Meet the people who live on a ''magical' island off the British coast - where you have to plan every pint by the tides.

Locals have described life on the 'beautiful' St Michael's Mount - which boasts its own castle, microclimate - and only 31 residents.

The rocky tidal island, with a medieval church and castle, is home to a tiny living community and hundreds of thousands of visitors.

It is accessible by foot - by only during certain tide times.

Last year 300,000 people came to visit - sometimes ranging between 3,000 and 4,000 visitors on peak days.

St Michael's Mount is jointly managed by the St Aubyn Estate and the National Trust.

It has been used as a film set for Game of Thrones's prequel House of the Dragon or the German TV adaptations of Rosamunde Pilcher's books.

The estate employs about 100 people and the oldest buildings on the island date back to the 12th century.

The National Trust maintains the fabric of the island and tends to the castle and its contents, which are on view to the public.

Under the arrangement, the St Aubyn family retains the right to live in the castle, as well as running the visitor business under licence from the National Trust.

Every household has one or more members of the family working for the estate.

Josh Sedgeman, 33, has lived on the island for 21 years - after moving there with his family when he was 12-years-old.

The head boatman and harbour master described the island as a "magical" and "lovely" place - which feels "far away from the real world at times"."

He said: "Your whole life is time, tide and weather! Those are the things that rule your life."

"Everyday has to be organised, and your life revolves around that tide chart."

"But I think you would struggle to find a nicer place to live - it is brilliant."

Josh, who has been a boatman for 15 years and harbour master for two-and-a-half years, is responsible for keeping an eye on the weather, and managing any transport that goes to and from the mount, alongside the deputy harbour master Andy.

He explained: "We manage the boats, as well as the fleet of vehicles when the causeway is open and moorings in the harbour too."

"The biggest part of my role is to keep an eye on weather and ensure it is safe to transport visitors and residents to and from the island."

"We cannot run boats for a particular day if the weather isn't permitting. It means a full shutdown and everyone has to be off the island before the causeway closes."

Josh describes how the causeway opening time changes every day by around 40 minutes - depending on the spring and neap tide cycle that varies every two weeks.

He explained how the life of the residents is very much regulated by the tides and the weather - if the weather is too bad, Josh will have to make the decision to shut the island.

He explained: "The last boat in the winter is 5pm due to daylight hours, and throughout the year if the tides don't allow then it's a complete shut down! "

"Black flag days mean we are shut - and that means no passenger boats are able to come and go from the mount, so everyone takes it as a day off!"

"Take Easter last year, the weather was very poor, so we only ran for four days during the two week easter holiday."

"I have to be looking at the weather all the time, as I'm very aware of the impact it will have, financially for the company and the employees, as well it limits access for residents that live here too."

"You want it to be the right call and not cost everyone." "

Although a popular hub for hundreds of thousands of tourists, Josh said the residents on the island are always top priority.

He said: "The number one priority is the residents - all 31 of them currently."

"Although that number is about average for us, the number of residents has been in the low 20s before and the high 30s."

Josh's mum was a cleaner in the castle when he was growing up and his step father was a boatman - he said growing up on the island was "restricting", but "spending summer holidays playing on the boat" was a highlight."

He said: "The island really changes throughout the year."

"There's a real nice thing about the winter time, which is the quietness of the island and the storms."

"But also in the summer when it's full of people and everyone is having a good time - just how interested people are in how we as islanders live, which is something I never take for granted."

"It fascinates me how fascinated people are with our life!"

Some of his favourite things about living on the island is having a boat for an office, the morning commute and meeting the visitors.

He added: "Being on the boat is certainly not a bad office! "

"I've always maintained that I am a boat master and that's what I want to be - so I've never been prouder of myself and my family."

"I enjoy ferrying the visitors to-and-fro the island, but one of my favourite things is the first commute at 7:45am - this will be where I"

take residents off the island, such as the little ones going to school, or residents headed off to work if they have mainland jobs.

"I then bring in the staff to work on the island - from chefs, management and maintenance."

