Bluebells

21st May - Tuesday

All kitted up 

Postman Pat, Postman Pat ... 

A perfumed, yellow rhododendron 

Colourful spring leaves 

Pretending to be a garden gnome

Looking for fairies at the bottom of the garden 

 Durgen

A smugglers' cave? 

 The maze

 Big tree and pretty flowers

Bluebells in a hedge

 Not a bad holiday house

One way to keep the cheese cool 

Just a couple of real pussy cats! 

Bluebell bliss

 Everyone wants to get in on the act

The Cobweb 

 Large slabs of slate in the stream

Boscastle 

Boscastle Harbour

We had a rather foggy and chilly start to the day as we set out to visit some of the tourist attractions of Cornwall. Our first stop was at the Poldark Tin Mine, which seemed to be a bit disorganised; we entered the complex through the restaurant and had great trouble finding the ticket box and entrance. Most of the shops/attractions were closed, with the museum being the only thing open, apart from the mine tour. We had to kit up with hard hats for the journey underground into the 18th Century tin mine. Fortunately, the tunnels have been heightened, which meant we were able to walk (albeit sometimes stooped) instead of drawl. Being very wet underground, we really appreciated the duckboards, not to mention the hard hats at times! The mine was dug into the side of a hill, so it didn’t take long for us to be 75 feet below the surface and not have to descend a shaft or ladders. When we reached this point of the tour, we were shown the type of ladder the miners climbed in the dark – then we were shown the narrow, wet, metal staircase we had to descend. With so much water running of the walls in this part of the mine, it was like climbing under a waterfall. Then, when we arrived at the bottom, we had to climb back up a pathway to ground level – and the gift shop! The tour was really interesting and the guide had a very dry sense of humour.


With the weather still very overcast with a thick, grey haze, we travelled through some more narrow and windy lanes, with lots and lots of bluebells and flowers growing in and on the hedges, to the National Trust property, Glendurgen Garden. No house, just a very large garden set out on the side of the hill leading down to the village of Durgen on the river. The garden was a mass of colour, with all the rhododendrons in full flower, with a carpet of bluebells underneath. We walked down the hill to the small village at the bottom – just a few stone cottages overlooking the water and a “smugglers’ cave.” Of course, what goes down must also go back up! The walk uphill wasn’t too bad until we deviated from the “easy” path to the viewing platform for the maze. The path seemed to go for at least five miles straight up the side of a cliff!!! After getting to the top (my face must have been as blue as the bluebells!) and coming back down, we discovered the viewing area for the maze was only about four steps above the “easy” path. After entering the maze and turning down quite a few dead ends, we realised it was going to take quite some time climbing up and down the steps (why would anyone want to build a maze on the size of a hill?), and with one of us puffing and the other mumbling about knees, we decided to retrace our steps and leave the maze for others to conquer. It was a slow walk back up the hill (with a few rests to admire the scenery) before we exited through the gift shop!

Next stop was another National Trust property recommended by our hostess – Lanhydrock, near Bodmin.   (We have really had good value from our NT Touring Pass!)  Wow, what a gem. The entrance to the grounds was next to a long hedge well, complete with bluebells and just inside the gates was a bluebell wood – one of the things on my wish list for this trip to England. The perfume was incredible, as well. Lanhydrock House was the country home of Viscount Someone, who died in 1953 without any descendents, so he willed the estate to the National Trust, including most of the contents. At least 50 rooms are open to the public and are just as they would have looked during the Victorian era, especially the servants area downstairs. There were so many different rooms for food preparation, not just the kitchen. The cheese/cool room even had an enormous marble slab with cold water running along a channel carved into the top. Whilst it may not have been quite the grandest house we have been through, it was certainly the most interesting. We had another walk through the bluebells on our way back to the car, just for good measure.

We decided to have our evening meal in Boscastle, only a few kilometres from our B & B. This turned out to be the most charming, old fishing village, with a stream running through the village before becoming the harbour behind some breakwaters. Apart from some very quaint cottages and stone buildings, the village also boats a witchcraft museum. We had a meal in the Cobweb Pub – all dark slate walls and black beams. We still find it a bit hard to accept that the British take their dogs into restaurants and eating establishments. After a very nice meal, we discovered that the sun had finally broken through the clouds at 7.00 pm.