Mountbatten to Jennycliff

A small part of the South West Coastal Path, with beautiful views over Plymouth Sound, and a lovely cafe at the end.

We started by climbing up the steps near the end of the breakwater.  The first part of the walk is a bit up and down.  On the way back we cut across the road and walked back along the river estuary, which was a much flatter route.

Ince Castle

The gardens of Ince Castle were open for NGS and showed a Cornish Spring Garden at its very best.

Ince Castle is only just outside Saltash on the edge of the River Lyner.  As we drove towards it there were primroses on the banks of the roadside and then the road was lined with daffodils.

As soon as we had parked the car we realised what a beautiful location this was with views over the River Lymer.

As we entered the gardens we were met with a collection of spring bulbs.

To our left there was a wall which had been planted with hellebores.

As we walked through the gardens we came upon one beautiful sight after another.  Camelias and magnolias were magnificent against the clear blue sky.

There were loads of snowdrops and daffodils, with other spring flowers in amongst them for contrast.

You could tell how clean the air was by the lichen growing on the the trees and garden furniture.

In one corner was a 'house' decorated by shells

It was most certainly a wonderful spring Cornish garden.

Bolberry Down to Hope Cove

As we drove through the Devon countryside there were snowdrops and primroses in the hedgerows.  Unfortunately there were roadworks at Modbury and the road was closed so we had to do a long diversion, but it gave us a chance to see parts of the countryside we don't usually view.

We started to follow the walk outlined in     .First we went down the path towards Soar Bay, but stopped when the path became very steep as it went down to the beach below.  Retracing our steps we walked towards Hope Cove and the views were so spectacular that we continued on all the way to Outer Hope.

It was unfortunate that it was misty out to see so that you could not really see far, but you had an impression of the coastline in the distant.  The guide says you can see all the way to Rame Head.

The path was only steep in one stretch as we went down towards Inner and Outer Hope.  This is definitely a walk I would do again, although next time I would ensure we had good visibility so we could appreciate the views even more.

Hope Cove

Cotehele Gardens

As we drove down the Cornish lanes towards Cotehele there were daffodils in the hedges.  But at Cotehele many of the daffodils were not yet out.  However, there was a lovely display of crocuses, with some snowdrops still out.  And in between the occasional daffodil.

We walked out of the gardens and down the hill slightly where there was a bank of primroses in amongst the crocuses.

There were still a lot of daffodils waiting to break into flower.  By the end of the month there should be yellow drifts of daffodils.

Saltash

Having collected tokens from the Herald all week we had a free dayrider on Plymouth Buses, so chose to use it to visit Saltash.

We got off the bus at Fore Street and walked down the hill to the Waterside.  It was an extremely steep long hill!  It was interesting seeing the two bridges over the Tamar from this viewpoint.  We walked up the river estuary to the car park and then back to see the mural at the side of the pub, and statue of Brunel.  It was pretty overlooking the Tamar, but not spectacular.

We then climbed up the hill, going more gradually to begin with, but there were still some steep sections. After seeing the railway viaduct over the creek  we turned into Coombe Park which led to a footpath beside a stream through woods.  At the other end there was another steep section through a residential estate and then we joined Fore Street and found the bus stop.

This walk is too steep in sections to want to repeat.

Lanhydrock

We set out intending to do the walk http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-lanhydrock-great_wood_and_the_avenue-walk.pdf.  First we looked around the gardens around Lanhydrock House.  There were some camelias out and an ocassional rhododendrum.  The magnolias in the magnolia tunnel were in bud but had some time to go before coming into flower. 

The walk goes along the edge of the Great Wood.  There were masses of bluebell leaves and in May I am sure it will look magnificent.  After walking to the end of Lady's Walk we decided to continue on down the footpath towards Respryn.  We soon came to the River Fowey and walked along the river until we came to Respryn Bridge.  Instead of going up The Avenue we continued on and then walked through the woods and came up to the car park.

This is a walk that should be done in May when the bluebells are out.  I would also like to walk along the River Fowey towards Lostwithiel.

Saltram Gardens

Each time we visit Saltram there are new things to see and enjoy.  Today some of the daffodils were out although there are many more still to come and then the gardens will look spectacular.

Camelias, rhododendrums, primroses and other spring flowers were also out, but the highlight was watching the frogs in the pond as they mated.  There was already plenty of frog spawn