The Perfect Holiday Gift Gift Now

Project gives insight into courage and skill of Scilly's 'gig' rowers

The Guardian

|

May 03, 2025

Swift, streamlined boats, agile and tough, for centuries helped save lives and move people and goods around the treacherous waters of the Isles of Scilly.

- Steven Morris

Project gives insight into courage and skill of Scilly's 'gig' rowers

An archaeological project has highlighted just how crucial "pilot gigs" were for islanders by mapping 90 sites of sheds that housed the boats, the earliest believed to date back to the 17th century.

Built for strength and propelled by six oars, the gigs carried pilots to ships navigating around the archipelago, which lies 30 miles off Cornwall.

PLUS D'HISTOIRES DE The Guardian

The Guardian

The rise of vaping Easy to start but difficult to stop

More socially acceptable than smoking - yet just as addictive - vaping has become the UK's default way of consuming nicotine.

time to read

4 mins

January 03, 2026

The Guardian

Italian pasta gains reprieve from 'fatal blow' threat of US tariffs

The US government has slashed proposed tariffs on Italian pasta that would have almost doubled the cost of many brands for shoppers.

time to read

1 mins

January 03, 2026

The Guardian

Yemeni separatists announce plan to hold referendum

Yemen’s southern separatists have announced plans to hold a referendum on independence from the north in two years, after their seizure of swathes of the country last month triggered a significant feud between Gulf powers.

time to read

2 mins

January 03, 2026

The Guardian

BBC scores up to 6.9m viewers for latest Traitors

The first episode of the new series of The Traitors was watched by an average of 6.4 million people, according to overnight figures from the BBC.

time to read

1 min

January 03, 2026

The Guardian

What hopes for peace? Exhaustion on the frontline and bad dreams back home

“I would give anything in the world if, in this address, I could say that peace will also come in just a few minutes,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a message to the Ukrainian people released just before midnight on New Year’s Eve.

time to read

5 mins

January 03, 2026

The Guardian

'I'm loving every second' Polanski on fame and taking the fight to Reform

Zack Polanski finally decided to stand as the Greens’ leader, he says, after witnessing the party being eclipsed by Reform in last May’s local elections across England, and realising that British politics had changed for good.

time to read

3 mins

January 03, 2026

The Guardian

The Guardian

Lords at war Are activist Tory peers trying to 'grind Labour down'?

Dining in the House of Lords canteen just after Labour came to power, one Labour adviser found themselves sitting opposite two Tory peers.

time to read

7 mins

January 03, 2026

The Guardian

The Guardian

Sparklers 'started Swiss bar fire that took 40 lives'

Investigators believe fountain sparklers mounted on champagne bottles and held too close to the ceiling sparked the fire that tore through a crowded bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, killing about 40 people and injuring more than 100.

time to read

5 mins

January 03, 2026

The Guardian

The Guardian

New year reboot 26 tools and apps to help you sort your cash in 2026

From cheaper shopping to tax and holiday cash, there is a host of resources to help you. The Guardian Money team pick some of the best

time to read

14 mins

January 03, 2026

The Guardian

Freezing weather expected across Britain with as much as 10cm of snow in several areas

Bitterly cold weather is expected to grip the UK over the weekend with as much as 10cm (4in) of snow already in some areas.

time to read

1 mins

January 03, 2026

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size