| Tregarthen's Hotel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Hotel |
| Location | Hugh Town, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly |
| Coordinates | 49°54′57″N 6°19′07″W / 49.91576°N 6.31852°W |
| Opened | 1849 |
| Website | |
| www | |
Tregarthen's Hotel is a hotel in Hugh Town on St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly.
Tregarthen's was the very first hotel to be established on the Isles of Scilly, having been founded in 1849 by Captain Frank Tregarthen, who ran the packet ship delivering mail, provisions and visitors between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly.
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Transcription
We are outside the Sailing Center on a beach at Saint Mary's and we're going to be doing something very exciting this afternoon. We're going to do the traditional gig racing. That is one of the local sports that takes place on the Isles of Scilly It's in a traditional wooden boat Some of them were built in the eighteen hundreds and some of them are in shed just behind you. And we've got some more modern ones as well. And it is six rowers and a cox. Do you think you'll be good at it? Well, it's rowing isn't it? What kind of training do you need for that? It's one of the hardest things you will ever do. By the end of a race you feel like you would quite comfortably be doing almost anything else in the universe than what you just did. Your lungs burn, Your head is throbbing. Your muscles are... Every muscle aches. You find muscles you didn't know you had. You're hands have got blisters. So why do you do it? Because we are... because we like it. It's really good fun. We don't get opportunities to do many team sports over here. Somehow gig rowing is the one thing that everybody seems to really have at some point in their life either loved or loathed and been involved with. I think it's because it's got a bit of heritage to the islands as well. People enjoy doing it. You grow up through school knowing about it. So you end up going and doing it. Family do it. How long have you being... is there a word for it? Gigotting? Gig rowing Selina has been doing it for about five centuries Thirty one years I've been doing it for about five. OK So hold it there a minute. I'm the cox. I will tell you when to go and stop. Selina is the one that sets the stroke. And then everybody else follows. It's trying to do everything all as one rather than six individual people. That will be a first for our family. And away together. That's it. Just remember to just cover the blade. Keep the top slighty towards me, rather than backwards. Don't dig it in too deep there. Sorry. It's a World Championship, so people come from everywhere. And the population triples if not more for the May Championships. We started it in nineteen ninety and we had nineteen boats for the first ever World Championships and now we have got one hundred and forty five this year. So it's just grown and grown and grown. So you'll see all the gigs rowing up to the start line and everybody lining up in this beautiful big arc of boats. And then obviously everybody is starting at once and the flag goes down. And you hear the clunk as everybody's first stroke goes in. It is absolutely immense and exhilarating. It's like war drums. Taking part and watching it is totally amazing. I wouldn't ever want to not do it. You are doing really well. How was that? Brilliant. Really good. Really atmospheric out there. With the rhythm, you almost forget you're doing it. With the rhythm, with the paddles... You should be lending a hand shouldn't you? Yes, probably. They all did really well actually. They all did well.
History
Up until the mid-nineteenth century, there was no regular transport between the Isles of Scilly and the mainland UK. Then, in 1849, the locals on Scilly decided to resolve this situation and provide a sloop as a connecting link with the mainland. There was great local excitement when this sailing packet, named Ariadne, was first brought to the islands by its skipper, Captain Frank Tregarthen.[1] The Ariadne was introduced into service in 1850.[2]
Between 1849 and 1858, with his three daughters, Captain Frank Tregarthen opened up his family house at the foot of the Garrison Hill to paying guests. Captain Frank would load up the boat with mail, provisions and adventurous passengers in Penzance and bring them to his house for their stay on the islands. Thus Tregarthen's Hotel was established – the very first hotel on the isles of Scilly.[3]
“Visitors to Scilly were few and far between. No one ever thought of going to the Islands for pleasure, and those whose business called them there were only too anxious to get away on the first favourable opportunity. But here was the rub. Captain Frank kept the only hotel, and was in this peculiar position: his guests could not possibly get away until he chose to take them. He usually counted heads before leaving Penzance, and laid in a stock of provisions accordingly. His customers were rounded-up like sheep in a South American corral, and there were no means of escape unless one swam across. There you were willy nilly, and, somehow or other, the weather never pointed to set fair until all the provisions had been consumed, and to avoid semi-starvation it was necessary to go back to the mainland to replenish the larder.”[4]
Tourism on Scilly started in earnest once the Cornwall Railway link from Penzance to London was completed in 1859.[5]
The steamer Little Western took the place of the Ariadne and, for the first time, visitors could make the crossing from Penzance in only four hours - considerably faster than the cutter Ariadne, which could take a day or two. The Little Western was the Isles of Scilly's first Steam Packet boat and made around three voyages from Scilly to Penzance and back each week.[6]
Captain Tregarthen was captain of the Little Western from 1859-1870. The Little Western was a small ship, and her crew consisted of only five hands – captain, mate, engineer, deck-hand and stoker. Despite the challenges and perils of the voyage, she usually made good passage to the islands, and was able to provide service all year round.[7]
Transferred to the West Cornwall Steam Ship Company in 1871, for the sum of £2,640 (equivalent to £310,492 in 2023),[8] the Little Western was wrecked on the Wells Reef on 6 October 1872 attempting to give aid to a disabled brigantine.[9]
The Little Western played a significant part in the history of the islands as well as the heritage of Tregarthen's Hotel. That is why the hotel's logo features an image of the Little Western and the terrace at the hotel is named The Little Western Deck.
