This sceptr'd isle

Dwelling on a tiny island sounds idyllic, but is the reality quite as romantic? Tim Relf explores the charms and challenges of a most particular way of life

- Tim Relf

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL dubbed the British ‘an island race’. He was right, with our nation itself an island, but his words are truer for some than others. There are hundreds of islands around the coast, ranging from large ones, such as Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides, covering more than 770 square miles, to myriad tiny, uninhabited ones barely big enough to moor a dinghy.

Island life can be a dream, promising sea, seclusion and satisfaction—but does the reality match the fantasy? Is it feasible or impractical? Idyllic or too isolated? Most island dwellers say they wouldn’t swap it for the world, but to live the life requires practicality, pragmatism and adopting a routine shaped by sea and tide.

Rev Canon Dr Sarah Hills, vicar, Holy Island

Sarah Hills swims in the sea off St Cuthbert’s Beach in Northumberland every few days. ‘It can be freezing, but it’s so refreshing, both physically and spiritually,’ she reflects.

She moved to Holy Island, often referred to as Lindisfarne, in 2019, after five years as canon for reconciliation at Coventry Cathedral. ‘I had a very deep sense of calling to come here,’ Sarah says of the island that, covering 1,000 acres at high tide, is often referred to as a ‘thin’ place, with Earth and Heaven deemed to be particularly close together. It is known for its castle, once the holiday home of COUNTRY LIFE founder Edward Hudson and improved by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll.