From the beach at Pentle Bay, the sea looked tropical – not just blue, but electric, glass-clear and shallow for miles. It was hard to believe I was still in the UK. In recent years, I’ve travelled far in search of postcard beauty, but standing barefoot on the tide-smoothed sand of Tresco, staring out accross its aquamarine shallows, it was clear I’d found something rare. The Isles of Scilly aren’t just beautiful by British standards – they’re beautiful, full stop.
The archipelago, 28 miles off the coast of Cornwall, is made up of five inhabited islands and dozens of uninhabited ones.
