St.Martins, Isles of Scilly, on a Sunday afternoon.

I haven't even begun to scratch the surface here, all I have done is cycled and walked over the island of St.Martins taken a few 'snaps' and exchanged pleasantries with people.

St Martin's (Cornish)  Brechiek, meaning "dappled island") is the northernmost populated island of the Isles of Scilly, England. It has an area of 237 hectares (0.92 sq mi). I love a few facts don't you ?

I decide it is time to investigate the distinctive Daymark on the eastern tip of the island. I have viewed it from afar through the early morning mists, gazed over at it in the deep golden glow of a stunning sunset and studied it through driving rain and glorious sunshine.

Red stripes were added to the Daymark in 1830 as a young West African (who has a memorial stone in the churchyard) had his boat, the Hope,  thrown against the lethal rocks and wrecked on St.Martins Head after mistaking it for the white daymark of St.Agnes lighthouse.

More impossibly soft sandy paths surrounded by bracken lead me to the summit. Pedigree Red Ruby Devon cows munch silently. Valentina, May, Poppy and Daisy apparently. I make a little light conversation with them and bade them farewell.

Before I reach the Daymark the clouds obscure the sun and I give an involuntary shudder and pop on my warm fleece even though it is not cold. It's a strange feeling being surrounded by the sea, one side is misty and mysterious and the other is clear and startling in its clarity. I take a seat down on the springy slightly prickly heather and watch as the waves pound a rock relentlessly sending up that totally hypnotic 'whooshing of spray'.  I observe entranced.

The Isles of Scilly is more than a group of breathtakingly beautiful islands, it is a place where people leave a fragment of their hearts and return time and time again. It is the spiritual home of so many, a private place they can escape and seek solice in an ever increasing violent and bewildering world. You can shelter here and rest awhile before you continue your journey.

It is a place where you can stand still and take stock.(or cycle)