On Sunday after my adventurous trek to Cromwell’s Castle and King Charles’s Castle on Tresco, I caught the boat over to Bryher for the last day of the food festival on the Isles of Scilly.
It’s a big old wooden boat which transports residents and visitors between the islands.
Getting the boat to Bryher
They’ve recently invested in a brand new speed boat as well, which I went on in the evening and as my shuttle between Tresco and St Mary’s when catching my flights. If you read my first blog post on Tresco, there’s a photo at the end of that post of my grandfather and ancestors in one of the old original wooden boats!
Beautiful, rugged, isolated Bryher
Bryher Food Festival
I arrived at the full community centre to countless food stalls and a lovely big table and chairs in the middle for people to sit down and eat their slices of homemade cake and fajitas!
I had a wander, sampled some tasters, and bought some bags of Veronica Farm Fudge. After sampling the food I then walked down to the church, but sadly couldn’t find anything – the cemetery was tiny! So I walked back up towards the Hell Bay Hotel and went onto the beach.
I sat for a while lost in my own thoughts and a couple of small birds came to join me, they were very friendly and quite happily sat there on the rocks near me, before I got up to partake in some beachcombing, which was a task in itself due to the amount of seaweed washed up on the shore.
Hell Bay Hotel
Dinner at The Crab Shack
The Crab Shack is in a tiny stone outhouse in the middle of a field. There’s a small marquee attached, which is where the kitchen is, and everyone sits on big long tables all together, so you’re mingling and chatting with the people sat around you.
To start with I chose scallops cooked in the lemon and chive butter, a medium crab for main cooked in the parsley and garlic butter, and then the eton mess for dessert.
Despite the sign saying all dishes are for sharing, I did not share.
I don’t share food.
Now, just a small warning, major food porn below…
The interior of the Crab Shack was rustic and intimate, and I got chatting to a lovely young-ish couple. They were adventurous sorts who travel round the world doing exciting things like scuba diving and kayaking. I admitted to them that I only ever kayak when the water is completely flat, however they were very impressed when I told them about how I saved a kayakers life a few years ago.
Anyway, next up was the crab. I’ve only recently been a fan of crab, but now I’m hooked – I had it three times whilst on the Isles of Scilly!
The crab is caught daily by the Pender family, and whatever isn’t used at the Crab Shack is sold to the locals the following morning. When it arrived and I exclaimed I had no clue what to do, one of the waiters very kindly showed me how to twist out the joints and break the crab’s legs (sounds horrid doesn’t it!) and hook out the meat with the meat picker.
Soon enough I was digging in and getting myself covered in crab and butter!
Thank goodness we had our aprons on! I quite liked the darker meat in the body, however after a while it does get a bit much as it’s very rich. It’s good in small doses. I did however dip my fries into the sauce – mmhmm!
Before I knew it it was time to head back to Tresco, luckily we didn’t have to walk in the dark, as the man who’d given me a lift earlier in the day drove us all down to the beach so we could get the boat.
The Crab Shack was such a fun experience, it was great to really get hands-on with the food and it was a total ice-breaker as everyone had a great time laughing and joking together. It really does make you appreciate ready-prepared crab though! It’s hard work!
This time we took the speedboat rather than the old wooden boat, and within a couple of minutes we were back at New Grimsby on Tresco.
I wandered back to the New Inn and packed my bags. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, it’d been a lovely weekend of being surrounded by peace and tranquility, beautiful scenery, and the knowledge that I was literally stepping in the path of my ancestors.
It’d been quite a busy weekend with a lot of walking, and a lot of eating sumptuous meals, however it had been a much needed weekend away by myself, to think and really rejuvenate after a few busy months with no time to just stop and think.
A huge thank you to Visit Isles of Scilly for organizing the trip for me!
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
Absolutely STUNNING and making me miss those pretty islands so much. Love the sparrow!
Meryl x
http://www.thenextactivity.com
They're so gorgeous aren't they! The sparrows were so friendly!
C x