Scilly Stories

“I love everything about Scilly, I really do…I go down the road, everybody knows my name… I know everybody [and] everybody says hello.” During this episode, we chatted with Alba Williams who moved to Scilly in the 60s with her husband, Roger, a PE teacher, and their two young children.  Alba is Spanish by birth but grew up in rural France. Despite spending time in Wales and Dorset beforehand, she...

“I came here for a holiday and I thought well this is very nice, I’ll stop here!” In this episode, we speak with 99 year old Derek Perkins who has spent most of his life on St Martin’s, having arrived on the island during the war when his father was stationed on the island as a coastguard. It was interesting to hear his experiences of the war and some of the differences between life on Scilly over...

“If gossip upsets you, don’t come and live in Scilly! …. I always used to say, ‘If they’re talking about me, they’re giving someone else a rest!’”   We just loved this quote from Avril Mumford when we spoke with her recently about island life!   Avril moved to Scilly with her parents while she was still at school, after her father, Doctor Bell, took on the role as the only doctor on the islands. I...

“If you see the wall there, and all around the pottery, there are several hundred heights of children. Those children are coming back at sixty now... We’ve got the third or fourth generation coming back.“   When children come into his pottery studio, John Bourdeaux often marks their height on his walls. He has been doing it for so long that some of the original small people are now grandparents!  ...

“I love football! …In the Easter holidays and the summer holidays, we’d be up the campsite all the time, going round all the holiday homes knocking for kids who wanted to play football. We used to have these epic ‘islanders versus visitors’ football matches…. Lots of people ended up rebooking their holidays around the football matches because their kids loved it so much!”    In this episode, local...

Erica and Kylie sit down with Erica's dad, Stephen Hicks to explore his life growing up on St Mary’s. They cover childhood adventures and island traditions as well as Steve's seafaring career and the story behind designing the passenger boat, Seahorse. Although many topics were not covered, this episode gives an insight into various aspects of Scillonian life, including the challenges of island li...

In this episode Kylie and Erica interview Jessie Guilliatt about her journey to the Isles of Scilly, working at Salakee Farm, how island life became her home and what she will miss when she leaves. Jessie recounts a rough first ferry crossing, helping build a market garden, and the push to provide food during the pandemic. They explore island traditions, rowing, winter rhythms, unique island momen...

In this episode Erica and Kylie interview Erica's mother, Oriel Hicks at her workshop, Phoenix Craft Studios at Porthmellon.   Oriel first started visiting St Martin's as a young girl and fell in love with the islands. She returned regularly until marrying islander, Steve Hicks, and eventually settled on St Mary's with their three young children. Oriel talks about visiting during her early years,...

The hosts interview Arthur Swift of Mount Todden Farm at Pelistry on St Mary's, who arrived on Scilly in the 1950s and never left.   Arthur shares stories of farming in the early days, growing bulbs and vegetables, island self‑sufficiency, and how life on the islands has changed over the decades he has been here.   See photos of Arthur and his farm on the Scilly Stories social media pages: http://...

In this episode, Kylie and Erica chat with Sonia Fletcher about life on St Mary’s, her family history on Scilly and the many hats she has worn in the community. They discuss island traditions like gig rowing and May Day and aptly finish with cream teas! Follow along on the Scilly Stories social media pages for photos: https://www.facebook.com/ScillyStoriesPodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/scillys...

Kylie Carter from Salakee Farm and Erica Swain from Tamarisk Gallery introduce their new podcast where they hope to interview a range of people about living in Scilly (a group of islands off the coast of Cornwall in the UK). In this episode we get to know the presenters, how they ended up living on Scilly and what it means to them.  *Please note that the topic of bereavement comes up during the co...