Gareth Lewis - A Holiday in Cornwall
30th January 2026
In: News, Members' Articles
A Cornish Holiday - 2023
I like Cornwall and since I live near Bristol, it isn’t that far away. However, get your timing wrong and the traffic can be stressful so we are always careful to choose our time of travel.
On this occasion, we were staying in a nice holiday let on the other side of Falmouth, just up from Maenporth Beach. Now, holiday lets don’t let you in until 3pm at the earliest so, having left early, what to do in the interim? Well, it meant that we could stop at The Lost Gardens of Heligan. For those that haven’t been, the gardens were “lost” when the staff went off to war (in 1914/15) and many never came home. The house remained (under new ownership) but the gardens and land became overgrown, dilapidated and forgotten.
Roll on the late 1980’s when music producer (Sir) Tim Smitt (of Eden Project fame) and friends found the bones of the original garden, thoroughly over-grown and fallen into severe disrepair. Tim recognised the significance of the site (all 200 acres of it) and started the process of restoring it in time to re-open to the public in 1990. For the full story, see their website - www.heligan.com. From woodland to farmland to alpine valleys, Italianate gardens and kitchen gardens, this place is a must see and a view of “what used to be”. The cafes are pretty good too.
Enough advertising though. There are so many places to go to in Cornwall, a large amount being National Trust (NT) - as members we go to those for free. There are also seaside villages, beaches, coastal gardens, tea rooms etc. There is even a nudist beach near Falmouth apparently, but we didn’t try to find it! Also, since Cornwall is relatively small and narrow, it is easy to get from North coast to South coast quite quickly, handy if the weather closes in, because if one coast is suffering nasty rain, the other is likely to be warm and sunny and we have experienced this ourselves many times.
I sometimes set out on my own to photograph if Caroline and her sister have other plans. What subjects do I take? Well, landscape is a big one of course, but people, seascapes, animals, birds, architecture, flora - pretty much anything that takes my fancy. Heligan was and is a terrific starting point for any holiday and provided you can avoid the crowds, usually quite quiet, especially in normal term time. The photos show a view of the Italianate garden through which you can reach the kitchen garden, the Pineapple frames and the head gardeners office. There's lots to see in the farm area and everywhere you look there are, beautiful borders and lawns, some of which I tried to capture.
There are many subjects in Cornwall. From Falmouth a short ferry ride across the harbour (or an hour plus by road) takes you to St Mawes, which itself is stunning. St Mawes castle is paired with Pendennis Castle to protect the deep water harbour and both castles date back to Tudor times under Henry VIII. The sense of history is therefore immense as you would expect. Be prepared to walk a while, but the views from both are spectacular and worth the effort.
A little further on and another ferry ride (or longer car journey) is the NT garden and house of Trelissik. Again there is a walk from the dock there, but this one is also well worth the visit. The views out to sea are wonderful (see photos of the house and the view). The gardens are also worth a look and light and shade (the essence of a good photo) are in abundance - I particularly liked the ferns for example.
Further afield, but within easy reach, we have Penzance, Mousehole and St Michaels Mount. Although we have been to them all before, we still managed to find parts that were new to us. At the Mount for example, there was an archaeological dig on remains at least 3000 years old, so the place has been inhabited a very long time. The gardens were also in full colour, which made for a wonderful view as well. We took the ferry out but walked back over the causeway - easy to do, but watch your step, it can be a little uneven after a storm.
Clearly, we only sampled the county of Cornwall on this visit and we will be returning for another bite at the cherry, because there is so much to see. If you can get there out of school holidays that is the best time to go but whenever, if you can stand the traffic, it is well worth the trip.
I like Cornwall and since I live near Bristol, it isn’t that far away. However, get your timing wrong and the traffic can be stressful so we are always careful to choose our time of travel.
On this occasion, we were staying in a nice holiday let on the other side of Falmouth, just up from Maenporth Beach. Now, holiday lets don’t let you in until 3pm at the earliest so, having left early, what to do in the interim? Well, it meant that we could stop at The Lost Gardens of Heligan. For those that haven’t been, the gardens were “lost” when the staff went off to war (in 1914/15) and many never came home. The house remained (under new ownership) but the gardens and land became overgrown, dilapidated and forgotten.
Roll on the late 1980’s when music producer (Sir) Tim Smitt (of Eden Project fame) and friends found the bones of the original garden, thoroughly over-grown and fallen into severe disrepair. Tim recognised the significance of the site (all 200 acres of it) and started the process of restoring it in time to re-open to the public in 1990. For the full story, see their website - www.heligan.com. From woodland to farmland to alpine valleys, Italianate gardens and kitchen gardens, this place is a must see and a view of “what used to be”. The cafes are pretty good too.
Enough advertising though. There are so many places to go to in Cornwall, a large amount being National Trust (NT) - as members we go to those for free. There are also seaside villages, beaches, coastal gardens, tea rooms etc. There is even a nudist beach near Falmouth apparently, but we didn’t try to find it! Also, since Cornwall is relatively small and narrow, it is easy to get from North coast to South coast quite quickly, handy if the weather closes in, because if one coast is suffering nasty rain, the other is likely to be warm and sunny and we have experienced this ourselves many times.
I sometimes set out on my own to photograph if Caroline and her sister have other plans. What subjects do I take? Well, landscape is a big one of course, but people, seascapes, animals, birds, architecture, flora - pretty much anything that takes my fancy. Heligan was and is a terrific starting point for any holiday and provided you can avoid the crowds, usually quite quiet, especially in normal term time. The photos show a view of the Italianate garden through which you can reach the kitchen garden, the Pineapple frames and the head gardeners office. There's lots to see in the farm area and everywhere you look there are, beautiful borders and lawns, some of which I tried to capture.
There are many subjects in Cornwall. From Falmouth a short ferry ride across the harbour (or an hour plus by road) takes you to St Mawes, which itself is stunning. St Mawes castle is paired with Pendennis Castle to protect the deep water harbour and both castles date back to Tudor times under Henry VIII. The sense of history is therefore immense as you would expect. Be prepared to walk a while, but the views from both are spectacular and worth the effort.
A little further on and another ferry ride (or longer car journey) is the NT garden and house of Trelissik. Again there is a walk from the dock there, but this one is also well worth the visit. The views out to sea are wonderful (see photos of the house and the view). The gardens are also worth a look and light and shade (the essence of a good photo) are in abundance - I particularly liked the ferns for example.
Further afield, but within easy reach, we have Penzance, Mousehole and St Michaels Mount. Although we have been to them all before, we still managed to find parts that were new to us. At the Mount for example, there was an archaeological dig on remains at least 3000 years old, so the place has been inhabited a very long time. The gardens were also in full colour, which made for a wonderful view as well. We took the ferry out but walked back over the causeway - easy to do, but watch your step, it can be a little uneven after a storm.
Clearly, we only sampled the county of Cornwall on this visit and we will be returning for another bite at the cherry, because there is so much to see. If you can get there out of school holidays that is the best time to go but whenever, if you can stand the traffic, it is well worth the trip.
Comments
By David Askham: Gareth,you bring back many memories for me, way back in time, I was invited to Heligan before it was properly open to the public. There I met Tim Smit and the late John Nelson (the Italianate garden is dedicated to him), to be briefed on the prospects. I remember that the large walled flower garden was almost impenetrable. There were decades of wilderness, trees and brambles. Tim mustered an army of volunteers to clear the gardens and start replanting. Both Heligan and the Eden Project are fascinating stories. As are the many Cornish gardens. A photographer's paradise. Thank you for stirring my memories.