"John Lucas - Wrecked" might be good on my gravestone
St Agnes is the most southerly habitation in the United Kingdom (the Channel Islands are not in the UK) so we thought we would take a boat over so we could have a pint in the most southerly pub.
There is not a lot else to do on St Agnes, the most excitement is had by searching for beads on a beach called the Beady Pool. 400 years ago a cargo ship was wrecked nearby and ever since it’s cargo of many thousands of ceramic beads have been washing up on this beach. We did not find any despite spending some time looking, apparently the best time to find them is after a storm.
Being the first bit of land in the English Channel the island has had a great many wrecks. In 1680 a lighthouse was built to guide ships despite objections from the Isle of Wight who objected on the grounds that they would lose valuable revenue as it would make Scilly a safer place for shipping. The Governor of the Scilly Isles also complained that he would lose revenue from the many and various wrecks that were a staple of life on the islands. The lighthouse (pictured) is now a private house, there is a bigger and better light a few miles off shore.
In 1875 a German passenger ship the SS Schiller hit the islands with the loss of 335 lives, only 37 people were rescued. In thanks for the rescue efforts by the people of Scilly the German government gave orders that the Isles of Scilly would not be attacked during either WW1 or WW2.
A far more serious disaster was in 1707 when four British warships hit the island with the loss of between 1,400 and 2,000 men. It was this disaster which set in motion the Longitude Prize which was eventually won by John Harrison for his accurate chronometer.
So we had a walk round the island, did not find any beads or shipwrecks, had a pint and a wonderful steak sandwich, one of the best I have ever had, in the Turks Head, the most southerly pub in the UK.
We did nip across to bag a second island called Gugh to which you can walk at low tide, gosh that was exciting, we do know how to have a good time! (The editor in chief has just mentioned they make ice cream on the island - this was found to be good, especially with a dollop of clotted cream on top).