Cornwall advice

[ellkebe]

Totally plant unrelated I'm afraid - but I might be able to post some Eden and 'lost garden' pictures come the summer  :)

Off to Cornwall for the first time this summer, and I was wondering if anyone has advice on particular places to visit with a ten year old son?  He's not a great beach person, and I feel that if I'm going to drag him round some gardens, I should at least try to get him out to some places he'd like too.  Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

[ellkebe]

[Jesse]

we visited Cornwall year before last and went to the Eden project, our two children, then aged 3 and 5 loved it. We didn't spend as much time as I would have liked there as they did eventually get tired (and so did we!) but it was great fun, I thought the children would have got bored but they didn't and really enjoyed themselves, we were there about 4 or 5 hours in all.

Rest of the holiday we spent at beaches, went to a farm/adventure park which was a great hit with the kids, think it was called crealy, visited a cider farm...kids were bored sensless apart from the tractor ride around the orchard, went to Padstow to visit Rick Stein's shop and hired bikes and cycled along the camel trail which was fun.

[Robert_Brenchley]

The big question is, where are you going? Cornwall is 90 miles long. If you're going anywhere near Eden, try the China Clay museum at Wheal Martyn, and the Shipwreck Centre at Charlestown. I haven't been to either for donkey's years, but there should be something at both for kids to enjoy. Charlestown is well worth a visit in itself; it's a clay port which has barely changed since sailing ship days.

[Roy Bham UK]

Apart from the two that you mentioned, Lamorran House Gardens is a must  :o at Upper Castle Road St Mawes TR2 5BZ open Wednesdays, Fridays and 1st Saturday each month, a private Garden full of sub-tropical palm trees exotic fish on a slope with a stunning sea view to St Antony’s headland. :)

Trelissick is another beaut a National Trust Garden Feock, Truro TR3 6QL open daily. :)
Trebah is another large garden 26 acres crammed full of exotic trees and fish plus sea view. :)
Finally, (well there isn’t a finally as there are hundreds of gardens to visit in Cornwall) Pine Lodge gardens 30 acres of shrubs herbaceous, palms and a Japanese Garden. Cuddra, Holmbush, St Austell PL25 3RQ open Wednesdays-Sundays & Bank Holidays. :)

Click my link below to see more gardens in Cornwall. ;)

http://community.webshots.com/user/roybhamuk

[Robert_Brenchley]

Heligan's a good one; it's not really designed for kids unfortunately, but I likeed it better than Eden.

[Dan 2]

Trebah- fantastic garden! Beaches- St Ives area, Porthcurno, Trevarno garden- lovely garden with a great gardening history museum there and nice restaurant. Have  a good'un!  :D

[ellkebe]

Thanks for all the advice.  We're going to be just outside Padstow - OH is a foodie - but hopefully we can get about a bit from there.   Good to hear that yours enjoyed Eden Jesse -  there may be hope for mine  (he was showing an interest in the chitting potatoes this morning  :)) I'll look out the information on the children's park, and Charlestown sounds interesting RB so will locate it on a map.  OH is also a keen photographer so it might appeal.  Great list of gardens Roy - OH blanched when he saw it  ;D - think I might be going to be expected to show some moderation  :( - or 'reason' according to OH  ;D
Any other advice/ideas welcome.
Cheers everyone.

[Jesse]

Forgot to say that there's a beach called whitesand bay, quite a drive from Padstow...maybe an hour south....if you go there and you want to eat out for lunch the restaurant that overlooks the beach is wonderful, some of the best food we had whilst there.

The Eden project was great for the kids because it's not just plants, it explains a lot about how things are made, e.g. coffee. you see the plants but there's also an explanation on how that plant is transformed into everyday products that we use, our son was very interested in all that stuff.

Daughter also enjoyed visiting the aquarium at Newquay.

[Robert_Brenchley]

When we visited Eden we went round finding all the plants which are grown as food crops in West Africa, and found the lot. If you get information on the crops from a specific area like that, you could get the kids to go looking. Preferably pick an are like the Mediterranean, and a tropical area, so they've got something to look for in both greenhouses.

