Lost gardens of Heligan

Today we made our way further down into Cornwall, in fact nearly to the end, and visited the Lost Gardens of Heligan.

It was a huge estate that was abandoned after the First World War. The house was sold during the 1970's and the gardens were left completely overgrown and forgotten until 1990.

It was then gradually restored and brought back to life. Unfortunately, March is not the best time to visit, as it is famed for its exotic gardens and they die back in the winter only gradually start growing again around now.

However, you can imagine it in its full glory, and spring is definitely taking hold.

I do recommend the Burma Rope Bridge across the valley

although the swing on the Adventure Playground was more exciting.

As members of the RHS we got in for free so I didn't mind not making the most of the gardens, and I managed to spend double the entry costs in the on site Garden Centre, so it worked out well in the end.

Lots of fantastic purchases including our own, currently quite small, gunnera manicata. See example below - we have left ours in the car and Darren is hoping that it will grow into something similar overnight.

Tonight we are staying at the glorious Tregenna Castle, with beautiful views over St Ives, although not from our room this time.