ST MARY'S, ISLE OF SCILLY, ENGLAND

We will go ashore to the island of Tresco, where our guide will meet us. Tresco is best known for its Abbey Gardens – laid out by the remarkable Augustus Smith, a wealthy merchant banker who purchased the islands from the Duchy of Cornwall in the mid 1830’s.

We will go ashore to the island of Tresco, where our guide will meet us. Tresco is best known for its Abbey Gardens – laid out by the remarkable Augustus Smith, a wealthy merchant banker who purchased the islands from the Duchy of Cornwall in the mid 1830’s. Work on the gardens commenced in 1834 on the site of the old Benedictine Abbey. By building tall wind breaks, Augustus Smith (a botanist and plant collector) channelled the weather up and over the network of walled enclosures he built around the Priory ruins, and the three terraces he carved from the rocky, south facing slope looking towards St Mary's. In this way he maximised the generous climate that Tresco enjoys thanks to the prevailing effects of the Gulf Stream. The climate is mild, sunshine hours are generally greater than the UK average, rainfall is less, and winter frost and snow are unexpected. Tresco is thought of as a perennial Kew without the glass – shrugging off salt spray and Atlantic gales to host 20,000 exotic plants. Many of those plants would stand no chance on the Cornish mainland, less than 30 miles away. Even at the winter equinox more than 300 plants will be in flower. All in all, the garden is home to glorious species from 80 countries, ranging from Brazil to New Zealand and Burma to South Africa. Subsequent generations have continued the development of the Gardens, which are today the major attraction of the islands. We will start with a guided tour of the Gardens, followed by some free time to explore on our own. There is a gift shop and refreshments (not included) are available from the café.

We shall have a walk of between 10 and 30 minutes to reach the Gardens, depending on where the tender can take us. A guided walking tour of the Gardens will then last approximately one hour. A good level of fitness is required. Comfortable, sturdy footwear is recommended. Wheelchairs can be accommodated but this may be a strenuous tour for the person pushing the wheelchair. The gardens are terraced – most, but not all, have slopes that can be negotiated by wheelchair, although there are some steps. Local tenders will be utilised to take us across to Tresco.

DESCRIPTION CORRECT FOR 2008 SCANDINAVIA & BALTIC SEASON