Saturday 12th July.
Tregrill farm cottages.
Tregrill Farm Cottages are owned by some friends of ours who moved from Worcestershire to Cornwall in 2011. This is the fourth time we have stayed there being a good destination for exploring this area of Cornwall. I was fortunate that my daughter Mary and her dog Buddy could come with me, with my other daughter Rachel left with the responsibility of looking after my garden which was more demanding than usual due to the severe drought conditions in Worcestershire.
From their website.
Welcome to Tregrill Farm
“Nestled in a serene valley near Menheniot, Liskeard, Tregrill Farm offers three distinctively converted stone barns: Provence, New England, Moderno. Perfect for families, couples, and peaceful retreats.
Tregrill Farm is situated in a small hamlet just 6 miles from the Cornish coast. From our tranquil setting you can visit the whole of Cornwall, South Devon, Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor, with countryside walks accessible directly from your door.
We are a family run business with 3 generations of our family living on site. Our aim is simple, to provide “better than home” accommodation to make your holiday as enjoyable and relaxing as possible. To help you settle in, we provide our guests with a small welcome basket of local goods and some basic provisions.
Our cottages have been converted from typical Cornish Slate barns that date back to 1824 and retain many original features, they are set in an enclosed courtyard, each with its own garden area.”
Sunday.
Menheniot National Garden Scheme open gardens.
This is the village where we were staying and just by chance they had their NGS open gardens on the Sunday. Menheniot Gardens is a group of 5 gardens and 3 community spaces situated in this attractive old mining village. They consisted of cottage gardens, private gardens and community spaces. The village has an historical connection with the Royal Navy, with the captain of HMS Pickle, Lt. Lapenotiere, buried in the churchyard. HMS Pickle was at Trafalgar and was ordered back to England to inform King George III of the death of Nelson.
The gardens were small and varied, reflecting the owners style or plant preference with the community areas extremely well maintained. There was a lovely selection of teas and cakes for sale supporting the charity. All pictures are in slideshow format.
Monday
Visiting some of Cornwall’s popular fishing ports.
Megavissey, Polperro and Looe.
Ice cream was a given even a special dog ice cream.
Tuesday
The Garden House.
This is one of my favourite gardens in the South West one I always visit if I am in the area.
From their website.
“Fortescue Garden Trust
The house and gardens that form The Garden House were bought in the 1940s by Lionel and Katharine Fortescue. Over the next 40 years the Fortescues created a garden which was – and continues to be – viewed as one of the finest in Britain.
By 1961 they had established the Fortescue Garden Trust, an independent registered charity, to which they bequeathed the house and garden to ensure the survival of this beautiful place for future generations. After their deaths in the 1980s ownership passed to the charity, which maintains the Fortescues’ lovely legacy.
Today, a board of Trustees oversees The Garden House and actively seeks support to fulfil its objectives.”
In 1978 the Fortescues appointed Keith Wiley as their Head Gardener a position he occupied until 2003 when he left to establish his own, Wildside garden and nursery a little lower down the valley. During his time there Keith created what was being described as one of the most exciting and innovative gardens in Britain today and the best example of leading-edge horticulture in this country. His enthusiasm for creating natural gardens has been continued in his new garden. He formed these natural landscapes with a JCB and then planted with plants that favoured these different growing conditions he had created. It is planted with a blend of shoulder high grasses and perennials with a wonderful New Zealand sedge, Chionochloa rubra, planted due to its ability to stand low temperatures along with Dierama, Kniphofia, Rudbeckia, Persicaria firetail, Eryngium and many more. Within this area he also created a ruined cottage garden and quarry garden each requiring a different planting palette.
This only describes one area of the garden there is so much more to see.
The Wild Garden.
The Lower Garden.
The Jubilee Arboretum
Thursday
Coleton Fishacre.
From the NT website
About Coleton Fishacre
“At the country home of the D’Oyly Carte family you can travel back in time to the Jazz Age.
This most evocative of country homes was built in the Arts & Crafts style, and is imbued with Art Deco elegance. A light, joyful atmosphere fills the rooms, and music plays, echoing the family’s Gilbert and Sullivan connections. You can get an insight into 1920s life ‘upstairs and downstairs’ from the glamorous Saloon and the airy servants’ rooms.
In the RHS accredited garden viewpoints give enticing glimpses out to sea, paths weave through glades past tranquil ponds, and tender plants from the Mediterranean, South Africa and New Zealand thrive in the moist and sheltered valley.
Coleton Fishacre received a bronze award for large visitor attraction of the year at the 2014 Visit Devon Awards, as well as two silver awards at the English Riviera and South Devon Tourism and Hospitality Awards.”
This wonderful house and garden are always worth a visit.
Friday
Lunch with a sea view and music evening.
Downderry is a dog friendly sheltered beach of grey sand and shingle, we also discovered when reading about it that it was also nudist/naturist beach!
On a lovely sunny day lunch on the veranda of the Inn on the Shore was an excellent venue with views all along the bay.
Music, Pizza (and wine). Our friends had booked tickets for a Summer music evening at the Dutchy Nursery, it was the perfect end to a lovely week in a beautiful setting.
My souvenir from the holiday was a garden gnome from a junk shop for the princely sum of 99p. He is now in his new home along the garden Gnome Walk.
Enjoy your summer whether at home or away.
brimfields.com 
A beautiful post, Brian. Thanks for sharing your tour with us! Fabulous gardens and shore line. The climate I guess is warmish? The dahlias and many other plants seem further along than other areas of the UK.
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Thank you Eliza, Cornwall is generally earlier than the rest of the UK because of its climate and being in the south. We here in the Midlands have suffered very high temperatures for us up to 35° C.
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Hi Brian,
Firstly we are so pleased that you had a great holiday, doing so many things that “you like best”.
The pictures are a great memory for you, and a very interesting tour for us. I can’t really find a favorite,
it is all so beautiful.
Your new gnome is “a fine fellow of a lad” (one of my Dad’s quotes).
I have just checked the weather for Great Malvern and it looks like you might have some showers tomorrow.
We send good wishes for you.
Tina
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Thank you Tina.
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How lovely to have lots of gardens to visit when you are away, Brian – we don’t go away much, but I always look for gardens to visit when we do! What a great time of year to have been visiting them as well
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A lovely post, thank you. I am particularly keen on Coleton Fishacre, partly because the house is very attractive, partly for the beautiful gardens and partly for the proximity to the sea.
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