We arrived at a lunchtime in September, exhausted and soaked after just under three hours on the flat-bottomed ferry ship that serves the islands, on the tail end of a hurricane not normally our preferred method of travel, but the helicopters were grounded. Hardly had we stepped through the very humble entrance than the energetic figure of manager Robin Lawson leapt forward with a welcome that made us feel it was all worth while.

Nor was it just confined to Robin; all the staff were friendly, bright and ever helpful throughout our stay, delightful people who became instant friends.

The setting is superb, just off the waterfront of the tiny New Grimsby harbour, with views from the upper rooms over the surrounding seascape, the old inn, with its careful modern attachments still retains its flavour of antiquity, yet offering notable levels of cuisine, comfort and care.

The sound of silence envelopes you, at night the stars shine with a brilliance and clarity that we had almost forgotten on our sodium-light-soaked mainland. The small waves lap on the sandy beach. It is paradise.

After a hot bath lunch was a priority. Not for nothing is fish and chips listed in their cuisine choices - it was the best; crisp, well-fleshed fish with succulent chips and mushy peas - the full monty. The Tresco beef burger was succulent and interesting in a way that so many others are not - the taste was there, the right degree of moisture, and some more of those chips.