Camel Trail in Winter

We have now been living in Plymouth for nearly 5 years.  These days when we go out we often re-visit places we have been before.  But there are still beautiful new areas to discover.

It has been a very wet winter and most footpaths are muddy, so I wanted to find a walk that would not be slippery.  In the past we have cycled the Camel Trail from Wadebridge to Padstow, which is the most common part of this cycle path. But it does extend much further (over 17 miles in total), so we thought we would explore another part of it.  Looking on the website I found out that there was a free car park at Dunmere, just outside Bodmin, so we headed to there to join the Camel Trail and started to walk towards Wadebridge.  This is a distance of 5 miles, too far for us today as we would have had to walk back and rain was threatening, but we continued walking to Grogley Halt, which took us about 40 minutes.

It was an excellent walk for winter, with a firm path, and not muddy except at the edges.  There were not many cyclists on the route and the path was wide enough for them to pass us without us having to go to the muddy sides. It is completely flat which makes it a very easy walk.

At the side of the path and beside the river Camel there were snowdrops.

After we had returned to the car and eaten our lunch - Cornish Pasties, of course, we returned to the Camel Trail and walked in the opposite direction.  We soon came to a junction, one path went to Bodmin and the other to Pooley Bridge.  We took the latter and the path was narrower and muddy in places. We continued until we came to a salmon leap.  With a lot of water coming down the river it looked impressive, particularly as there was a heron on the side looking for his lunch.

Before lunch we had seen a number of clumps of daffodils in bud, but none out.  On this path we did find a couple of daffodils in flower.

I am sure this is an area we will return to.  The Camel trail from Bodmin to Padstow is ideal for a winter walk, and we will do the other part in the summer when it is drier.

Saltram snowdrops

For once it wasn't raining so we went for a quick walk at Saltram.  I particularly wanted to see the snowdrops that I anticipated would be out by now.  And I was not disappointed.  As soon as we entered the gardens we saw the snowdrops that had been planted in the first flower bed during the last year.

There were also snowdrops around several of the trees and at the side of the Lime Walk and other beds in the gardens.

There were also other  flowers out showing that Spring was on the way.  An occasional daffodil was in flower, although most were still in bud and and there were some primroses peeping through.  Crocuses  were showing their colour but not fully out.  Amongst some of the beds of snowdrops there were aconites.

There were also shrubs and trees in blossom adding to the colour in the garden that brightened the day.

Azelia

Camelia

Witch Hazel

 Having walked around the gardens we decided to walk down to Snowdrop Wood in the grounds on the Boundary Walk towards Marsh Mills.  On the way we saw a new signpost which was a very interesting design.

 There were a lot of wild snowdrops in the area of Snowdrop Wood.

Cothele in Spring

As we had a voucher for a free afternoon tea at a garden centre in the Tamar Valley we decided to combine our trip there with a visit to Cothele.  The Tamar Valley is renowned for its daffodils, but we knew we were a little too early in the year to see them at their best.  However we hoped there would be other spring flowers to admire in the gardens surrounding Cothele House and we were not dissappointed.

As we drove down to the house (on winding country lanes) there were daffodils flowering in the hedges.   These are left from when the daffodil fields had be to dug up to grow vegetables in the war.  The owners hoped to restock their daffodil fields after the war but it has not happened to a large extent.  However, it is good to see the splashes of bright yellow as you drive along.

As soon as we came out of the reception at Cothele we faced a bank of snowdrops and crocuses.  These were past their best, although perhaps would have looked better if the sun was shining and the crocus flowers were open.  But they gave us an indication of what was to follow.

Cothele House was closed but we could admire the architecture from outside.  In places the ancient stones contrasted beautifully with the flowering camelias and spring bulbs.

As we walked around the gardens we noticed how well kept they were.  There was quite a number of gardeners working in the gardens and they were doing an excellent job.  The main flowers out were snowdrops and crocuses but there were the occasional daffodil and other spring flowers as well.

The snowdrops seemed to be in small clumps as if they had recently been planted.  It will be lovely to see them once they have naturalised.  There were many daffodil plants in bud, they will certainly make a lovely show when they are all out.

It was a grey, misty day and the view from the edge of the garden over Calstock was not as clear as it could be, but is was still good to see the magnificent railway viaduct - a real feat of Victorian engineering.