[mm-b]

Hi there
Theres a small village , i think its polperro, and you can't drive down to it. You can get a donkey though and thats nice for younger children, you can then walk back if you want.
Also a theme park called Flambards which has an old village set out in it and lots of museum things to look at as well as being a boring theme park.
Melanie

[Gardenantics]

We went to Padstow as my wife wanted to eat at Rick Steins fish restaurant. OMG wait till you see the price. I know I'm from Yorkshire so you can expect a certain tight- fistedness, but the shock was nearly fatal! we settled for a lunch at his cafe, nice but I choked on every mouthful, knowing it was about 50p a spoonful (Tea not Table) My wife enjoyed it though!

Brian

[ellkebe]

Seriously?!! - eating at Rick Stein's is the first thing on OH's to do list in Cornwall  :(  Sounds like I could visit every single garden in the county for the cost and still have some to spare  ;D  How do I talk him out of it?? - maybe get him to the Whitesand Bay one instead? Polperro sounds quaint.  My 9yr old would love a donkey ride - and so would I  ;D
Many thanks for all the ideas - keep them coming: they'll be a great help when it comes to putting the week together.

[Jesse]

yep, it is seriously expensive, we wanted to eat there as well but the prices were too high for us and also the restaurant didn't look young children friendly. He does have a shop/deli where he sells books, cooking utensils, bottled food stuff etc. we didn't buy anything but it was quite nice to look around, if I remember correctly he has a fish and chippy next door to the shop, or is that the cafe Brian is talking about. We didn't eat there, instead we went for a cycle along the camel trail and then settled for chips and sat by the harbour people and seagull watching, it was a lovely day and Padstow is a lovely little town.

Talking your OH out of eating there, just a thought, how about buying the rick stein seafood cookery school book, getting some lovely fresh local fish and enjoying an evening at wherever you're staying (assume you're going self catering), you can buy an expensive bottle of wine, drink without the worry of one of you having to drive, you get to keep the cookery book forever and with the money left over you might have enough to eat lunch at whitesand bay. :)

[ellkebe]

Sounds perfect to me Jesse - not sure I'll sell OH on it though! Bit like a book on lotties instead of an actual lottie  ;D

[Gardenantics]

The cost of eating at Rick Steins is a great bargaining tool to getting you to all the great gardens in the area. My advice is find the cafe first, then 'stumble' onto the restuarant let your OH view the menu, then back to the cafe for lunch!
Visit a tourist info' centre and pick up thr Gardens of Cornwall booklet (Free) and you can plan your visits. Trebah is great for kids as it is such a jungle of a place, and they love being able to walk through the Gunnera plantation, I loved it too, makes you feel like a Gnome. If you go at the right time the mass planting of Hydrangea is stunning, and I mean Mass! planting. You will love Cornwalls gardens.

Brian

[Jesse]

Bit like a book on lotties instead of an actual lottie  ;D

doesn't have the same appeal does it ;D ;D

[Tulipa]

I don't know whether the following link is any use:

http://www.gardensincornwall.co.uk/index.php

I have saved it to look at when I have time as we too are planning a holiday in Cornwall this year, so I don't know if it will be updated but thought it worth a try.

[sueparkin]

We went to Padstow a couple of times - Rick Stein has a sort of take away down in the harbour and we had excellent Thai fish cakes at a reasonable price compared with his other outlets.
Cycling on the Camel trail was a bit hit and my kids loved the jungly bit of Heligan. I seem to remember Tintagel was quite a hit although I  would be worried about taking really young kids there - lots of steps and cliffs.
We all enjoyed eating at the Italian that overlooks the harbour  - great views and good value food and nobody makes children more welcome than the Italians.

[ellkebe]

Thanks Tulippa - have bookmarked that.  Hope you get to Cornwall too - first time?
Brian - stumble on Rick Stein's  - hah!!  By the time we go, OH will have reservation in place and directions tattoed on his heart ;D ;D
Sue - love the idea of eating Italian overlooking the harbour at Tintagel - sounds almost Mediterranean  :)

[Gardenantics]

Start saving now then.

Brian