Cornish Holiday - The Lizard

We discovered some lovely places which were new to us on our holiday in Cornwall, and headed down towards the Lizard on our last day. After a wet start it turned into one of those hot, sunny summer's days that you hope for on holiday. Dollar Cove was our first discovery, a wild place of shipwrecks and undiscovered Spanish treasure. Apparently scenes from 'Poldark' were filmed there I shall look out for them in the next series.

A few steps away is Gunwalloe Cove, a stunning place of soft sand, rugged rocks and crashing sea - my favourite kind of beach.

I did a bit of crochet whilst watching the body boarders, and some beachcombing too, 

watched by this fellow who hoped I'd brought a pasty with me.

But I was most distracted by the scenery. When I'm in places like this I find I just want to drink it all in, and charge up my batteries for the winter months. 

However, I can't tell you how thrilled I was to discover this - masses of sea holly growing on the beach. In my enthusiasm to take photos I managed to knock my coffee over. P of course is used to this plant-related excitement.

It was so silvery-blue in the sunlight, and incredibly (painfully) thorny.

Beautiful.

On the beach is the little 'Church of the Storms', St Winwaloe. Its windswept churchyard was very simple, and full of coastal beauty.

It has a detached bell-tower, something I've never seen before.

After delicious three-scoop ice-creams at an ice-cream farm (wild cherry, sea-salted caramel and pear and elderflower for me), we headed for another pretty place ...

Coverack. I love its name, which makes me think of seaweed.

Some beach exploring was in order, so we wandered and admired the serpentine rocks.

An evening stroll in Porthleven ended our day, a little fishing town which is very familiar to us.

I visited a favourite haunt of mine, the Salt Cellar Workshops. When I daydream about becoming a craftswoman living in Cornwall it's here that I imagine.

The workshops are occupied by a group of talented artists, and are an inspiring place to be, a hive of wonderful creativity.

A drink on the quayside finished a lovely day of seaside happiness, as we watched the little boats pootling in and out of the harbour.

Heaven.

Cornish Holiday - Trelissick and Roseland

Thank you for your interest and lovely comments on the first of my Cornish holiday posts. On the second day P and I visited places which were new to us, and started with Tresillick Gardens, a lovely NT property not too far away. It was a misty, drizzly morning and we took our raincoats and umbrellas with us.

Walking around large gardens is something that our teenagers grew out of, so it's great to be able to take our time and just wander. Tresillick Garden is on the banks of the river Fal, and is made up of parkland, woodland and borders. There are some fantastic trees there,

like this gnarled sweet chestnut,

and this furry palm. It reminded me of an animal.

The Hydrangea Walk was eye-popping. I love the shades of blue and purple that they grow in in Cornwall. Because of the less acid soil at home we only have pink ones in our part of the world.

My favourite part of Tresillick, however, was the New Cornish Orchard which is a wild flower meadow full of old varieties of Cornish apples. It reminded me of the cider apple orchards near to us in Somerset.

The trees were full of fruit and beautiful pale green moss.

There was a huge cider press,

and an apple sculpture.

But best of all were the names on each tree. My favourites are 'Pig's Snout' and 'Cornish Honey Pin'. I saw 'Pigs Nose 1', but missed 2 and 3. Great names.

There was a little wooden building which was decorated with halved pine cones

and beautiful stained glass.

Further on there were tree ferns,

jungly-looking hostas

bananas,

echiums,

and cardoons.

Lots of feathered friends joined us while we drank our tea outside in the cafe.

As we left we passed this fairytale building which is now holiday accommodation.

I chuckled at the weather vane - I've never seen a squirrel one before!

We crossed the Fal on the King Harry Ferry, an old floating bridge which reminded me of my childhood trips into our city centre on a floating bridge. 

Once across, we were on the verdant, wooded Roseland Peninsula and headed south to the pretty village of St Just-in-Roseland.

We walked down a steep hillside, and found ourselves in a lush hillside garden.

The little village church stands at the edge of a tidal creek, and is surrounded by a sub-tropical garden. There are many very old gravestones there which mingle with the palms, ferns and gunnera.

Weathered Celtic crosses mix with the most luxuriant planting around the headstones.

The church itself is very pretty too.

It was quite unlike any churchyard I've ever been in,

but a very beautiful and restful place, and well worth a visit.

We finished our day in St Mawes, and here the sun came out. An old fishing port, the town is pretty with little houses tumbling down the hillside to the edge of the estuary. There seems to be a mix of quaint little fisherman's cottages and some quite smart and expensive holiday accommodation in the town.

We walked along the tiny beach and bought chips from a sweet little hut, and they were delicious (I can't stand soggy chips).

The views across the estuary were gorgeous, and I felt very happy as I breathed in the fresh, salty air.

The bright coastal colours drew my eyes, as ever,

and the deep blue water contrasted so well with the green hills.

As we left, lights were starting to twinkle along the seafront, and it was time to head back.

I shall leave you with a selection of whitewashed cottages which line the seafront. So pretty.

See you next time for day 3!