Tour Overview
Think of Cornwall and you think of large and famous gardens; ambitious restoration projects and the hi-tech biomes of Eden. Yet tucked away down the green lanes, hidden behind the high hedges, are a multitude of less well-known, privately-owned gardens, worthy of a closer look. We have selected ten of the best for our exclusive tour, which takes us off the beaten track and away from the bright lights and uncovers the hidden gems of Cornwall. There is a great variety among these gardens, in style, content and size. Boconnoc and Caerhays are the largest: the former is the essence of a late 18th century English picturesque landscape; the latter an informal woodland garden influenced by the great Victorian plant-hunting expeditions. There are similar influences in the woodland garden at Tregrehan, which concentrates on genera from warm temperate regions, while Ken-Caro is a contemporary and well-designed plantsman’s garden with year-round interest. The gardens at Lamorran House are designed in Italianate style, with an extensive collection of sub-tropical plants, in contrast to the authentic Japanese Garden at St Mawgan with its stroll gardens and bamboo grove. Trewithen, Marsh Villa and Bosvigo characterize the beautifully cared for and well-stocked gardens of the county, each one a delight in its own way. Last but by no means least is Pine Lodge, 30 acres of pure garden pleasure and the inspiration for this tour. Here there are shrubs and herbaceous plants; a pinetum and arboretum; water features and rare plants from plant-hunting expeditions.
Day 1
We depart from Edinburgh, Newcastle or Glasgow airport on the morning EasyJet flight to Bristol. Upon arrival in Bristol we will join our coach and head west for Cornwall.
Our first visit is to the private garden of Ken-Caro, near Liskeard. This 4-acre, well designed plantsman’s garden is full of year-round interest and has been planted with great enthusiasm. Planting was started in 1970, with an extension added a few years ago. Among the highlights are two lily ponds and a new stone feature.
We continue to our accommodation at the comfortable Restormel Lodge in Lostwithiel. All rooms in the hotel are en suite, with colour television, radio and tea/coffee making facilities. The hotel is set in attractive grounds and has a lounge bar, dining room, sauna and solarium, pool table and exercise machine.
Day 2
Following our full English breakfast we will travel to the first of three gardens to be visited today. Tregrehan, near St Austell, is a 20-acre woodland garden created in the early 19th century and developed by the Carlyon family, concentrating on genera from warm temperate regions. It is now an important green gene bank of known source plants including camellias bred by the late owner. In the more formal walled garden there is a fine glasshouse from 1846, which is 128 feet long.
We continue to nearby Marsh Villa, situated in a former tidal creek made famous by Daphne du Maurier’s book The House on the Strand. This 3-acre garden is result of years of hard work by the enthusiastic owner – not to mention several lorry loads of manure. The main feature of the garden is the magnificent pond. The water table rises in winter and so marginal planting consists of reed mace, filipendula, lythrum and the ubiquitous flag iris. A passion for perennials brought about the construction of a secluded, rather formal garden set within escallonia hedges. Here there is colour from the tulip season right through to the heleniums and eupatoriums.
Our final visit is to Boconnoc, not far from Lostwithiel, which offers us the essence of a late 18th century English picturesque landscape. Thomas Pitt’s house, gardens, church and park are the setting in which magnificent trees provide the backcloth for shrubs, woodland plants and a fine spring garden that still has camellias and azaleas from the original 1850 planting. Later in the summer the fine collection of hydrangeas will add their colour to this comely garden, which has frequently been used as a film location.
We return to our hotel in time for dinner.
Day 3
Today, following breakfast, we will travel further south, to visit a trio of greatly contrasting gardens. Trewithen’s reputation amongst connoisseurs of gardens has always been of the highest but it is only recently that its great beauty and horticultural importance has become known to a wider public. Despite the loss of many mature trees in the great storm of 1979, it remains very much a woodland garden designed on the grand scale, with evidence of the great age of plant collecting to be found everywhere. Many of the flowering trees and shrubs were grown from seed sent from China, Burma and Assam and are now bigger than their parent plants, having flourished in the mild damp Cornish climate. From the South Lawn, smooth gently curving paths lead into numerous bays and glades, full of spectacular blooms and constantly offering new vistas and glimpses to tempt you on. From very early spring there is dramatic colour to be enjoyed in the huge Magnolias and the vast array of Camellias.