A fire broke out on Sunday 26 February 1905 when a defective chimney took fire and this spread to an adjoining bedroom. Fortunately, the fire was extinguished but the damage amounted to £50.[10]
During the First World War, Tregarthen's Hotel was commandeered by the Admiralty and acted as a Ward Room for officers who were billeted at the White House on the Garrison. Tregarthen's Hotel was commissioned by the Admiralty on 1 June 1918 and surrendered on 28 February 1919. Commander HW Randall RNR was the Senior Officer.[11]
The present day Tregarthen's Hotel has been built around the original living quarters of Captain Frank Tregarthen [1].
Famous visitors
Wilkie Collins stayed at Tregarthen's for one night in 1855 during a twelve-day cruise of the Scillies [2].
Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote Enoch Arden during his stay at Tregarthen's Hotel in 1860. This is celebrated with a plaque at the hotel [3].
In around 1903 the hotel hosted the infamous killer Dr Crippen and his wife Cora (aka the aspiring music hall performer Belle Elmore). Indeed, during his stay Dr Crippen safely delivered his boatman's wife's baby daughter [4].
Prince Charles visited Tregarthen's Hotel on two occasions for meetings with the Duchy Tenants Association. His most recent visit to the islands with the Duchess of Cornwall was in August 2012 to see the new school, which he helped design.[citation needed]
Queen Elizabeth II visited the hotel on 3 June 2011, when Tregarthen's Hotel hosted an official reception for ninety people.[12]
Ownership
Tregarthen's remained a family owned and run business until 15 February 1915 when a company was formed with a Penzance estate agent, WH Lane, followed by his son Thurstan T Lane, as chairmen. The hotel remained in the same ownership for a century, with WH Lane's grandson, Jonathan Lane, becoming Director in 1980 and then Chairman. On 24 April 2015, Tregarthen's Hotel was sold to Nigel and Jackie Wolstenholme, for whom it is a first hotel venture. Other business interests of Nigel and Jackie Wolstenholme include the 25 acre Somborne Valley Vineyard in Hampshire.
Gig racing
Tregarthen's Hotel supports the popular sport of Cornish pilot gig racing. In 1999 the hotel donated a pilot gig called Tregarthen's to the Isles of Scilly Rowing Association to celebrate the hotel's 150th anniversary. The hotel donated and launched a second gig to the Association in 2012 during the World Pilot Gig Championships, which are held annually on the first Bank Holiday each May since 1989.
References
- ^ Scilly and the Scillonians by JG Uren. UK Rare Books Club (1907) Page 95. ISBN 978-1152596214
- ^ "Penzance and Scilly". Royal Cornwall Gazette. England. 26 April 1850. Retrieved 7 May 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Scilly and the Scillonians by JG Uren. UK Rare Books Club (1907) Page 58. ISBN 978-1152596214
- ^ Scilly and the Scillonians by JG Uren. UK Rare Books Club.(1907) Page 96. ISBN 978-1152596214
- ^ Inside the Archipelago by Roger Banfield. Isles of Scilly Museum p25. ISBN 978-0956290328
- ^ Scilly and the Scillonians by JG Uren. UK Rare Books Club (1907) Page 102. ISBN 978-1152596214
- ^ Scilly and the Scillonians by JG Uren. UK Rare Books Club (1907) Page 103. ISBN 978-1152596214
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ The Wrecks of Scilly by Richard Larn. Shipwreck and Marine (2001) Pages 120-121. ISBN 978-0952397199
- ^ "Fire at Tregarthen's Hotel, Scilly". Cornishman. England. 2 March 1905. Retrieved 7 May 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Isles of Scilly Museum. Tregarthen’s Visitor Book. (1897-1937)
- ^ "Queen and Philip on Scilly visit". 3 June 2011 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
External links
This page was last edited on 6 January 2022, at 22:24