It was too cold to walk further around the Cothele estate, either in the woods towards the Mill or down by the river, but we will definitely be back and hopefully when the daffodils are at their best.

Snowdrops at Lanhydrock

Snowdrops are one of my favourite flowers.  I love to see their clean white flowers peeping  through the bare earth.   They remind me of my childhood when each year we would go and pick them. This year has been so wet we knew it would not be possible to walk by the Rivers Yealm or Dart where we usually go to see snowdrops so we thought we would see if there were any at Lanhydrock.

As we walked from the car park down the drive to Lanhydrock House we noticed patches of snowdrops in amongst the trees to the right of the path.

We began by wandering around the gardens at Lanhydrock , but there were not many flowers out, just a few camelias.  From the higher garden we walked down towards the river through the Great Wood.  There were more camelias out along the path and some rhododendrums just breaking into flower and patches of snowdrops on the banks at the side of the path.

As we got nearer the River Fowey the path became very muddy.  A stream that fed the river had broken its banks and there was a lot of water flowing into the main river, which was flowing fast itself.  We did not see any snowdrops by the river but one solitary daffodil.


Once we had crossed the footbridge over the river and walked towards Respryn Bridge the path was dryer and we were able to to walk easily back up to Lanhydrock House and then the car park

Brixham and Dartington Hall Gardens

The weather forecasters said that today would be the warmest day of the year, but, apart from Torbay, Devon and Cornwall was going to be misty.  We decided to believe them and drove to Brixham.  Sure enough as we got closer the drizzle stopped and the sun came out.  We parked in a residential road just before the town centre and walked down to the Harbour and around to the Breakwater.  We were hoping to see some seals, dolphins or even sharks that are supposed to visit the bay, but although we walked all along the Breakwater and back we did not sight any.  We stopped for lunch at the Breakwater Bistro at the end of the Breakwater and had a wonderful view across Torbay.

Following lunch we walked back to the harbour and out along the other side of the bay where we had seen seals in the past, but there were none there today.

We then returned to the car and drove to Dartington Hall to view the gardens there.  As you entered the courtyard you were greeted by bright crocuses.

The crocuses were also out under the tree in front of the Hall, but they looked better from a distance that up close as they weren't that closely planted

In the gardens themselves there were loads of snowdrops as well as more crocuses and some daffodils.  The witch hazel and Christmas roses were also in full bloom.

Spring gardens - Saltram and Mount Edgecombe

My mother wanted to see the spring flowers at Saltram so although it was a cold afternoon on Monday we took her to see what flowers were out.  The snowdrops were out around the trees and down the avenue of trees.  There was an occasional daffodil in flower, but many more to come out.  The aconites and cyclamen at the top of the gardens did not seem to be as impressive as last year.  There were quite a few camelias out and one or two rhododendrons showing colour.  At the back of the Orangery there was a bed of flowers I had not seen before.  There was a mass of snowdrops some way into the bed in an inaccessible place and it seemed as if new spring flowers had been planted at the front.  There were snowdrops, aconites, and early daffodils and primroses.  If these all spread they will make a lovely display in the coming years.

The following day it was slightly warmer, so we decided to take a short trip to Mount Edgecombe to see if the camelias were at their best there.  We were not disappointed, many were in flower, although some have still to come.  It was lovely to see all the different varieties and colours.

Pencarrow on Snowdrop Sunday

Pencarrow House and Gardens does not open to visitors until the beginning of March.  But it is known for its snowdrops so opens the gardens for charity a couple of times in February so people can see the snowdrop display.

It took us an hour to drive there, but as soon as we turned into the drive we knew it was worth it.  There were rhododendrums and camelias on either side of the long drive and some of the camelias were already in flower.

There were lots of snowdrops to see as we walked in the Gardens of Pencarrow House and up the stream to the Lake. There were also camelias and some daffodils out.

After a cup of tea and biscuit we went to the other side of the drive where there was a wood.  We walked through this  to a Holly Walk and saw more snowdrops.

There were any bluebell and garlic plants in the woods, I am sure it would be worth visiting Pencarrow again with the bluebells and rhododendrums are out.  The Holly Walk ended up at the drive, so we walked down this admiring the camelias at close quarters and saw there were also primroses and snowdrops at the side of the road.