Caerhays Castle is surrounded by an informal woodland garden created by JC Williams, who sponsored plant-hunting expeditions to China at the beginning of the 19th century. Consequently, this has become a special place for lovers of the three great groups of ornamental Asiatic shrubs: camellias, magnolias and rhododendrons. In addition, there are many other plants to be discovered, hidden amongst the ‘jungle’, many of them exceptionally rare. The lavish feast of spring blossom, in this wildly romantic place, is a marvellous sight.
We conclude today overlooking Falmouth Bay, in the 4½-acre garden of Lamorran House, which has been designed by the owner in an Italianate style, although there are also Japanese influences here. The intention was to create an intimate garden very much in the mould of Mediterranean gardens but with water ever-present, both as a backdrop to the garden and with running water featured in the many pools and streams. Many features are included to divide the garden into intimate compartments which the visitor can explore. Hence there are areas of woodland, a water garden in Japanese style as well as temples and archways in the steeper parts of the garden and a small bridge on which to lean to look out over the bay exhibiting a distinctively Venetian influence.
Dinner is served in the evening.
Day 4
Today, following breakfast, we will visit the garden of Bosvigo, near Truro. To one side of the handsome 18th century house is a woodland garden whose borders explode with dahlias, roses and nasturtiums. Around the house are several beautifully planted enclosures showing exciting and fastidious colour harmonies. There is also an excellent nursery here selling some rare plants.
Our last visit today is to the remarkable Pine Lodge Gardens, which has consistently received rave reviews over the last few years, not just from the gardening press but also from a great number of Brightwater Holidays’ passengers. Set in 30 acres of parkland, Pine Lodge boasts a pinetum arboretum, a marsh garden and many rare and tender plants, some of which result from those legendary plant-hunting expeditions. One flower which always draws a lot of attention is the very unusual Grevillea, a wild flower of Australia belonging to the Protea family - Pine Lodge holds the National Collection. All the plants are labelled for easy identification, making a visit here a most rewarding and illuminating experience. There is also a nursery, which may provide the perfect souvenir of this holiday. Dinner is served at the hotel in the evening.
Day 5
Sadly today we must return home, but there is still time to visit one more garden, the Japanese Garden and Bonsai Nursery at St Mawgan, near Newquay. In this 1½-acre authentic Japanese garden we will find a water garden with Koi carp and a symbolic teahouse, stroll, woodland and Zen gardens and a bamboo grove, together with Japanese maples, azaleas and ornamental grasses.
On this exotic note we say farewell to Cornwall and head for Bristol Airport for the evening EasyJet flight to Edinburgh, Newcastle or Glasgow.
• 4 nights at the comfortable Restormel Lodge, Lostwithiel on a dinner, bed and English breakfast
basis. All rooms have private facilities
• Return scheduled flights from Edinburgh, Newcastle or Glasgow to Bristol (other airports
available on request)
• Entrance to all gardens as stated in the itinerary
• Services of a Brightwater Holidays tour manager
• Single room supplement £60.00
• May and June Supplement £40.00
• Insurance 2011 prices to be confirmed
Edinburgh Airport
Newcastle Airport
Glasgow Airport
PLEASE NOTE, FOR ANYONE TRAVELLING ON ANY FLIGHT, PHOTOGRAPHIC IDENTIFICATION IS REQUIRED BY THE AIRLINES AT CHECK-IN - THIS EVEN RELATES TO DOMESTIC FLIGHTS WITHIN THE UK
A 5-day tour by coach is available departing from London, Reading, Swindon or Bristol from £425pp – please ask for details