{"id":1164468,"date":"2026-08-23T07:41:28","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T07:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1164468\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T07:41:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T07:41:28","slug":"i-live-in-englands-friendliest-place-these-are-the-spots-locals-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1164468\/","title":{"rendered":"I live in England’s friendliest place \u2013 these are the spots locals love"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cloud-white beaches, a subtropical microclimate and a relaxed pace \u2013 all less than three hours by ferry from the mainland. England\u2019s only archipelago<\/a> is a beloved holiday destination made up of a mix of around 200 islands, islets and rocks and attracting around 100,000 visitors in the peak months of summer. It has also been named the nation\u2019s friendliest place to live in a new index<\/a> compiled using data from the government-run community life survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Isles of Scilly<\/a> have a population of around 2,360 that\u2019s spread across the five inhabited islands. Among those residents is Anna Browne, who lives on St Martin\u2019s, which became her adopted home in 1998.<\/p>\n

\u201cI first came to the island in 1990 on a diving holiday, and did what everyone does \u2013 fell in love with the place,\u201d she says. \u201cI came over in a massive storm; it was wet and windy. Then, the next morning, there was blazing sunshine, calm sea, and I thought: \u2018What is this place I\u2019ve come to? It\u2019s amazing\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Browne returned to the islands for holidays many times over the years. She eventually found a job at a diving school on St Martin\u2019s before going on to set up St Martin\u2019s Watersports<\/a>, which hires out kayaks, paddleboards and snorkelling sets. She has now lived on the northernmost and third-largest of the islands for 28 years, and says she can\u2019t imagine wanting to leave.<\/p>\n

\"St.Anna was captivated by St Martin\u2019s beaches (Photo: John Harper\/Getty)<\/p>\n

With around 140 people living on St Martin\u2019s, she says you eventually get to know everyone. \u201cI think the reason it\u2019s so friendly is partly because so many people come here on holiday, so they are relaxed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many tourists come regularly; some people have been coming for 20, 30, 40, even 50 years. I know what time of year it is by the visitors I see. Because it\u2019s quite a relaxed lifestyle here, people say it\u2019s like England in the 1950s. There are lots of honesty stalls around. People stop and chat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Scilly brings out the best in people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Browne adds: \u201cI find it really lovely that everyone knows your business. I broke my leg in March. I had so many flowers [from neighbours]. I had cooked food left in the house for us to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Island life wouldn\u2019t suit everyone for more than a holiday, and that\u2019s just as well given the size of the Isles of Scilly, and peace being part of their appeal. But Browne says St Martin\u2019s is a place that welcomes tourists.<\/p>\n

She adds: \u201cAnyone who has a business here knows that it\u2019s the tourists that keep us going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Browne tends to work up to six days a week and tries to travel elsewhere when she does take a holiday.<\/p>\n

However, she makes the most of the island\u2019s local businesses and takes trips to neighbouring islands when she has a chance. Here are her favourite spots.<\/p>\n

The Seven Stones Inn, St Martin\u2019s<\/p>\n

\"\"The Seven Stones Inn offers sea views (Photo: Seven Stones Inn)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe view from the pub is amazing,\u201d says Browne, of the island\u2019s one public house. It\u2019s on an elevated area in St Martin\u2019s Lower Town and has views across the Atlantic, both out of the pub windows and from the leafy terrace. On clear days, you can see the islands of Tresco and St Mary\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Eastern Isles <\/p>\n

This collection of eight uninhabited islands to the south-east of St Martin\u2019s is protected as the Eastern Isles nature reserve and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its flora, fauna and fragile marine habitats. The islands are around 1.1 miles from St Martin\u2019s, or around 15 minutes by boat from St Martin\u2019s Quay.<\/p>\n

Brown says: \u201cIf I\u2019ve got a quiet evening, or if I\u2019ve got friends over, we might paddle over to an uninhabited island by kayak and watch the sunset there or take pizza and have tea there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re generally really quiet, and you\u2019re often the only person there in the evenings. It\u2019s nice to see a different place, with different beaches<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gig Shed Cafe, St Mary\u2019s <\/p>\n

\"\"Gig Shed Cafe looks out to St Mary\u2019s Harbour (Photo: Gig Shed Cafe)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was on St Mary\u2019s (around 15 minutes by boat from St Martin\u2019s) I would probably go to the Gig Shed Cafe and have food there. That\u2019s on Porthmellon Beach,\u201d says Browne.<\/p>\n

The business is set among other gig sheds, huts that are traditionally used to store Cornish gigs, or rowing boats. It has views over the harbour and serves vegetarian food.<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s Fish and Chips, St Martin\u2019s <\/p>\n

Browne says: \u201cAdam [Morton] goes out and catches the fish. His brother James grows the potatoes. Adam\u2019s wife Fiona makes the puddings. The food there is always really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

The takeaway in St Martin\u2019s Higher Town dates to 2003, when Adam, a fisherman, was looking for an outlet for his fish. Options on the menu include lobster scampi and freshly caught pollock, both, of course, served with chips.<\/p>\n

The Island Bakery, St\u00a0Martin\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Run by Barney and Ella McLachlan, the bakery is open between Easter and October. It serves traditional Cornish pasties, takeaway pizzas and picnic lunches. <\/p>\n

Browne says: \u201cThe fresh bread is fantastic. Barney bakes through the winter. They do tarts, and, generally, really lovely food. Quite often people will go to the bakery, grab food, then go off to explore the [Eastern] islands.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cloud-white beaches, a subtropical microclimate and a relaxed pace \u2013 all less than three hours by ferry from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1164469,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5008],"tags":[21470,748,393,24356,4884,17978,284250,183,16,24358,15],"class_list":["post-1164468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-england","tag-beaches","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-england-travel","tag-great-britain","tag-iweekend","tag-summer-in-the-uk","tag-travel","tag-uk","tag-uk-travel","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117143699932260035","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1164468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1164469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1164468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1164468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1164468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}