Daffodils in Salcombe

We parked the car above North Sands and started our day drinking coffee on the benches watching people surfing.   We then walked into Salcombe town centre.  Because the trees were not yet in leaf  there was a clear view down to the river and the fort on the edge of the water.

Further along the road we saw that Woodcot House had an open garden.  I had long wanted to see this garden so was delighted to see we were in Salcombe on the right day this year.  There were banks of daffodils in the gardens and these looked particularly good with the backdrop of the estuary.

After walking around Salcombe we returned to our car.  Initially we had planned to walk from there to Overbecks, but by this time we did not fancy the climb up and down to South Sands and then up to Overbecks.  We knew the car park at Overbecks is small and there were a lot of visitors in Salcombe so we anticipated there would not be space to park there.  Instead we drove to East Soar NT car park and walked to Overbecks from there.  The NT guide book told us this was a mile walk.  When we got out of the car the sign said it was 2 km.  We started walking down the road to East Soar farm  and when we reached the gate which we had to go through to walk across the field the sign post said it was 1.5 miles!  It was a flat good path and the fields were not even too muddy.  As we started to walk down to Overbecks there was views to the estuary towards Salcombe.

When we arrived at the admission gate of Overbecks we mentioned that we had walked from the East Soar car park and so received tokens worth £1 each off whatever we bought in the cafe.

The garden was somewhat disappointing.  Overbecks is obviously not a spring garden.  There were a few daffodils but nothing spectacular.  Woodcot House garden we visited in Salcombe had a much better display of daffodils.  There was one magnolia tree that would have looked lovely but the recent cold weather had killed the flowers.  The best part of the gardens were the views.

Daffodils at Cothele

Having just been to see the daffodils at Saltram we thought we would compare their display with the daffs at Cothele.  Being in the Tamar Valley Cothele is renowned for its daffodils and last weekend was their daffodil weekend so we anticipated a good display.  As we drove down the narrow lanes to Cothele we knew that there will be daffodils in the hedges, but this time it was a much more spectacular display than we had seen before.  .

When we arrived at the  reception desk we were told the daffodils were about a week behind schedule because of the cold weather.  As we walked around the gardens we saw many in flower but more still to come. I would have thought they were more than a week late in flowering.  There were lots of different types of daffodils but they were scattered around the gardens and so did not make the spectacular impact that the daffs at Saltram had done.

Since we had last visited Cothele they had installed some sculptures, but we did not think they added anything to the beauty of the place.

There was a tent in front the garden with daffodils from other Cornwall growers which showed the vast variety of this flower.  A very knowledgeable NT worker was manning this stand and she told us that there were 150 varieties at Cothele, flowering between October and May.

After looking around the gardens we decided to walk in the estate.  I asked at the reception if there were any wild daffodils growing in the surrounding woodland and was told there were some in the Danescombe Valley.  So we purchased a booklet detailing short walks around the estate and chose to do Walk 4, a 2 mile walk in the Danescombe Valley.  This was a good path, with only short muddy patches, which was surprising as we have had so much rain lately.  We had walked from Cothele to and from Calstock in the past but never up the path away from Calstock.  It was a pleasant walk along the river and interesting to see industrial remains.  Unfortunately my camera battery was running out so I could not take many photos but did snap one of the occassional daffodils we saw in the woodland.

There was quite a steep climb up from the valley floor up to Cothele, but the views from the top of the valley were lovely.  No doubt they were more far reaching this time of the year because the trees were not in leaf.  There looked like there were lots of bluebell plants in the woods, so I should imagine it will be a pretty walk when they are out.

Daffodils at Saltram

We arrived at Saltram just before the gardens opened so we walked down the side of the House and were able to admire the daffodils in the garden from the outside.

Once inside the gardens the dull day was brightened by all the daffodils, particularly the masses on either side of the Lime Walk.

There were lots of  other spring flowers brightening the gardens.  The camelias and early rhododendrums were a  contrast to the smaller spring plants.  My favourite section was the wild flower sections near the orange groove.  Here I saw  snakehead frittilla, anemone blanda, primroses among daffodils.

Greenway and Coleton Fishacre

Earlier in the week the weather forecast for today had been for sunshine in Torbay so I booked a car parking space at Greenway.  Because the National Trust wants to encourage people to use green methods of transport to Greenway you have to book your parking space in advance.  The process was simple, but by last night the forecast had changed and showers were predicted.  We would have been better going to Cornwall but as we had committed ourselves to visiting Greenway we continued with this plan.  This is a drawback of the parking situation at Greenway.  We like to be able to finalise where we will go on the day, and this is one of the reasons we have not been for Greenway for a number of years.  We soon realised that we had missed out!

The gardens were colourful with camellias,  daffodils and other spring flowers.  The bank of wild orchids that look like small daffs were particularly spectacular near the beginning of the garden.

The camellias were a little disappointing.  The National Trust had been advertising camellia walks so I assumed there would be a good display of these shrubs, but although there were some, other gardens we have visited have more species.  The cold weather recently has damaged some of the blooms and maybe there are more flowers to come when spring finally arrives.  There was specific camellia garden and one plant really caught my eye the red was so rich and luxurious.

We walked around all the garden paths and were surprised at how far there was to walk.  There were some beautiful views of the river Dart, it was just a pity the sun was not shining.  We walked down to the Boathouse and Battery to take photos over the river from there.

View from the Boathouse towards Dittisham

View form the Battery up the River Dart

There were a couple of magnificent magnolias in front of the house.  Unfortunately the flowers of one had been damaged by the recent cold weather.  Both had many more flowers to come out and they will look spectacular when in full bloom.

