Tresco’s Abbey Gardens

Monday
The forecast for the day was fairly promising, so we felt it would be a good day to take the boat to Tresco, home to the glorious Abbey Gardens. The boat ride there, which took us to the Quay, Tresco’s closest point to St. Mary’s was only about 15 minutes - coming back was a little longer, as because of the tides, the return trip left from New Grimsby, on the western coast of the island, a little more distant. The gardens were built in the 19th century around the ruins of a Benedictine Abbey, by Augustus Smith, the proprietor of the island. Because of the mild winter climate, the long hours of summer sunshine, and the high walls and hedges around the garden protecting it from the Atlantic winds, the garden is now home to exotic plants from all over the world: the Mediterranean, South America, South Africa and Australasia. The first thing to capture your attention under a couple of large trees near the entrance are the red squirrels, which have been introduced to the island as part of a program to protect this endangered species. As well as the amazing plants and trees, and the views out to sea, there are also several sculptures, and some beautiful mosaics, created with shells - a photographers paradise! Finally, we visited the Valhalla museum, a collection of figureheads from some of the many shipwrecks in the area. When we were finished with the gardens, we crossed the island, about a 25 minute walk, to a cafe which had been recommended to us, right by the beach at Old Grimsby. Then we continued walking around the northern part of the island, passing the ruins of King Charles castle and Cromwell’s castle, which was built between 1548 - 1550, to guard the channel between Bryher and Tresco. We took the last boat back to St. Mary’s at 4.45. A fabulous day!