Hickses, Leggs and The Lobsterman. Sánchez passes the Duchy pon the left hand side.
Mrs. Sánchez and I have just returned from a week on the Isles of Scilly entirely funded by the 'Real Pasty Hermandad of Álora'. Hard to believe, I know, but following the runaway success of my previous publication, 'Home is where the pies are', a small but well endowed 'sociedad de empanadas' (pie club) invited us to look into the possibility of opening a pie and pasty shop down in sunny Andalucía.
Although Scilly is 28 miles (48km.) off Land's End it is still part of Cornwall , 'the home of the Cornish Pasty'. It's remote location makes it the ideal place, far from the corrupting influence of mass production and microwaving, to look for 'el pasty auténtico' (there is no word in Spanish yet for 'pasty').
So off we headed to Land's End Airport which has a nice new sign and a brand new concrete runway. Until last year last year it was made of grass. The flight takes about 15 minutes or 10 with a following wind and costs £160 each, return.
You don't need a passport to fly to Scilly; a driving licence or bus pass will do, but uniquely St. Agnes and Tresco do operate an immigration policy. Tresco only admits people with loads of money. (There used to be a turnstile on the quay) and St. Agnes refuses entry to badgers, foxes, moles, hedghogs, snakes, squirrels, magpies, jackdaws, rooks, lapwings, wasps and rats. You won't find any of them here. Many of them were eaten into extinction by the islanders during hard times in the early 19th. century. The wily rabbits survived the other genocides and are still plentiful. Some lucky nature lovers have even spotted the 'Scilly Shrew'- a rarity.
The Scilly Shrew (Aaaah!)
We had to wait 2 hours on the quay at St. Mary's island for a boat to take us to St. Agnes island (the most south westerly inhabited place in Great Britain), so off we went to find our first pasty. The unmistakeable aroma of hot Cornish pasties wafted along the quayside from a newish looking shop/cafe but we were headed for the positively reviewed (on Trip Advisor) Kavorna Cafe and Restaurant on Hugh Street.
"Had lunch here on our first day in St Mary's. My steak pasty was really lovely".
Vicky, West Midlands.
The artist Terry Durham , who lived for many years and died in Álora used this cafe a lot when he lived on Scilly with his wife and baby son, Nick, whilst working at the Atlantic Hotel just opposite Kavorna.
Kavorna, as it was when Terry Durham went there.
'The next lot will be ready in 20 minutes'. said the friendly girl at the carry out counter. How fresh is that! and hot too.
After a quick look around we collected our steaming pasties from Kavorna, found a bench on the old quay and tucked into the tasty 'taddy oggies'. Mmmm.
The Spirit of St. Agnes soon spirited us away to this most beautiful of isles (20 minutes, £4.30 each one way). We passed The Turk's Head pub on the way up to our digs (possibly the only time we passed it without going in) where a chalkboard announced:
so I popped in and told them I would be in later to order a pasty.
St. Agnes and Gugh
How's this for a paradise island, and you get 25% extra at low tide when you can walk across the sand bar to 'The Gugh'. What a bargain!
The residents of St. Agnes (84 at the last count) are very excited because Prince Charles is visiting the island this week. Preparations are well in hand and the new Island Hall, which he doesn't like much, has been gaily decorated to make sure he gets a good welcome. Some people say that the lane that goes past The Island Hall is haunted by 'The Lobster Man' who prowls the lane at night. A close relative of mine was actually pursued by the Lobster Man one dark and misty night and has been scarred for life by the terrifying experience.
St. Agnes Island Hall. (gaily decked).
Prince Charles, Duke of Cornwall, owns all the land and every building on St. Agnes. Everyone pays rent to him via 'The Duchy'. He also owns St. Martins, St Mary's and Bryher islands, the rest of Cornwall and large tracts of Devon, Somerset, Herefordshire and Wales. He owns Tresco too but leases it to Robert Dorrien-Smith who has covered the island with attractive timeshare chalets.
Tresco
Cornwall was given, as a birthday present, to Edward 'The Black Prince' by his father King Edward III, . Young Eddie wanted a cricket bat. His dad gave him Wales a few years later. Nobody knows why he was called 'The Black Prince'. He certainly wasn't black and nobody ever called him that in his lifetime. Somebody told me that Shakespeare made the name up. Anyway all this stuff is passed on to the eldest son of the reigning monarch. It rakes in £156,000,000 a year for him. Not bad eh? Even so, a report in the Independent newspaper describes Scilly as 'where Britain's poorest people live'.
Prince Charles will be having a party at The Island Hall when he arrives on this most beautiful of his possessions. He has requested his favourite egg rolls (not pasties?) and will be drinking Earl Grey tea with honey. Many of the islanders have been invited to the bash but some have found that they are unable to attend, citing a subsequent engagement on the mainland. There is no truth in the rumour that they are a bit behind with the rent.
St. Agnes is known as 'The island of Hickses and Leggs' reflecting the predominant family names here. At the last count there were 21 Hickses and 10 Leggs living on St. Agnes. I know what you're thinking - remote island, small population.
In 1820 there were 280 people on the island living entirely on boiled limpets and pasties.Remember that this was before the B&Bs,Self Catering lets and the campsite existed. Smuggling had been banned and the only industry was kelping (burning seaweed to produce soda ash which was then sold to the glass industry in Bristol). The smoke was so smelly that passing ships gave the islands a wide berth, thus avoiding the treacherous Western Rocks and saving the lives of many sailors. It also made the pasties taste funny. The lack of 'good wrecks' further depressed the economy. Many Hickses and Leggs were reduced to burning their furniture to keep warm and staying in bed all day to keep warm. A bit like the campers do these days.
Augustus Smith
Along came Augustus Smith who took over the tenancy of all the Isles of Scilly in 1834 and removed hundreds of people by sending the boys off to sea and the girls to the mainland to be servants, thus solving the over population problem..In 1940 there were only 74 people on St. Agnes.
Then along came Mrs Wayne-Smith to teach at the local school. She brought her five children and a pasty recipe with her and married the kids off to local folk giving a considerable boost to the gene pool. Today out of the population of 84 people, 23 are descended from Mrs. Wayne-Smith.
After preordering our pasties at the Turk's Head we took advantage of the low tide and walked round Gugh which is part of St. Agnes half the time. Gugh is a wild and mysterious place full ancient graves ley lines and standing stones.
The Old Man of Gugh
The Giant's Bellend
A circuit of Gugh was enough to work up an appetite so we headed for the Turk's and ordered our preordered pasties. They were delicious and better than the one's from Kavorna. They are a little more peppery and generous on the steak but a little pricey at £4.95 (eat in).
The St. Agnes Post Office and Store sells pasties too.They only had one and it didn't look very appetizing.
The next day we tried the pasties at The Seven Stones pub on St. Martin's, a delightful island. The pasties were OK but not a patch on the Turk's Head ones.
We stuck to the Turk's Head Tastebud Ticklers for the rest of the week and will be recommending them to The Hermandad when we get back to Álora.
If Prince Charles is reading this organ I would suggest that he tries a Turk's Head Pasty on his visit today. He can certainly afford a couple.
Juanito Sánchez
July 21st. 2015
Charlie, if you read this you might consider a visit to Álora.
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