Seaflower - named after Robert & Lucy DorrienSmith's daughter Marina. Lucy also chose the name Seaflowerfor the design, which I love as I also have a seaflower daughterof my own. The design is a large scale hand painted tropicalbotanical which took weeks to complete and was originallyderived from a scarf drawn from flora photographed on Tresco.Gouache, watercolour and ink were all used to create the finalpainting, although the design was originally hand drawn in pencilfrom floral sketches and then traced onto the design as well asflowers drawn directly on to the image. The beauty of designslike this are that you could create a multitude dresses and theywould all look different. Due to its scale and vibrancy of colourthe design is a perfect tropical homage to Tresco.

Taking Liberty with Tresco - Sheona, Emma and Robin getdesigning at the suitably named Sea Garden Cottages at

the Island Hotel.

L to R - Sheona Quenby (Designer), Emma Mawston (Head ofDesign for Liberty Art Fabrics), Sally Kelly (Senior Designer),Sholto Drumlanrig (Senior Designer), Robin Hulme (Designer)

1 6

2 7

3 8

4 9

5

All images and reproductions of fabric patterns and prints remain the copyright of Liberty Art Fabrics.


Tresco Times

Editor: Alasdair MooreTresco Times, Tresco,

Isles of Scilly. TR24 0QQt:01720 422849f:01720 422807

[email protected]

There are roadworks going on just out-side the offices of the Tresco Times. Theydon’t really constitute much of a distur-bance, with a hand-painted sign divertingthe tractor traffic down between theAbbey Farm cottages and the Great Pool.It’s actually something of an historic mo-ment. The Estate Services Departmentare replacing the very last section of op-erational iron pipe work that was laid bythe engineers of the Royal Naval Air Sta-tion, constructed on Tresco in 1917.It seems strange to be sentimental abouta bit of old pipe but I have to admit that,for me, the process is faintly elegiac. Con-sider any association with the First WorldWar and it does not take long before youare contemplating tragedy, be it local, na-tional or global. On Tresco, out of a pop-ulation of around 330, around 80islanders served in the First World War,of whom 19 were killed. It is close to a hundred years since theGreat War began. The personal loss andgrief may have gone, along with thosewho suffered them, but nonetheless ele-ments of that war have remained an inte-gral part of our lives. The RNAS flyingboat station brought improvements to theisland’s infrastructure. Pipes laid in 1917have been bringing water to the housesof islanders and visitors for generations. Yes, it is just an insignificant old waterpipe on a tiny island but it representssomething of long-lasting and practicalbenefit from the First World War, whichmakes it seem really rather special.

LETTERSEDITORIALTHE TRESCO TIMESOUR VIEWS ARE CLEAR

Dear Editor,As we don’t have a computer, can’t accesswebsites etc, we really appreciate the TrescoTimes with all its news, interesting articles andpictures.I was particularly interested in the letter fromLeigh Prideaux re-Borough. Was it in fact anancient burial area as, in some parts, thename Borough does indicate burial connec-tions?The Oyler’s address is Borough but theChristopher’s farm has always been calledBoro Farm. None of my books here at homethrow any light on the subject.I love to stay at Boro and thought you mightlike this photo. I wokeup one morning whenI was there in August.I looked out of mywindow and saw this -I thought it quitebeautiful.Mrs RosemaryStevensMiddlesex

Views on Borough...or is that Boro?

Aunts Ahoy!Dear Editor, The article by Sam Llewellyn in the Autumn2011 Tresco Times brings back memories oftwo ladies who lived in Fishbourne in the Isleof Wight in the 1950s, who, I suspect mighthave been two of Mr Llewellyn’s great aunts.My parents lived until the mid 1960s at Bin-stead, which is a village adjoining the northshore of the Isle of Wight, a couple of mileseast of Fishbourne, from where my brotherand I used to sail occasionally with a friendwho lived there.The two Misses Dorrien Smith had a houseon the Green, just above the beach, and usedto charge round the island in an old car.A good friend of mine, who was the son of ourRector, sailed with the two redoubtable sistersfrom time to time. The story is that one usedto teach at Sunday School, one smoked apipe when sailing and my friend maintainedthat his vocabulary of nautical swear wordswas increased widely by his contact with thetwo ladies! For some reason they were re-ferred to The Cosy One and The Other One!My parents left Binstead and I have no furtherknowledge of these two ladies. They werecertainly colourful characters.yours sincerelyMike RaymentPenzance.

