In 2020, the company celebrated 100 years of ‘delivering for Scilly’. As part of the celebrations, we worked with local artist Sue Lewington to create a special centenary illustrated book.
Sue Lewington is a freelance illustrator living in west Cornwall, who specialises in ink and watercolour sketches. Sue lived and ran a gallery on St. Martin’s for nearly 20 years before moving to west Penwith. Sue has a deep affinity with the islands and regularly returns to hte Isles of Scilly and to the Shetland islands in Scotland.
The book is filled with watercolour paintings illustrating and telling the story of the company and its fascinating history.
Sue painted this picture of Scillonian III as a tribute to the many ships that have made the same journey and was inspired by the poem below.
The New Boat, by Donald Jenkins, aged 12 (1926)
The new steam boat has just arrived,
They brought her into the quay
The schoolchildren are going down,
The ‘Scillonian’ to see.
They like the look of her so well,
They gave her a good name.
She is a steamboat built at Troon,
A vessel of great fame.
She came from Troon to Scilly Isles
At end of January month.
It’s a journey of 400 miles,
And the passage is very rough.
She is one hundred and forty feet
From stem to the tip of her stern.
She is not quite as long as our street,
But she has plenty of room to turn.
The Captain is a bold Scotchman,
And some of the crew belong to Scilly,
I cannot say he belongs to a clan
Or they’d think me very silly.
She will carry all the famers’ flowers
As well as all the luggage.
She can do the trip in about three hours:
And she’s got a nice big tonnage.
The beautifully detailed paintings flood the pages with colour, filled with illustrations of our first ships, aircraft and captains, along with many other important people who have shaped and contributed towards the history of the company over the years. The book gives you a behind the scenes insight into areas that you don’t normally get to see – the engine room onboard Scillonian III, the freight ships loading and unloading or the control towers at the airports.
The book, titled ‘One Hundred Years’, celebrates our 100 years of service to the Isles of Scilly and connecting people to the islands. The perfect gift for lovers of the Isles of Scilly.
To order please
Call: 01736 334220 | £15 +£3.50 postage