With love from the Isles of Scilly 1926

I felt at home as soon as I had set foot back on the Isles of Scilly.  This is perhaps the secret of the islands, people return year after year because it has the ability to make you 'feel at home'.  Home is where the heart is....

On my rapid return to the mainland I quite unwittingly unearthed a postcard from my Great Grandfather William Earnshaw of Solihull, Warwickshire who would have roamed and cycled the same simple and stunning countryside made famous by the authoress and nature lover Edith Holden. She wrote the charming depiction of the beauty of Warwickshire in the 1920's 'Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady' which was an instant best seller.

The small postcard was of Peninnis Head, St Marys, Isles of Scilly, the very spot that I had recently returned from.  I had no idea he had even been there and I had never seen the postcard before. He wrote:

Scilly Isles August 23rd 1926

'Dearest Evelyn, I am having a day here staying at Penzance, glorious sunny weather and magical islands to explore on my bike. Lands End tomorrow and then off to St Ives, North Cornwall. Never saw such beautiful country. All well and do wished you could have joined me. The enclosed sprig of heather is from the island which is a good luck charm. I believe the islands are owned by the Prince of Wales. I will call at Ilfracombe Post Office if you drop me a card there'. 

He would have travelled on the first Scillonian vessel which set sail in 1926 providing a regular passage from the mainland to the islands.

It is rather touching to find that four generations of my family have now been visiting the islands which perhaps explains the irresistible pull as anyone who has had the pleasure of visiting will fully understand.

It all feels like a rather jumbled puzzle which is finally falling very nicely into place !!