Thank you for your letter, Rosemary, and it wouldseem that you are very much on the right lineswith your thoughts about the origin of Borough.An excellent source for information about placenames on Scilly is “Exploration of a DrownedLandscape” by Charles Thomas, published in1985. Needless to say Professor Thomas is veryhelpful on this matter, tracing the name back tothe early 14th century and its earlier incarnationas Cheyncruk: “The other farm of Cheyncruk(1314), described as being juxta Senicola (‘ad-joining St Nicholas Priory’) lay slightly to thenorth. The name is chy en cruc, ‘house by themound’; in 1796 it was The Burrow, and today isBorough Farm. In Scillonian English, burrowmeant what cruc did in Cornish, a man-madecairn.” (page 248) With two farms in the same location, the differentspellings might just have been a way of separat-ing the properties.

Sam Llewellyn writes in reply ; “The two MissesDorrien Smith will be Gwen and Babs who livedon the Isle of Wight in a house, as I remember,rebuilt to resemble the bridge of a moderatesized merchant vessel. But I think it was in Fish-bourne, so they could watch the ferry go in andout and pass cutting remarks on the coxswain'stechnique. Marcus Lovell-Smith's mother (per-haps unreliably) remembers Babs sitting downon the steps of St George's Hanover Squareafter a posh wedding, raising the veil on her hatand firing up a nice pipe of rum-soaked shag.”(Ed: A taste of Gwen Dorrien Smith’s adventur-ous and characterful nature is captured in Sam’slatest foray into the world of formidable GreatAunts featured below.)

age tickets, for economy’s sake. They did nottake to their fellow-passengers, and ex-pressed strong disapproval of the local ice-bergs, on the grounds that they were toosmall.‘We had been given a second-class two-berthcabin because the ship was overcrowded aft.When the stewardess came to call us in themorning she would say, “Your cabin is a littleice-box, most refreshing.” Fortunately for us,Gwen’s fists were strong enough to open theporthole, which was screwed down.

‘The worst thing we had to face wasthe stuffiness of the dining room where wehad second sittings, during which the airseemed to taste of cabbage. Among our fel-low-travellers was an Irishman, Digby Hussyde Burgh, who was as delightful as his name,incurably eloquent, with a spate of scintillat-ing ideas about things seen and unseen. Ourplanned journey filled him with excitement. Hewas returning to his home, a small island offthe coast of British Columbia. “I could find youan island,” he said. “It’s grand pioneers youtwo girls would make.” The two ‘girls’, being

Great Aunt Gwen Goes WestWith Lady Vyvyan.

Sam Llewellyn, editor of The MarineQuarterly illuminates the world ofhis Dorrien Smith Great Aunts.

Aunts Ahoy!

In 1926, Lady Vyvyan set out with her friend(Aunt) Gwen Dorrien Smith for an attempt tobe the first European women to make the RatRiver portage in the northwest of Canada.The adventures started on the Atlantic cross-ing, on which the travellers had booked steer-

over forty, did not feel like accepting hisplans for populating a strange island in thePacific, or indeed any island at all.’


Tresco Times

In the early 1970s, when the goodsstarted to come in containers and on pal-lets, the hand crane on Tresco was notbig enough to lift the containers on to thequay. So the General Manager, Ken Christo-pher, asked the Commander, Tom DorrienSmith, if we could have a mobile crane. TheCommander managed to get a second-handcrane, a KL66, from the Army. The next thingwas how we were going to get it to Tresco.As luck would have it, the Commander had a

