The past two Sundays have been very busy for me. Rewinding to two weeks ago, I was still on the mainland after a mini shopping spree. I say mini as it only involved one spare bag being filled as opposed to a four bag real shopping spree. On the Sunday morning my daughter Sasha drove us down to Penzance so that we could have a swim in the Jubilee Pool which has been a long term dream of mine. It was watching some swimmers here a few years ago that inspired me to take up regular sea swimming. Ever since then I've tried to factor this in on one of my trips away, but it never worked, so it was fantastic when Sasha suggested it. This was the last day of the season at the pool but you can still read all about the wonderful Art Deco lido and pool here.
After swimming in the pool, I came home and looked up the website for the Jubilee Pool. I found the page on its history really interesting. See here for the story of this wonderful amenity.
So let's fast forward to the following weekend when we had a huge spring tide on the islands giving rise to a relatively new occasion - the low tide event. As the tide recedes, the islands are surrounded by sandbanks which can, on a very low tide, join up to lead from one island to another, albeit for a very short period of time. Hundreds of visitors came by boat from St Mary's (the main island of the Isles of Scilly) to attend this very different pop up event. They were landed at Carn Near quay and from there were able to walk along Appletree Bay out to Appletree Point where the flags were flapping wildly in the wind, indicating the location of the fun.
This is the view from New Grimsby. If you look into the distance you might be able to make out the tiny ant-like figures gathering to join the party.
This wonderful sight is even more awesome when you consider that this area is the main thoroughfare for the boats, and therefore will be completely under water in six hours.
The crowds were happy to be eating local fish, freshy cooked out in the middle of the channel. A glass of bubbly or a bottle of beer washed everything down perfectly, with the backdrop of music and laughter making it a memorable lunchtime party. All too soon the tide would be turning and everyone would scatter.
On my way back home I met these three Wrens from HMS Echo which was anchored up in deep water near St Mary's. They were conducting a maritime survey of the low tide, rather than heading for a bowl of fish stew. We had a quick chat before they went on their way. It's grand to have these little encounters on a day like this. Lovely to meet you ladies!
As I got back onto land I stopped to put on my shoes and found myself standing next to this colourful lady called Sue. Don't you just love those nails and that amazing hair? Sue was having a holiday on St Mary's, and had enjoyed spending her Sunday lunchtime sampling the fare at the pop up party. I hope that everyone else had relished the low tide event it as much as we did. These islands offer an all year round calendar of outdoors activities - click here to find out more about what's on and how to plan your visit.
Anna x
