Our second assessment is underway and already giving me the $*”%…

Not that the challenge we’re facing is new – we’ve been putting TV and radio packages together for the last three months and it’s been great fun.

No, the annoying thing at the moment is that every person I try to talk to about an interesting story around Cornwall is having meetings, all day every day. I mean: how many meetings can you have until you have to take time out, maybe reflect on what’s been said? Six, seven a day? Ten? For three days straight? Or is that basically a good sign and means that you’ve got a potentially hot story? Bad luck?

Oh: and the surf is just amazing right now and I keep driving past it with my camera gear in the back instead of my board right next to me, ready to go. But yeah: you got to get that story…

Finding the story

Just before renewing my love-hate relationship with good old phone from radio booth #1 I stumbled across this article on the BBC Cornwall website and immediately committed myself to it.

While the Isles of Scilly transportation issue is ongoing since British International Helicopters (BIH) stopped its year-round service to Scilly on 31 October, two months on the problems are far from being solved.

Getting the facts

Transport links from the mainland to the Isles of Scilly and back aren’t as reliable and affordable as they should be, according to the campaigning group FRIST. They say: “Transport links are of critical importance to the Isles of Scilly and its tourism dependent economy.” And as for now transport is a major problem:

• the convenient helicopter service is history
• flights from Land’s End airport, Newquay and Exeter are expensive and weather-dependent, i.e. not reliable (especially during winter)
• the Scillonian ferry is very old and runs only seven months a year between March and October

Clearly a no brainer. Next thing you know I find myself heading towards Penzance to get the facts from the horse’s mouth…