Crane Talk with Heritage and Transport

Correspondent Eddie Birch

Crane master Eddie Birch at the controls

meeting with his friend, Admiral of the Fleetthe Lord Hill-Norton, who was First Sea Lordat the time. The First Sea Lord said that hehad a lot of recruits and would love to givethem an exercise. The Commander asked ifthey would bring a crane over to Tresco andthe First Sea Lord said yes.The crane was loaded into a landing craft inPlymouth and then the landing craft wasloaded into the amphibious assault ship,HMS Fearless. From Plymouth, HMS Fear-less steamed over to Scilly, anchoring inCrow Sound. The ship’s stern opened upand out came three landing craft, whichmade their way to New Grimsby quay. Herethey put their ramps down on the slip thatused to be by the Quay shop. The crane wasthen driven up onto the quay. The whole op-eration took about 2 hours. This was the firsttime that anyone had ever seen a landingcraft on Tresco. The crane-driver took thecrane over to the compound where the Fly-ing Boat Club is now and he showed me howto operate it.The KL66 crane did not have stabilising legs– it had iron rims on the wheels. In 1986, Ilifted a container of coal up onto the quayand the crane actually tipped over onto thequay, facing Bryher. The container had 3tons of coal on board, which was a bit tooheavy for the crane. In order to get the crane

upright, they had to take the derrick off andplace two hand winches around the body ofthe crane. Once the crane was almost to thepoint of balance, a load of pallets wereplaced where her wheels would fall. Thiswas to stop the crane from bouncing over onthe other side and down onto the beachbelow the quay. When the crane was righted,it was taken over to its shed for repair.The furthest I ever had to drive the cranewas to Thatch Cottage. Steve Parkes wascutting some big fir trees down and I had tolift the trunks over the hedge onto the road.The crane had one last journey in a landingcraft, Puffin Billy, in 1989 when it left Trescofrom the FBC slip. It was replaced by a ColesCrane with stabilising legs. The Jones KL66ended up in a scrapyard in St Erth.

The Jones KL66 reverses onto Puffin Billyand bids farewell to Tresco

For those not experienced in handling aboat, having your own can seem a bitdaunting... navigating around Scilly andnegotiating quays and mooring buoysand general boat maintenance.Richard Drew and Chris Jenkins of ScilloniaBoatshare have come up with the perfectway to take all the anxiety of boat use andownership for the visitor. Not only do they runa boatshare scheme but from April this yearthey are offering Tresco visitors specialTraining and Taster days. They have teamedup with The Isles of Scilly Sailing Centre tooffer you a fully qualified RYA powerboat in-structor to be with you on board for the entireday to guide you through the skills of navi-gation, steering and mooring.Not only will this be a great day out for youand your family or guests but it will give you

valuable experi-ence and confi-dence in handling aboat.If you would like totake the trainingone step furtheryou can now bookto undertake athree day trainingevent on comple-tion of which youwill receive theRYA PowerboatLevel 2 Ticket.

Scillonia Boatshare also offers regular visi-tors the opportunity to take a share in one oftheir high-quality catamarans. Prices startfrom just £399 per week.Shares are now available for 2012 in April,May & June and September & October, withsome selected dates in early July.If you are interested in trying one of theirTraining and Taster Days, going for your RYAPowerboat Ticket or would like further detailsabout Scillonia Boatshare, please giveRichard or Chris a call on 01720 422702 orvisit www.scilloniaboatshare.com

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Tresco Times

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Tresco Times

You don’t haveto be a studentat University Col-lege Falmouth todevelop yourartistic talents onTresco. ThisSeptember, oneof Gallery

Tresco’s regular artists, Maggie O’Brien willbe leading a painting holiday. Maggie has been teaching painting onTresco for a few years and she has nowteamed up with the New Inn and put to-gether an excellent value five day break.Working closely with Gallery Tresco meansMaggie paints regularly on the Islands andknows all the best places to go to be out ofthe wind, catch the light on the sea andwatch the late summer seed heads danc-ing in the dunes. Maggie explains:“During our five days on Tresco our sched-ule will include visits to other Islands andthe tropical paradise that is Abbey Gar-dens. We will paint amongst the shorelinecottages and in intimate coves backed bymajestic pines. Tresco’s pretty harboursare a joy to work in whether your concern isthe ‘big picture’ or a lone row boat.”Maggie is also keen that the holiday is notjust for experts:

