Back to the 50's.

Where on earth is St Helena? The answer comes as the ship draws near in the inky black light of early morning.

The mist lifts and the island comes into view. The sun rises over sheer, forbidding cliffs, which shade a lush green interior.

After seven days at sea, the passengers on the deck are in awe at the sight of what feels like the most remote island in the world.

St Helena is a British dependency in the tropical South Atlantic, 4,018 miles from the Mother Country, 1,200 miles from nearest landfall, 1,500 miles north west of Cape Town. Reached only by sea, it's both one of the last unspoilt destinations in the world one of the most beautiful.

Passengers gaze at the land ahead, in the same way as the exiled Napoleon must have on October 15, 1815, after Waterloo.

Through Napoleon's eyes, we stare into the Gates of Chaos - rolling countryside shaded by jagged volcanic cliffs where the sea roars in.

As the ship approaches the capital, Jamestown, the Asses Ears appear as giant rock prongs searing the skyline. Coupled with the Devil's Eyes, Lot's Wife, Diana's Peak and Prosperous Bay, historic and dramatic natural features appear thick and fast.

On landing at Jamestown, history becomes reality. The walk into Main Street is a step back 200 years into a fine Georgian town.

Discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, and settled by the British in 1659, famous visitors include Captain Cook, Charles Darwin, Captain Bligh, Edmond Halley, Napoleon's adversary the Duke of Wellington, Mason and Dixon, and the real William Hickey.

Finding your sea legs after a seven days at sea, you feel you are reversing into another age. This is 1950s Britain, perhaps, with shops shut promptly at 1pm for lunch, half-day closing on Wednesdays, Omo washing powder, Close-Up toothpaste and Grandpa's Headache Powders among the window displays.

A delectable slowness permeates the town. Front doors are left open, while cars have ignition keys in the locks. People, smiling and welcoming, have time for each other - and for visitors.

Known for its position as a centre for the Royal Navy's fight against the slave trade, crime is virtually non-existent among the diminishing population of 3,500.

With no airport, the island is reached only by the imposing Royal Mail Ship, St Helena, the last remaining vessel of its kind in the world. She carries the post, and all the island's other needs.

The 'RMS' is a working luxury cargo liner, British owned and registered, built in 1989. She carries a maximum 128 passengers, 65 officers and crew, plus 1,800 tonnes of cargo, in an atmosphere redolent of the golden age of ocean travel.

She has stabilisers and air conditioning, a small sea water swimming pool and a mini gym. She is classified as A1+ at Lloyds of London - signifying high quality and impressive safety factors.

Sailing on the St Helena is an adventure in time and travel. Cabins are spacious and comfortable, mostly en suite. Stewardesses deliver early morning tea. There is beef tea at 11am, afternoon tea at 4pm and superb five-course dinners at night.

The atmosphere is informal. By day, you relax, sunbathe, read, or do nothing, or play deck quoits. Cricket matches (with a ball made of rope) take place between passengers and crew.

Nightly entertainment includes frog-racing. This arcane 'sport', MC-ed by an outrageous purser called Geoff Shallcross, uses wooden batrachian cut-outs manipulated by strings pulled by passengers or crew. Bets are placed on favoured frogs.

There is also horse racing, with mounts moved by throws of dice, occasional bingo, a casino night, quizzes, fancy dress night (a retired army general draped in cables and plugs emerged as General Electric) and up-to-date films. Alternatively, you can relax in the two large lounge bars and chat.

My fellow passengers were mainly British and South African, together with two French couples with an avid interest in Napoleonic history and returning St Helenians. People came from varying backgrounds - a BBC World Service electrical engineer, a tax consultant and his wife, a secretary, two British Airways ground staff, the aforementioned retired South African army general and an antique dealer from Devon.

They wanted a holiday with a difference. For some, the journey was life-changing.

The island's history is also important. We boarded a 1929 open-topped charabanc to Longwood House, where Napoleon lived and died, and to Sane Valley, to the tomb where he was first buried before being returning to France. Both are uniquely French territories on the British island.

A more macabre monument is the Boer cemetery, which was needed for the 7,000 prisoners kept on St Helena after the Boer War.

More physically challenging is the 699-step climb provided by Jacob's ladder in order to reach its hill-top fort.

Plantation House, a superb Georgian building, is the British Governor's residence. In the grounds, a massive 200-year-old tortoise called Jonathan moves ponderously, accompanied by a notice asking visitors not to sit on him.

Everywhere is the astonishingly varied scenery: verdant green valleys, volcanic scree, barren desert, all within its 47 square miles. A walker's paradise, the island also offers fishing, scuba diving, dinghy sailing, canoeing, water-skiing and windsurfing.

After our seven days ashore, the RMS returned from its second port of call, Ascension Island, for the return journey to Cape Town.

Before boarding, passengers joined the Saints (as the locals are known) for a Remembrance Day concert at the Consular Hotel, featuring the St Helena Ladies Orchestra.

Led by the Anglican Bishop on the island, the Right Reverend John Salt, born in Stoke-on-Trent, with a solo of his own - the Vera Lynn classic, The White Cliffs Of Dover - this was a very British occasion.

The world of St Helena is such a pleasant interlude that many, I fancy, would happily return there on a full-time basis. The 1950s, in many ways, is a nicer place to be than 2005.

* RMS St Helena sails the Cape Town-St Helena run every three weeks, with short calls at the Namibian ports of Luderitz and Walvis Bay, where it's possible to hop on or off the ship. Passengers can spend seven days on St Helena in small hotels, B&Bs, or self-catering accommodation. The RMS sails on to Ascension Island after St Helena, before the return voyage to Cape Town.

* Typical package (London-Cape Town-St Helena-Cape Town-London), with one night in South Africa en route and two on return, costs pounds 2,370-pounds 4,070 per person, depending on cabin grade and hotel in St Helena.

* For reservations, call Andrew Weir Shipping on O20 7575 6480 or email: [e-mail]

See also Niche Cruise Alliance brochure. Call 020 7620 1960 or email: [e-mail]