Saturday (May 21) is St Helena Day, which marks the date in 1502 when the South Atlantic island was discovered. Since then it has been reachable only by sea, and has depended in recent years on the RMS St Helena, which takes five days to sail between Cape Town and the island. This year, May 21 was also due to be the day Prince Edward would open a new airport there — to bring, it’s hoped, tourists and economic security — but that has been postponed indefinitely over safety concerns.

Radio 4, though, is going ahead on Friday and Saturday with St Helena: Joining the Rest of Us, in which Joe Hollins, who has been a vet there for the past six months, reports on the daily round and on islanders’ views of how things might change once the airport opens.