Holidays in Cornwall, August 2013, Part 1

Jane and I have just returned from a family holiday in Cornwall. We shared a self-catering holiday home with our daughters Emma and Fiona, their husbands (Dave and Juan), and Emma's two daughters Lara (4) and Holly (15 months). By our standards, this was a big family gathering! We rented a property called Nanceglos House, owned by the National Trust. It is in the village of Heamoor, a mile or so outside Penzance, and right next door to Trengwainton Gardens (a well-known NT property, much favoured by serious plant-lovers).

The typically Cornish, granite-built house has been added-to in stages over the years, and it is now a very substantial property. It has sleeping accommodation for 9 people (plus cots as required!). Part of the building was formerly the laundry for nearby Trengwainton House, and the lounge still retains some of the features of the laundry, such as the huge doors behind which were positioned long drying-racks that slid out on rails when required. It was lovely to have so much room! A huge kitchen (the family took it in turns to cook for everyone); a dining-room big enough for us all to sit comfortably around a big oak farmhouse table; a lounge with lots of big comfy sofas; a well-maintained garden; a brick barbecue, etc, etc...

This part of Cornwall is full of childhood memories for me. My Dad was born on the Isles of Scilly, and much of our family lived in the Penzance / St.Ives area. I hadn't been to Penzance for a very long time (about 15 years I think), so I was keen to refresh my love for the area and show it off to everyone else.



Actually Emma and Dave have holidayed in Cornwall before so they know it quite well, whereas Fiona's husband Juan had never been there at all. In between the conventional holiday activities we manged to fit in a visit to my Dad's house in Germoe where I lived as a teenager, and to my Grandma's house in Penzance where I must have eaten my first Saffron cake and scones with clotted cream...

Warrens baker's, my favourite baker of Saffron cake and Cornish Pasties

Of course, with the holiday "cottage" being right next to Trengwainton we were ideally placed to enjoy the gardens (and the associated NT tearoom where we had a classic Cornish Cream Tea on a gloriously sunny afternoon!). The gardens are delightfully informal, in a sort of disciplined way, if you know what I mean. Lots of winding (but tidy) paths overhung with Rhododendron bushes, Camellias and Magnolias. Not a straight line in sight!

The main house is not open to the public, but it looks impressive enough from the outside. Not a massive stately home like Chatsworth or Hardwick Hall, but grand nonetheless, in a rather more homely way. You can actually imagine real people living in it.

Trengwainton house

Of course, for me the main attraction was the walled kitchen garden, fully populated with fruit and veg of all sorts, and masses of flowers to attract pollinating insects:

An interesting feature of this part of the garden is the inclusion of a number of angled vegetable beds - arranged so that they get maximum benefit from the sun's rays:





Artichoke




Sweetcorn  - notice two cobs per plant



Scarecrow - "Cinderella's two ugly sisters"

Holly enjoying the little garden chairs thoughtfully provided for the garden's smaller visitors

I want to write more about some of the other places we visited, and some of the wonderful food we ate, but I think I'll stop here for now, otherwise this post will become just too enormous! More to follow soon...



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P.S. Thank you to those people who left me such kind words in their comments on my previous post - "An important announcement".  I shall endeavour not to disappoint!