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.

Bluebells Galore

I love the sight of a blue carpet of bluebells, so knowing they were in season we set out to find where the best display was this year.

First stop was Saltram, our nearest National Trust property.  In the gardens around the House wild garlic and white bells were more prolific, although there were some bluebells that contrasted the white of the other flowers.

In the grounds between the House and Stag Lodge there were more bluebells.  Again there were white patches of wild garlic.











A few days later we travelled to Lanhydrock House, another National Trust property, renowned for the bluebells in the woods in the Estate.  There were plenty of bluebells to be seen, but the best displays were in woodland either side of the the Reception area.  It is great that this can be seen by anyone visiting this National Trust property, without them having to walk far.

Buckland Abbey was the next place we visited.  Previous years there have been wonderful displays along the walks around the estate.  We were somewhat disappointed as the bluebells were not so prolific this year and so did not give the same sense of a carpet.  However there was one patch that was good - just before you cross fields towards the end of the Red Walk.

As we had a whole day free from Buckland Abbey we drove onto Burrator Reservoir.  We had never been there during bluebell flowering time, but last year I noticed lots of bluebell plants and thought there might be a good display.  We were not disappointed, the bluebells were spectacular and it was lovely walking by the blue waters of the reservoir with a carpet of blue on the other side of the path.
At times the bluebells were right by the waters edge.

We walked along by the reservoir but on the way back came back along the road.  Even on this easy walk you could see bluebells but they were not as spectacular as those inside the woodland.

Photo taken from the road around Burrator

Yelverton to Tavistock

We have been so busy this summer looking after our grandchildren and the Christians Against Poverty ministry that we have not been out walking except when on holiday.  (See my holiday blog for details of our holiday)  today,   When we have had a few hours free we have visited gardens, which I have posted photos of in Tumblr. or short favourite walks in or near Plymouth, such as around Saltram, Wembury or Mount Batten.

Today, however we had a whole day free so decided to walk from Yelverton to Tavistock.  We caught the bus to Yelverton then followed the Cycle Network Route 27 all the way to Tavistock.  It was a very easy walk of about 5 miles.  It was flat or downhill most of the way, with only one slight incline.  The path was tarmaced all the way and most of the way it was in countryside away from roads.  There were lots of wonderful views over Dartmoor and the Walkham valley.

After an hour we walked across the spectacular Gem Bridge and just a bit further on we came to the Grenofen Tunnel.  As we approached this we felt the temperature drop.  You could see the light at the end of the tunnel but it was very dark in the middle of the tunnel, with water dripping down from the ceiling.

It took us about 1.5 hour  to reach the edge of Tavistock.  We walked into the town to buy our lunch and then ate it by the River Tavy.

We then walked back the way we had come along the canal, but instead of keeping to the cycle path we stayed on the canal path and walked to Crowndale Farm, the birthplace of Sir Francis Drake and then on to Shillamill Viaduct.

West Pentire Headland

I had heard that there was a beautiful wild flower meadow on West Pentire headland so as it was a lovely day and we had all day to walk we drove there and walked around the headland and continued on the south west coast path to the other end of Holywell before returning on an  inland path.

We hoped to find the National Trust car park, but could not see where to go for that so ended up in a car park at West Pentire.  Although we had to pay it was very reasonable (£2 for 4 hours) and the view over Crantock beach towards Newquay was stunning.

As we started to walk around the West Pentire headland we saw the field of wild flowers to our left.  It was a bit disappointing.  Photos we had seen from last year showed many more poppies.  I am not sure if we were too early in the year or it was not such a good display this year.

The walk on the South West Coast path was beautiful.  The sea was a lovely blue and beaches we passed very sandy and enticing.  On the headland there was masses of sea thrift that added to the colour.

We stopped for our lunch overlooking Holywell beach - a magnificent view!