"On some days when you're getting everything ready for the day, you're out on the ocean and there is not a breath of wind, the water is crystal clear and you're on you're own and it is just lovely and so peaceful."

From November 1 to April 11 the island is only open when the causeway is clear, as boats do not run during the winter.

The island is closed on Saturdays to allow the residents to enjoy the island and give the island a rest.

Darren Little, a St Michael's Mount resident, has been working as a gardener on the island for nearly 26 years.

His parents lived and met on the island and he lived there until he was 16 before he went off to the mainland to study horticulture.

He was appointed as head gardener seven years ago, and his role is to maintain the gardens and grounds of the estate - which covers 21 acres.

Darren says the island is totally unique and he enjoys opening the space up to visitors from all corners of the world.

His son and daughter also grew up there too.

He explained: "You have the whole place to yourself - it's a unique place to be."

He explains how the island has a different feel throughout the year, depending on the seasons - ranging from "isolated" winters when sometimes residents cannot leave the island meaning they have to be prepared with their grocery shops, to the absolutely packed summer months."

Darren said: "During the winter months it's very quiet, very rugged and rough - so we concentrate on all the landscape work, all the relaying the paths and building work as obviously you don't have to worry about the visitors."

"It also gets very isolated as well because there are times you are stuck and can't get off the island, only for a couple days, due to what we call a black flag which means rough weather where you can't get any boats to and from the island."

"But it's quite good because we are all forward thinking - thinking about your shopping and your groceries."

"But especially nowadays with mobile phones, technology and apps, you can look at the weather and predict the tide opening, tide closing and you can work your life around that.''"

He added trips for a pint are tricky - resident might be able to walk back along the causeway if the tide is low enough.

But of the tide isn't right the local boatman won't come and pick you up at 1am.

Darren said: ''You can't just pop down to the pub like that. You have to plan it or you might not be able to get back."

The vehicles on the island range from a crew bus to vans and buses, and Darren explains how transport runs on a bus service that operates every half hour during the morning and evening on every hour throughout the day.

He said: "If you do your shopping and you're on the mainland, you can phone up what we call change house - our little communications centre - and they'll book you on the transport run, the boatman will come over and pick you up, pick your shopping up, and drop you to your front door!"

"We also have small store rooms on the main land where you people will drop off bigger deliveries, and the boatman will pick it up as part of their transport runs."

The residents on the island mainly consist of gardeners, boatmen, children, and castle stewards and staff - and Darren describes the community as a close one.

He said: "We all work with each other on the island here and it's a tight-knit community."

"During the winter months we all work together and pull together as a good team, and in the summer months we maintain all the gardens and grounds for the visitor's experience."

"In the summer time it is lovely, because all the residents can get together and have barbecues and go swimming and play games on the lawn and enjoy themselves."

"They all work here during the day around the public and then 5pm when all the visitors are gone you've got the whole island to yourself!"

"All the visitors are gone by about half-four to five o'clock, all the staff have gone as well by half five, and you've got the whole island just you, and you can treat it as your 21-acre back garden!"

The terraced garden was designed in 1878 for Sir John St Aubyn (later the 1st Lord St Levan), and built around 1890.

Darren said they were designed to be "viewed from above as well as from within"."

What is particularly unique about the island is that it holds its own micro climate - which allows rarer subtropical plant species to thrive, such as agave, cacti, aloe and many more.

Darren said: "My favourite part of the job is when we go into summer and the garden is ready - I think this time of the year is incredible. "

"We always want visitors to come and see what it's like."

Although Darren describes how one problem about living on the island is that you cannot lie about being late to work.

He joked: "There's no excuse if you're late to work in the mornings."

"You can't really say you were stuck behind a tractor! But even on your days off you're still working, you walk around the island and the estate and you see things that need doing."

"But it's the enjoyment of living here - it works both ways."

Katie, Manager at St Aubyn Estates, added: "It's so unique here - the lives that people live here are very different from everyone else's."

"There is always a story going on!"

"We welcome visitors to come and see this special place for themselves."