Guide


	www.bryher-ios.co.uk


	The website is off line for the duration, but a list of accommodation providers is available below.




	Self Catering Marian Bennett (01720)422411 Kris and Geoff Taylor (01720)422862 Chris and Kim Hopkins (01720)422222 Website Ted and Amy Langdon (01720)423136 Ruth and Paul Jenkins (01720)423156 June Bushell (01720)422010 Hotel Hell Bay Hotel (01720)422947 Website Guest House Angela Street Soleil d’Or (01720)422003 Tracy Mace Bank Cottage (01720)422612 Shop Bryher Stores (01720)422010 Bars and Cafes Vine Cafe (01720)423168 Fraggle Rock Bar (01720)422222 Hell Bay Hotel (01720)422947 Camp Site Bryher Camp Site (01720 422886 Boating Bryher Boats 01720 422886 Boat Hire Bennett Boatyard 07979 393206 Website


	a guided walk

If want to enjoy some of the most beautiful views in all of Scilly, then you must visit Bryher.
Its name means a ‘Place of Hills’ in Celtic and one of the most famous on the Island is Watch Hill, where you can take in breathtaking views all around you.
The scenery is varied, from the golden sandy beaches of Rushy Bay to the dramatic Hell Bay where mighty Atlantic rollers crash on to the rocks.
Bryher occupies only 327 acres, so you can walk around the whole coastline in about two hours or explore the island at your leisure.

THE CIRCULAR WALK
Starting from the main quay, you can see ancient walls and even burial sites on the tidal flats to the south. Close to the shore on Green Bay you will find Bennett Boat Hire run by Dan Bennett, son of the late Keith who was one of the first builders of motorised catamarans.
Further round to the south is Samson Hill with a beautiful early entrance grave overlooking Works Point, which was a Royalist Gun Battery when King Charles’ nephew, Prince Rupert operated his piracy fleet out of Scilly.

After Rushy Bay following the track along the western shore you come to Great Porth with the ruins of the sheds which housed Bryher Gigs including Albion and Czar. The Golden Eagles shed has been renovated and turned into a studio by artist Richard Pearce and his wife Caroline, close to here you will find Hell Bay Hotel.
Passing Bryher Pool, an SSI site, ideal for bird watchers (and where young mullet start their life) you soon reach the bay of Popplestones and beyond that Hell Bay with its swirling spume of spray. Although often assumed to be a graveyard for ships, only one, the Maipu was actually recorded as being wrecked on these rocky shores. At the very north of Bryher is Shipman Head, separated by a gap of water from the main part of the island. This was the sanctuary for the early inhabitants when the Islands were often prey to marauding pirates from the lands of the Vikings right down to those from North Africa. The ruins of a massive defensive wall can still be seen extending from the shore to Badplace Hill at the Northernmost part of Bryher. Your return along the high paths on the eastern side of the Downs takes you through possibly the largest Iron Age cemetery in Europe. Eventually you descend by Hangmans Island to Kitchen Porth (by Fraggle Rock Bar-Cafe and Bryher Stores) overlooking the Tresco Channel. In the days when this channel was a safe anchorage for the sailing ships of great trading nations, this little bay saw many a deep sea mariner come ashore for Bryher hospitality, which the islanders still extend to yachtsmen from all over.
As you head back to your boat you will pass Bryher Boatyard, from here you could just pop up the hill to enjoy a cream tea at Vine Cafe, then back to Bar Quay, built in 1990 by the TV programme ‘Challenge Anneka’.