There was a couple of galleries exhibiting local artists, one above the cafe and one in old stables.  It was particularly interesting to talk to one of the artists, David Cowell, who is a digital artist.  I really liked his work which showed a variety of styles and good use of colour.

We concluded our visit to Greenway by exploring the House, once the home of Agatha Christie.  This contained many collections of items and I was not over impressed with it. The highlight was the frieze painted by the American soldiers billetted there in the second world war.

From Greenway we went on to visit Coleton Fishacre which is quite close.  This garden did not have as much colour as Greenway, although there were some daffodils and other spring flowers out.  However you could see that there were lots of flowers to come and this is a garden that will definitely be better later in the year.

We walked down the garden to the coast, but the South West Coast Path was very muddy, so we turned back rather than walking along the coast.  Instead we went into the house, once the home of D'oyly cCarte.  I preferred this house to Greenway, with its simpler, uncluttered style.  There were some lovely Arts and Craft style pieces and it had been furnished in an informative way.  The visit was almost spoilt for me by an officious volunteer who told me I was walking the wrong way around the house!  I was suppose to go up the main staircase and down the servants stairs, not the other way round.  There was no signs directing you around the building and as there were very few people in it at the time I did not think it mattered.  Fortunately  she obviously had second thoughts and once I had inspected all the rooms graciously allowed me to go down the main stairs rather than retrace my steps!

We had planned to sample the cake delights at the restaurant.  The seating area in the conservatory looked lovely but every table inside was taken and it was too cold to sit outside  so we left and returned home.

Buckland Abbey and Lopwell

It was a dull day with heavy showers forecast, so we did not want to go far so we chose to go to Buckland Abbey, which is just outside of Plymouth in the Tamar Valley and on the edge of Dartmoor.

Just as we arrived it started to rain, so we ran down to the reception ar a and were disappointed to see that the Abbey itself did not open until 11.30am.  We did not want to wander around the gardens in the rain if we could help it so we went into the shops in the courtyard.  As well as the National Trust shop there was a gallery with lots of lovely paintings  and embroidered pictures from Richard and Anne Woodgate. (www.annewoodgate.com  www.richardwoodgate.com.) There was also a second hand bookshop  and a garden room giving details of plants that could be seen in the garden.

By the time we had browsed through these rooms in the stables the rain had stopped so we were able to go into the gardens.  There was little to see in the Kitchen garden but the Cider House Garden and Wild Garden had plenty of daffodils and other spring flowers out.  

From the gardens we could see out over the fields where the sheep were grazing.  There were banks of daffodils flowering there.  It would have been good to walk around the estate to see what flowers we could see but the ground was too wet and the weather too threatening.

We often visit Buckland Abbey to walk through the woods but we have not been inside the Abbey for many years.  As we weren't able to go walking today we decided to spend the time exploring  inside.  Just inside the Abbey we watched a video that gave a brief history of the Abbey and told about the life of Sir Francis Drake.  We then walked around and were impressed with how well everything was laid out, with clear, brief explanations.  We could see that it would be a interesting place for children to visit.  The room guides were very friendly and knowledgeable.  We found the explanation about the ceiling in the dining room particularly interesting.

After some delicious soup in the restaurant we headed on to Lopwell Dam.  There were lots of wild daffodils in the hedges and in some of the fields which made it a pretty drive.  Once at Lopwell we could see that the water was coming fast over the weir.  It was a pity is was such a grey day or we could have crossed the river and walked in the nature reserve or towards Bere Alston.  Instead we sat in the restaurant and watched the river and the rain and hail!

Mount Edgecumbe in Spring

It was a grey day, but promising sunshine later so we thought we would go and see the spring flowers in  Mount Edgecumbe.  From the ferry we walked along the South West Coast Path and when we reached the small beach we could see daffodils in the distance on the banks at the side of the path.

We continued walking until the steps and then followed the path back to the Mount Edgecumbe House.  Along this path there were rhododendrums and lots of camelias.

As we followed the road back down to the ferry the sun came out and we were able to see the bank of daffodils at the bottom at their best.

As we looked back at Mount Edgcumbe we could see there was a large flowering tree in their garden, although we were too far away to identify it.

When we arrived back at the ferry (after just over an hour walking) there was a large naval ship coming into the dockyard and we were able to see it up close.

The afternoon was finished off by delicious scones from the bakery at the Royal William Yard.  To begin with I thought I was going to be disappointed as they did not have any scones for sale, but there were some left from yesterday and they gave these to us.  They were lovely, and did not taste stale at all.

Falmouth

We caught the 9.20 train from Plymouth and after a change of trains at Truro we arrive in Falmouth Docks 2 hours later.  We started walking along the South West Coast Path around Pendennis Point. and then down to   the beaches in Falmouth.  It was a grey day so the views were not as good as they would be when the sun was shining.  The paths were good, and as we walked through woodland there were some daffodils which gave bridge yellow splashes.  It was a easy walk, with only gentle slopes.  We walked past Castle Beach, onto the Gyllygvase  Beach and then to Swanpool Beach.  There is one further beach in Falmouth, Maenporth Beach, but we decided to leave visiting that one until another day.

Gyllygvase Beach

At Swanpool we walked along one side of the lake watching the many different types of waterfowl there.  We also saw a water vole at the edge of the water.  We then walked into the centre of Falmouth.  On the way we stopped at the Falmouth Pavilion where we walked around the gardens.  There was a lovely display of daffodills but not many other flowers.