I didn’t sleep well at all. The wind was blowing and although the water was flat so we weren’t rolling, Angelique was swinging from side to side on her tether. Eventually I got up and went and sat in the cockpit behind the french window, watching the anchor lights of the other boats swinging in the dark. I stayed until the dark faded into light. It seemed we hadn’t moved at all. Our little boat icon on the plotter was still slap in the middle of the The green circle on the plotter. The anchor drag alarm goes off if the circles move apart by a preset distance. Ours is usually 30 m. Went back to bed reassured and slept. In the morning, the wind was still blowing and it was miserable and drizzling. It was tempting to just stay put but J persuaded me that we should leave at high water and go round to Old Grimsby sound where we could possibly pick up a mooring or anchor, nearer to the habitation of Tresco. So we pulled up a load more weed, plus the anchor and set off across the shallow water. There weren’t any buoys free so we anchored inside the line of them, just off the beautiful bay at Old Grimsby… making sure to avoid the underwater power cable! The weather was improving and It looked a lovely place. Nice to be near houses and people. Soon a buoy became vacant so we moved over swiftly and picked up a yellow buoy with a short chain strop and an orange trot buoy. Not the easiest! Once secure we planned our day! We dinghied over to the beach and paid our dues for the mooring.. £30!!! Expensive we thought, given there are zero facilities. What a beautiful little place though. Everything in Pristine condition with manicured gardens and properties. So …..destination Tresco Abbey gardens. It was a cloudy day but nice white high clouds, so not too hot for walking. We found a map and followed the white concrete roads and little earth lanes, to reach the other side of the island where New Grimsby is. From here it was about 20 minutes to the gardens. Lovely little field and hedgerows. All kind of in miniature. No livestock though🤔 ??? Houses all looked newly painted and nothing in a state of disrepair . We noticed quite a lot of the concrete roads had seagull footprints all down them which made us giggle at the image. The gardens when we got there are absolutely stunning and we spent a really lovely afternoon immersed in horticulture rather than boat stuff. Because of the warm climate with lots of sunshine and good soil, exotic plants can grow outside here that cannot do so anywhere else in the UK. Aloes and Proteas from South Africa amongst many others. Many of the plants grow to giant proportions…. trees and ferns and huge leafy things! Dotted in the gardens are extraordinary sculptures, statues and artefacts. The arches of the original 11 th century priory are all that remain. Within the gardens is a museum called Valhalla, which houses dozens of old figureheads from various shipwrecks from these shores. Interesting but a bit chilling. My favourite was the golden eagle with the serpent in its talons and beak. On leaving the gardens we suddenly saw a famous person arriving! Camera crew in tow. I’ll let you guess from the picture! We then walked back taking in a beer at The delightful New inn in New Grimsby. The sparrows are so tame and were queuing up to take crumbs of crisps out of our hands. The tide was out when we got to the beach so we used the dolly wheels on the dinghy and trundled down to the waters edge. What a great day. So glad we left Helens pool!
What I learned today…. all about Tresco Abbey Gardens . The history of it being started by Augustus Smith in 1834 on a south facing slope which incorporated the ruins of the old priory.
Guess who? 
Sue x
Angelique 
I think it is MP?
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Correct! Well done! Michael Portillo as ever! Very creased jacket don’t you think!
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