This is a new section for Scilly News looking at the people who live and work on Scilly. This week Scilly News has talked to Dr Mike Gurr from St Mary’s.

Mike is married to Anne and has three children Nicholas, Stephen and Eleanor. He has lived on Scilly since the early nineties but first visited the islands in 1964. In the 1980s he was director of a large Institute of Food Research in Reading but a few years before coming to Scilly, he left the institute and worked as a nutrition adviser to the dairy industry. On coming to Scilly in 1990, Anne and Mike set up their own consultancy business (‘Maypole Scientific Services’), which they ran until they retired in 1999. Mike explains ‘When clients telephoned us, they always seemed intrigued about Scilly. None of them seemed to have a clue where it was. Some thought it was part of the Channel Islands and others that it was ?somewhere off the west coast of Scotland?!

Mike described to Scilly News what he loved about living on the islands: ‘Beautiful land- and seascapes; relative tranquillity; climate; relative lack of crime; thrushes hopping over my feet when I work in the garden! But every place his its drawbacks and Mike thinks that the ‘Goldfishbowl? feeling with everybody knowing your business can be tiresome. But also he thinks little animosities can be magnified also it’s difficult to get simple jobs done quickly. Subsequently there is a lack of choice in shops and a ?we’ve always done it like this’ attitude.

But the traditional ways of doing things often attract people to live on the islands. Mike says ‘When we bought our house and had completed the contract, we telephoned the vendor to say tat we would be down in a couple of weeks and would he please leave the keys with the Estate Agent.. There was a long silence, and then a voice said: ‘Keys’ ? no I don’t think we have any of those!? Coming as we did from a place where we would not have dreamed of going out for more than thirty seconds without locking the house doors we found it very funny.?

Mike has now retired but still keeps busy as a volunteer for the Wildlife Trust. He is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. ‘Most of my ?spare? time is taken up with IOSWT work. This involves regular meetings with staff to review the work programme, helping to look after the finances, applying for grants and planning future strategy.? But Mike also has many other hobbies on the islands. He is a member of the St Mary’s indoor bowls club, a life member of the Museum Association, a member of the Carreg Dhu Garden Committee and a member of the St Mary’s Hand bell Ringers. Other interests are: gardening, sailing (Drascombe Dabber), piano playing, hand bell ringing, listening to music, reading, growing herbs and making medicinal extracts from them.