Generally it was an easy section of the coast path with gentle hills and no steep climbs.  However once we had reached Holywell we had to walk through the sand dunes to reach the other side of the beach.  This is never easy, but it was not too bad.  We had some problem finding the inland path to take us back to the car park, but a helpful attendant at the NT car park gave us directions.  We were following the walk we had downloaded from the NT website,http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1356405233898/ but it needed more detail at this point.  Further on in the walk we were unsure which path to take, but decided in the end to make our way down to Polly Joke and then take the path across the headland.  This was not the route on the walk and involved a steep climb up from Polly Joke, but by taking it we saw more wild flowers and walked through the wild flower meadow at West Pentire to get another view of it.

After a rest  in the car admiring the view across Crantock Beach, we headed home.  At one point we missed our road and ended up going down a lane, that got narrower and narrower, with grss in the middle of the road.  This is never good, but it was made worse by being met by a lorry coming in the opposite direction!  I had to reverse a long way - not easy with a lorry bearing down on you!

To give me a break after this experience we stopped at the National Trust property, Treice. Although the gardens are only small there was some lovely plants, particularly different roses.

Wild flowers at Burrator

Saturday morning was showery so we did not head out until the afternoon.  We wanted somewhere nearby and sheltered if the rain came back.  We therefore decided to go to Burrator and walk around the reservoir.  It was lovely to see the rhododendrons.  There bright purple complemented the blue of the water and green of the surrounding moor.

There were still some bluebells out.  I was surprised how many bluebell plants were in the woodland around the reservoir.  Generally the flowers were dying but we found one patch still looking good.  I must remember to return next year when all the bluebells are out as it should be a good display.





The foxgloves were just coming into flower and near the water we saw yellow irises.  At times the path was very muddy but the flowers and beauty of the reservoir and surrounding moor made the walk very worthwhile.

Lanhydrock - Cycle track and Bluebells

It is bluebell season so a lovely time for a walk in the woods around Lanhydrock House in Cornwall.  But before we set off to explore the woodlands we wanted to see the cycle trails that have just been put in near the car park. We obtained a map from the cycle hire centre and followed the signs to the cycle trails.  The first part of the path is for cycles and walkers, but as the paths separated  we decided to follow the green trail, the easiest, which promised 1.5 miles of wide, firm track.  It was an easy walk, mainly through conifer woods, but not much of interest to see.  Many trees had been cut down to make space for the path, and some had obviously been blown down in the storms in the winder.

This is a wonderful facility for families with bikes, but not the most interesting walking routes.  However, we might try some more of the paths another time, in case there is more to see on them.

After lunch we headed down to Lanhydrock House.  As we approached the reception centre we could see bluebells on either side of the path.  The wood on the right was particularly spectacular.

When we entered the gardens at Lanhydrock House  the tulips in the formal beds quickly caught our attention.

The rhoodendrons and azelias brightened the gardens, although some of the rhododendrons were not fully in flower.

From the gardens we walked down through the woods to the River Fowey.  There were bluebells throughout the woods, but some of them were not out as far as those by the Reception Centre.  This meant the looked more like a blue mist in the woods, that was not so spectacular close up but looked lovely in the distance.

Tasvistock

As a break from driving we decided to take the bus from Plymouth to Tavistock.  We had been wanting to do this for a few weeks since we learnt there is a duo ticket that meant both us of could travel there and back for £8, which we thought was good value.  We caught the double decker bus by Plymouth Railway Station and enjoyed the view from the top deck during the journey.

After coffee in the Wharf coffee shop we started by walking along the river to the centre of Tavistock.  There was a lot of water coming down the weir.

We spent a pleasant hour looking around the pannier market, the stalls outside and other shops before a fish and chip lunch.The market is certainly a very interesting place to visit.

We then walked up to the viaduct and onto the old railway line that is now a cycle and foot path.  From here we had an elevated view of Tavistock.  After going under several bridges we came to a road which we followed downhill until we came back to the main road by Drakes statue.  Another time we will walk up the canal from here but today we made our way back to the centre of Tavistock.  We had intended to walk along the canal but we noticed some purple by the river and so went to investigate.  It was masses of crocuses that had been planted at the end of  Meadowlands.  A lovely cheerful site.

Tavistock is definitely a good destination for a day out from Plymouth, and with buses every half an hour it is easy to use public transport.