Meet the Jenkins Family
More than a century of family farming at Carn Friars Farm on St Mary’s, from flowers and produce to the orchards behind Scilly Cider® today.
Hedley, Cissy & Noel, Mid 1940’s
Noel & Angela 1990’s
Chris & Zoe
Sophie & Morgan
Evie
Rafferty Born 2026
Delilah
Farm & Family
Flowers being prepared for the mainland markets in what is now the Scilly Cider® Taproom.
Carn Friars Farm has been part of the Jenkins family since the beginning of the twentieth century, with generations working the land on St Mary’s. Over the years, the farm has grown vegetables and flowers for mainland markets, before later diversifying into the fruit production that eventually led to the orchards here today.
For many years, Noel and Angela Jenkins were at the heart of life at Carn Friars Farm. They were also instrumental in establishing the Newquay Invitation Gig Rowing Weekend, which continues to take place each autumn. Today, Angela remains very much part of daily life on the farm and, even after celebrating her 90th birthday, can often still be found tending plants and digging compost in the garden.
Alongside farming, Noel and Angela once tried their hand at cider making using an old hand press, a small experiment that planted the seed for Chris and the future beginnings of Scilly Cider®.
Growing up at Carn Friars Farm gave Chris a strong connection to the land and eventually led to the planting of the first cider orchard in 2012. It marked a new chapter for the farm and the beginning of Scilly Cider®
Through all the changes at Carn Friars Farm, one thing seems to have remained constant: there has always been a spaniel somewhere in the middle of it all..
Angela rowing 1976
The old hand press
Life on the farm in the 1970s
Chris grew up at Carn Friars Farm and has spent his life on St Mary’s, running the boatyard at Porthloo for many years and serving with the lifeboat for more than four decades. Zoe came to Scilly in the mid-2000s to help launch Radio Scilly and, after meeting Chris, made the islands her home.
In 2012, Chris and Zoe planted the first cider orchard at Carn Friars Farm and Scilly Cider® began to take shape. Sophie and Evie have grown up alongside it, making Scilly Cider® very much a continuation of the family story.
