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Hugh Town's harborside boasts two waterside hostelries offering traditional Cornish pub fare at lunchtime. Try a Ploughman's Lunch , a plate of cheese, pickled onions, chutney and crispy bread; or a Fisherman's Lunch, (locally smoked mackerel instead of cheese). Enjoy a pint of Wreckers a worthy keg beer from local mainland Cornish St. Austell Breweries to wash your lunch down. Marine delicacies of freshly caught lobster and crab from local fishermen's pots or local mussels are naturally much in demand in the town's restaurants and hotels. Hugh Town has a number of small comfortable hotels as well as the Star Castle and Tregarthen. Most visitors however stay in Bed & Breakfast accommodation, where they are traditionally treated to a stomach-stretching cooked breakfast to start the day: orange juice, muesli, fried eggs, bacon and sausages, toast & marmalade, and lashings of strong tea.
Every morning the bearded mariners of Hugh Town bring their unique motorized longboats alongside the harbor quayside. These boats are traditional island gigs and they will ferry you to one of the other islands for the day, to deliver the mail to the Bishop Rock lighthouse and see the seals and the many different seabirds such as the rainbow-beaked puffins and gannet colonies which nest and feed on the outer rocks. The islands are a Spring and Fall paradise for birdwatchers who come to enjoy the seabirds and see the many migratory birds which briefly rest here on their final leg to summer breeding grounds or pass by on their return to warmer climes during winter. David Rosair, author of Hamlyn's Photographic Guide to the Waders of the World, runs special seven day bird watching and wildflower breaks for enthusiasts, with accommodation at Bryher's Hell Bay Hotel or on Tresco at the renowned luxury hideaway Island Hotel, (a sybaritic delight), or in the simpler comfort of the New Inn. While I have yet to sample the pleasures of the Hell Bay Hotel, of which I have had glowing reports recently, I can personally attest to the quality of Tresco's delightful Island Hotel and the cheerful ambience of the New Inn.
Right now Rosair's binoculars will be trained on incoming Cuckoo, Swallow and Sedge Warbler as well as Kittiwakes, Guillemots and Razorbills. Watchers will be hoping to see Kingfisher and the rare Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Golden Oriole and possibly Hoopoe.
