Isle of Scilly Travel
by: ashley gilmour |
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The isles of Scilly are a cluster of islands (archipelago) off the south west corner of England. In the past the Islands have been considered part of Cornwall and people would visit as part of days out in Cornwall, but now they have got their own Council and are classed as an Area of Outstanding natural beauty.
The group of islands are usually referred to as the Isles of Scilly or just Scilly, but locals are not too fond of the names “Scillies” or Scilly Islands.
The group of Islands consist of six inhabited islands and around 140 smaller rocky islands and are near the most westerly part of England, Lands End.
Flowers are an important agricultural product for the farmers, the islands position means that the rarely have snow or frost, meaning the farmers can grow flowers ahead of the ones on mainland Britain.
Tourism accounts for around 85% of the islands income. The Island has managed to attract this tourism due to its unusual and unique environments, summer climate, a relaxed island culture, and good transport by sea and the ability to Fly to the Isles of Scilly from mainland Britain. Most tourists stay on the Island of St Mary’s due to it having a lot of amenities and holiday accommodation. Another tourist-orientated island is Tresco which is an inhabited island that is run as a timeshare resort. Out of the other Inhabited Islands St Martin’s and Bryher are less tourist orientated but do have hotels and accommodation. The least developed of the islands is St Agnes that has no hotel.
The level of dependency on tourism is very high on the islands, even compared to other similar groups of islands. Many Island activities are purely to increase levels of tourism, for example the transports links would not be able to be maintained if the levels of tourism weren’t so high. Therefore the sustainability of the whole community is affected by the implications of tourism.
Tourism on the Island like most forms of tourism in Britain is highly seasonal due to the weather and its high levels of outdoor activities. The islands virtually shutdown in the winter due to low levels of tourism. But apart from the summer, the island does get a burst of extra tourism in October, when birdwatchers arrive to see the first landing of migrant birds.
There are two main forms of transport to the island from mainland Britain, by air and sea and Inter Island travel is made by boat. The only island with a traditional road network is St Mary’s.
Air travel is by fixed wing aircraft or by helicopter. There is an airport on St Mary’s and a Heliport on Tresco. Helicopter travel is provided by the from Penzance Heliport to both St Mary’s airport and Tresco Heliport.
The Penzance to St Mary's route has been operated by helicopter since 1964 and has achieved the distinction of becoming the world's longest running scheduled helicopter service. The Tresco service was inaugurated in 1983 and therefore 2004 marks two major milestones in the history for British international helicopters.
Fixed-wing aircraft services, operated by Isles of Scilly Skybus, from various UK airports (Land's End, Newquay, Exeter, Bristol and Southampton) to St Mary's Airport.
By sea, the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company provides a passenger and cargo service from Penzance to St Mary's.
There are many beautiful sights to see on the Isles of Scilly and tourism is a major part of the island’s inhabitants lives, so I urge you to go and visit one of the islands if you get the chance.
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