Cornwall -The Amazing Place that is Trebah Gardens

Trebah Gardens is one of the most amazing places I’ve ever visited! Even when I compare it to some of the most famous parks and gardens in the world, that I’ve been lucky enough to frequent, it is up there in my list of Top Ten places to go.

My first ever foray to this beautiful world, tucked away on the Helford River between Helston and Falmouth in Cornwall, was back in 2012. It was the year of the Olympic Games in London, when I stayed with my children in a cottage in Mousehole.
Since then I returned again with my children, for my fiftieth birthday, despite it being around Valentine’s Day and the weather not being so great. There was just nowhere else I wanted to spend my special day which included a fabulous lunch at their on site cafe.

I then dragged my hubby-to-be along to photograph it when we went to Cornwall in February 2016. It was our first ever holiday away together and like me he fell in love with it. I now return there every time I am staying in Cornwall.

Historically Trebah was originally purchased by the Fox family in 1831 and laid out by Charles Fox. Charles was a Quaker and his breadth of knowledge spanned a substantial number of subjects. He was able to draw on this knowledge in order to solve problems as they arose during the planning stages paying particular attention to the exact positioning of every tree. His family had already built Glendurgan Garden just a four minute walk up the road although this garden was later, in 1962, given to the National Trust by his future descendants Cuthbert and Philip Fox.
In 1907 Trebah was sold to Charles Hawkins Hext and then inherited on his death in 1917 by his wife, Alice who died in 1939. Alice was a Cornish philanthropist, garden developer and magistrate and the gardens thrived under her stewardship. She was a keen horticulturist and a frequent exhibitor at county and local garden shows and in her support of these she did much to help allotment holders and small gardeners. The grounds at Trebah were always open to the public and were often used for fetes and garden parties.

After her death and as World War II loomed, Trebah Estate was sold off in small packages, of which the house and garden was one. They fell into decline until 1981 when the then “lost garden” at Trebah was rescued by the Hibbert family, who established a charitable trust to enable the garden to be open to the public once again. It reopened to the public in 1987 and by 1989 visitor numbers had reached 36,000. These continued to increase and following a major grant in the year 2000 the nursery was restored, further major landscaping and garden improvements were made and a cob and thatch arbour in the garden was restored and given the name “Alice’s Seat”.

It’s just such a special place. Paths meander downwards from the entrance towards the private Polgwidden Beach. During the war, Trebah was used for military purposes and the assault on Omaha Beach in Normandy was launched from here.
Every corner you turn something else hits your eyeline and makes you smile or fills the air with a lovely flowery scent that actually stops you in your tracks. There is just so much to explore in this 26 acre, subtropical paradise with over four miles of footpaths. The gardens have been very cleverly managed and established so that there is something to see here whatever the season. Their website sums this up really well……
” In spring, Trebah comes alive with a colourful array of 100-year-old rhododendrons, magnolias and camellias. In summer, the giant gunnera is a must see for young and old.
In autumn, Hydrangea Valley casts clouds of china blue and soft white across Mallard Pond. In winter, our spectacular champion trees dominate the landscape, whilst plants from the southern hemisphere start to flower.”

There are so many things I love to do here:
Try just sitting -do a bit of people watching or just close your eyes and listen. Really listen, to the sound of the birds up in the high treetops or the lonely little bee buzzing nearby as it stops for it’s nectar feed.
Take a book with you – sit for a while and just lose yourself in your book surrounded by nature at its glorious best. There’s a great seat up on the eerie overlooking the beach at the bottom of the garden on the right as you look out to sea that just seems to be meant for this purpose.
Sit yourself down in one of the shaded glades and lose yourself to your own imagination. I find this place so magical I can almost hear the whispers of the fairy folk as they go about their day carefully avoiding being seen by us super humans!

Next time you are in Cornwall pay Trebah a visit, luxuriate in your surroundings and see, if like me, you fall under it’s spell.

NB: This is part of a series of four posts I have written about Cornwall. Why not read the others? Please like and/or comment at will