A book has been published on the Isles of Scilly which aims to put something of the holy back into holiday. The book, The Isles of Scilly and Beyond, is a series of pictures of Scilly with Christian reflections on the landscape and island life.
The book has been written by Mary Ratcliffe, a local resident who has conducted many people on prayer walks around the islands. She says: ‘When I was just a holidaymaker on Scilly I created a scrapbook of photographs with texts from the Good News Bible. I wanted to show my friends back home in Cambridgeshire that I regarded the islands as a place where body, mind and spirit could be renewed.?
Mary, who worships at the St Mary’s Methodist Church, came to live on the islands in 1998. With her husband Guy she began ‘Walkabout? which took visitors on quiet walks in different parts of the islands. On these walks there was time for contemplation and reflection.
Having settled in to island life, Mary took a course in bookbinding. She says; ‘This led to a desire to produce books for her friends, along the lines of the original scrapbook. These books contained added reflections which I had gleaned from many years of pastoral care. It soon became obvious that many copies would be needed and I was encouraged to have the book printed. The book will appeal to visitors past and present, and also to those who, because of distance are unable to visit.?
The book contains more than thirty photographs taken by Mary herself, her son Sam and Jon Kersey. They reveal the islands at different times of the day and the year, including familiar sights such as the bulbfields and the Tresco Abbey Gardens. Also shown is the Old Town church, whose graveyard tells many stories of shipwreck and sickness. The ruins of Tresco Abbey reveal that the islands have a Christian heritage back as far as 550AD. Also pictured is the annual pilgrimage to St Helen’s, where there was a thriving church in the 11th and 12th centuries. The pilgrimage honours St Elidius, a bishop and confessor. According to the records of the Abbey of Tavistock, St Elidius’ day is August 8th.
Available at http://www.scillyshop.com/ or from the author at Seagull Cottage Hospital Lane St Mary’s Isles of Scilly