Cloud-white beaches, a subtropical microclimate and a relaxed pace – all less than three hours by ferry from the mainland. England’s only archipelago is a beloved holiday destination made up of a mix of around 200 islands, islets and rocks and attracting around 100,000 visitors in the peak months of summer. It has also been named the nation’s friendliest place to live in a new index compiled using data from the government-run community life survey.
The Isles of Scilly have a population of around 2,360 that’s spread across the five inhabited islands. Among those residents is Anna Browne, who lives on St Martin’s, which became her adopted home in 1998.
“I first came to the island in 1990 on a diving holiday, and did what everyone does – fell in love with the place,” she says. “I came over in a massive storm; it was wet and windy. Then, the next morning, there was blazing sunshine, calm sea, and I thought: ‘What is this place I’ve come to? It’s amazing’.”
Browne returned to the islands for holidays many times over the years. She eventually found a job at a diving school on St Martin’s before going on to set up St Martin’s Watersports, which hires out kayaks, paddleboards and snorkelling sets. She has now lived on the northernmost and third-largest of the islands for 28 years, and says she can’t imagine wanting to leave.