Autmumn 2011 saw Tresco play host to twenty-six first-year students from theB.A. (Hons) Drawing degree course at University College Falmouth. Accompa-nied by Award Leader Phil Naylor and Senior Lecturer Isolde Pullum, the stu-dents enjoyed five days on the island staying in accommodation provided by theDorrien Smiths.Not only are the students enjoying their first term but the course itself has only juststarted. It is the only degree course in the country which offers pure drawing andit is one that has at its heart an exciting mix of both traditional and modern. PhilNaylor commented: “We are very much riding on a resurgent interest in drawing.We aim to help students learn drawing much like a language; what use they thenput it to is up to them. Students could go on to operate in a number of fields, fromarchitecture to fine art. We are about understanding and testing the basics, mix-ing skills and self-expression.”The importance of the basics was something very much in the mind of painterHugo Grenville, who was a guest lecturer and also showed the students aroundthe Dorrien Smith’s extensive art collection on public display at the Flying BoatClub, Tresco and Hell Bay, Bryher on their second day.Their time on Tresco saw the students develop a range of skills, from a com-bined 360 degree panorama drawing of the view from Blockhouse to a collabo-ration with the pupils of Tresco and Bryher School based around the classicpainting “The Donkey Meadow” by Harold Harvey, which hangs above the fire-place in the Flying Boat Club.Lucy Dorrien Smith’s links with University College Falmouth are particularly strong

as she is on the Board of Governors. Notonly is she instrumental in building links be-tween UCF and Tresco but she has beenvery supportive of the Drawing BA (Hons)course. Isolde Pullum echoed the thoughtsof both teaching staff and students: “For usall this has been a wonderful five days.Without the Dorrien Smiths, this would havebeen impossible and we hope that this isthe beginning of a lasting friendship be-tween ourselves and the island of Tresco.”

Falmouth Art Students and the Irresistible Draw of Tresco

Top: Drawing the landscape from Blockhouse.Pictured below: Lucy Dorrien Smith

and the Falmouth students; Far left: The Donkey Meadow, Harold Harvey.

Painting Holidays on Tresco with artist Maggie O’Brien“Anyone who wants to paint with me is wel-come from the complete beginner to theskilled artist wanting to paint with likeminded friends. I am also happy to teachall media – a painting holiday can be agreat place to try something new knowingthat you will helped and supported. Painting on Tresco is blissfully straight for-ward; everything is walkable and close athand. It is also always perfectly possibleto be completely alone on a beach with justthe oyster catchers for company - great forthe painter who doesn’t enjoy an audi-ence!”“My teaching is never‘formulaic‘; my aim isto help each studentfind their own way ofworking and developpersonal vision as wellas skill. I demonstratetechniques one to one,to build not just skillsbut confidence andpassion. I only workwith small groups – amaximum of eight stu-dents ensures enoughtime and attention foreveryone .”

Painting on Scilly with Maggie O’BrienSeptember 17 – 22 2012.£750 for a 5 night break, including din-ner, bed and breakfast at the New Inn,tuition from Maggie O’ Brien and freeentrance to the Abbey Gardens.For further details please call the Re-ception team at the Island Office on01720 422849

Summer Agapanthus - Maggie O’BrienGallery Tresco Summer Exhinition 2011


Tresco Times

Islands often have a way of at-tracting like minded people toeach others shores. This winter,just before the festive period,the Abbey garden had a visitorfrom the Caribbean. Charlie Wilson a horticulturist,recently made a visit from theJamaican “Goldeneye” Estate ofChris Blackwell the founder ofIsland Records . Charlie hasgardened in Jamaica for nearlyten years and having settledthere as his home has decidedto set up a plant nursery andgarden school for locals and in-ternational garden students. The visit was stimulated by a re-cent visit to Jamaica by Robertand Lucy Dorrien Smith, wherethey were the guests of ChrisBlackwell.

Island Records & Island Gardens.

