South-West England

Cornwall part 3 – Mevagissey

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As a bit of a surprise after three nights’ camping, on the final day we drove to Mevagissey, a part of Cornwall I’d never previously been to (or heard of!). A gorgeous little fishing village nestled into the side of a hill, it struck me as being rather like Padstow without the tourists. [I fell in love with it instantly.] We stayed in the wonderful Tregorran Guest House with beautiful views over the harbour.

Mevagissey at dusk

As the sun set, we were captivated by the light and the different colours of the houses…

Mevagissey harbour

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Cornwall part 2 – Lanhydrock

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On one of our Cornwall days the weather was looking faintly ominous, so we decided to visit Lanhydrock, a National Trust property near Bodmin. With over 50 rooms open to the public alongside beautiful gardens and over 900 acres of land, it was possibly the most impressive National Trust visit I’ve ever had. The focus of the Trust’s vision is to bring the family (the Agar-Robartes) alive for visitors, and they certainly managed to do so for us.

From the impressive gatehouse, built in the 1500s, down the drive to the house, largely burned down and rebuilt in high Victorian style in the 1880s, we were discovering gorgeous architecture and interesting details throughout our visit.

Gatehouse

Doorway in the main courtyard:

Door

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Cornwall part 1 – Padstow

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We recently escaped London for our summer holiday – hurrah! However, we decided to keep it British and opted for a ‘staycation’, heading down to Cornwall for a few nights’ camping near Padstow. I’d been before, but he hadn’t – and it was so lovely to be able to introduce some of my favourite places in the UK.

We were staying at the lovely Old Macdonald’s Farm campsite, where we were made welcome. Although I’ve camped at places with more glamorous washing facilities, the best thing about this campsite is the open farm on site where both children and adults (as I proved!) can stroke the animals [someone was a little excited about the rabbits] and have breakfast. The highlight was an extremely cute bunny which I *may* have attempted to take home!

Bunny

In the evenings, we had some delicious meals at some of Padstow’s many restaurants. We tried the new Burgers and Fish, where the food was pretty good – better than the service, at least! Then we wandered around the harbour and watched the boats…

Padstow harbour by night

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Exeter Cathedral

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As we mentioned in this post, we enjoy a bit of singing, a pastime which takes us to beautiful buildings and cities (and sometimes we’re even paid to go to these places!). A little bit off the beaten track, Exeter is a lovely city with plenty to do and a simply stunning cathedral.

Exeter Cathedral window

Amazing vaulting in the main nave – and beautiful organ:

Exeter Cathedral nave

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