When I’m driving and Cath is navigating, even in Australia, I often say that we’ll end up in Cornwall. So, it wasn’t surprising that when we finally got to Cornwall we got lost.
The last time we were touring by car in the UK we were visiting the villages of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire where British TV murder mysteries were filmed; Midsomer Murders, Agatha Christie and Poirot.
This trip the car touring involves some of the locations for Antiques Roadshow. Trelissick Gardens in Cornwall was one such location. So, Cath enters Trelissick Gardens into the GPS and off we go. Only 38 miles from Buckfastleigh Devon. Beauty. However, when we arrived we found ourselves in a suburban housing estate of Callington Cornwall called Trelissick Gardens. We pulled over and after some searching found the one we were looking for about an hour away south of Truro. Getting back to the main highway to the Southwest meant going down single lane roads with hedgerows on each side hoping not to meet a tractor or other large piece of agricultural machinery, or even an oncoming car, although there are small lay-bys so cars can pass. We finally made to the highway and headed to what we hoped as correct location.
In preparation for this trip and for my birthday in May, Cath bought us each a membership in English Heritage and the National Trust. These two organisations look after most of the national heritage sites in the UK, both human and landscape. This means castles, historic houses, scenic locations, etc., and you can’t drive far in the UK without passing one of these sites. Adult admission to many of the most popular sites can be £20 per person. So dropping into visit a few castles can be pricey. Thus, the memberships which include free entry and free parking.
We eventually got to the National Trust site of Trelissick Gardens were directed to the members parking area and received free entry. Ripper! The house had been built in the 18th century and has lovely views of the mouth of the Fal river, or Falmouth. Richard and Ida Copeland were the last owners of the estate before Ida gave it to the National Trust. Ida Copeland defeated Oswald Moseley, the British fascist and Nazi sympathiser, for parliament in the 1930s.
We had lunch on the terrace looking out to sea; walked in the gardens; had coffee at the cafe and then headed for Land’s End, the southwestern most point in mainland UK.
Land’s End is private property and it was a disappointment. The view is lovely and I think the hotel has been there for years but the local council charges £6 to park and to get to the Land’s End outlook you have pass through an arcade of shops selling food, drink, souvenirs, games, 3D movie experiences, all seemingly unrelated to the location. It seems that the British have a knack of turning some of their loveliest natural locations into tawdry amusement parks smelling of cheap beer, hot chips and tomato sauce. We did have a drink in the hotel bar looking out to sea. Wonderful!

Eric forgot to mention that to try to help him recover from his tourist Meltdown went to the Levant Beam Engine Mine. True Poldark landscape (for those that know the books - or later fans of the current TV series. Eric likes the new Demelza....). The mine goes down to below the sea bed then extends a mile out to sea under the ocean. That would worry Poldark...