On meeting Charlie, horticulturallinks were forged and some ge-ographical ones too. It tran-spired that Charlie has an auntwho lives on St Mary’s, JaneWard of The Foredeck!His trip to Tresco was to bothsee the garden and also discussthe possibility of student trainingand exchange. Tresco AbbeyGarden has helped train horti-cultural students for over 40years and Charlie hoped to usethe Tresco template as a basisfor his ideas. Mike Nelhams, Andrew Lawsonand Charlie were able to spendtime swapping plant stories andgaining knowledge of each oth-ers gardens. We look forward todeveloping these links fur-

Pictured from left: Robert and Lucy with Joanna Saulter andChris Blackwell at Strawberry Hill, Jamaica.

For further information or indeed any of your other travel requirements, please call: 020 3355 4518

25 - 27 Vanston Place, London SW6 1AZ enquiry@theultimatetravelcompany.co.ukwww.theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk

The True Treasures of El Dorado Costa Rica, Panama & Canal Transit, Honduras & Guatemala23rd February - 10th March 2013

This voyage of discovery aboard the comfortable, small expedition ship MS Island Sky is perfect for the nature lover, the inquisitive traveller or those simply seeking to escape winter’s chill. Sailing from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean shores of Honduras, Guatemala and Belize, highlights include exceptional flora, fauna and marine life, unspoiled and rarely visited islands, a priveliged visit to the Smithsonian’s Tropical Research Institute island and exceptional guest lecturers from Kew Gardens.

ther...clearly the gardeners fromTresco need to reciprocate thevisit! Another connection betweenGoldeneye in Jamaica andTresco in Scilly was made - bothhorticultural and musical. ChrisBlackwell was tipped the nodthat the Abbey Gardens propa-gator, Dave Inch, was some-thing of a connoisseur of reggaeand ska. As a result, this Christ-mas Dave found he had anextra couple of presents underthe tree from one of the most in-fluential figures in popular musicof the past 50 years and a Ja-maican legend!Tresco was recently pleased toreceive a visit from Adam andChristina Blandy who live on theisland of Madeira.

The Blandy family is well known ininternational gardening circleshaving established the Palheirogarden which has been in the fam-ily since 1885. Many similarities can be found inboth gardens as would befit islandclimates although the plant rangesof the two appear quite different. Mike Nelhams, Adam andChristina spent a very happy daydiscussing the collections andfound they had much in common.Young plants of Leucadendron ar-genteum (Silver Tree) from Trescohave already found their way toMadeira in what we hope will bestart of a two way exchange overthe coming years.

Adam and Christina Blandy in their celebrated Palheiro

garden, Madeira.

Charlie Wilson and Mike Nelhams.

Isles of Scilly Parking Co Ltd.Telephone bookings 01736 332727Mobile 07724 879 482ONLINE BOOKING and payment service at: [email protected]

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The Editor was delighted to receive the advertisement to the leftfor the Treasures of El Dorado - not only has it been organisedby Amelia Dalton, a regular visitor to Tresco, whose son Hugo’sartwork is on display at the FBC restaurant but the tour is beingled by the Editor’s friend and former tutor, Dr Colin Clubbe of theRoyal Botanic Gardens Kew. Colin has visited Tresco a numberof times and comes thoroughly recommended by the TrescoTimes. Colin is incredibly knowledgeable and jolly good fun.The trip does sound amazing with a Panama Canal transit, cut-ting through the rain forest to link Pacific & Caribbean oceansand is an amazingly wild and untouched area. Apparently it’s not just for tree-huggers like me - there will be op-portunities for bird watching (tropical & exotic species) and fab-ulous coral reef snorkelling/ beaches: in short a varied winterholiday with a focus on plants and wildlife.


Tresco Times

Rainbow House is a family-owned beachfront holiday home on the island ofBarbados. Considered a gem amongst the south coast villas, it is situated on

a superb white sand beach looking out onto aquamarine waters.

Rainbow House has 3 air-conditioned bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom.There is an elegant veranda for dining, with seating for 10 people, as well as a large

open terrace with a gas grill/barbecue. For further details please call: 01720 422849 or visit www.tresco.co.uk/accommodation

Rainbow House B a r b a d o s


Tresco Times


A Stunning Journeyto an Island Paradise

www.islesofscillyhelicopter.com01736 363871

The exclusive operator to fly you direct to Tresco.


Tresco Times Spring 2012 - Volume 6.3

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Transcript of Tresco Times Spring 2012 - Volume 6.3