Cornwall


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tremenheere-sculpture-garden">Tremenheere Sculpture Garden</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="720" height="480" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/02/Tremenheere-Mounts-Bay-720x480.jpg" alt="Tremenheere-Mounts-Bay" class="wp-image-22033" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/02/Tremenheere-Mounts-Bay-720x480.jpg 720w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/02/Tremenheere-Mounts-Bay-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/02/Tremenheere-Mounts-Bay-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/02/Tremenheere-Mounts-Bay-787x525.jpg 787w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/02/Tremenheere-Mounts-Bay.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" /></figure>



<p>Developed in the valley between Gulval and Ludgvan where the religious community who lived on St Michael’s Mount before the Civil War had their vineyard, <a href="https://www.tremenheere.co.uk/">Tremenheere Sculpture Garden</a> is one of the most magical of west Cornwall’s many magical gardens. The path leads you on boardwalks back and forth over a river surrounded by incredible ferns and then up the valley to huge displays of subtropical plants with an unsurpassed view down to the Mount and the bay. </p>



<p>At every turn there are imaginative sculptures, often using wood or water or recycled materials. Children love being taken into the fougou-like tunnel that opens out into a brilliant white space where &nbsp;you can lie back and be mesmerised by a circle of captured sky, or into the camera obscura, where they can spy on the garden and people outside. A particular favourite on a windy day is the giant wooden temple in above the car park, whose pillars are designed to rock back and forth on the breeze. There’s a very tempting succulents nursery and a café so irresistible it’s recommended you book a table in advance.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-treen-and-logan-rock-inn">Treen and Logan Rock Inn</h2>



<p>Penberth Cove is one of the most magical spots in West Penwith &#8211; where I’m lucky enough to live and which I think of as Cornwall’s Cornwall.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/06/treen-porthcurno-logans-rock.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-19131" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/06/treen-porthcurno-logans-rock.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/06/treen-porthcurno-logans-rock-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/06/treen-porthcurno-logans-rock-667x500.jpg 667w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/06/treen-porthcurno-logans-rock-768x576.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/06/treen-porthcurno-logans-rock-700x525.jpg 700w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>The nearest village to Penberth also has one of west Cornwall’s most magically unspoilt pubs in the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Logan Rock Inn (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.theloganrockinn.co.uk/" target="_blank">Logan Rock Inn</a> at Treen. There’s delicious food on offer, always, including mouthwateringly fresh local seafood and steaks from farmers who are often the legendary landlady’s friends and rib-sticking puds, bags of atmosphere and dog friendly eating spaces indoors and out. If you walk through the village away from the pub and pick up the footpath beside the campsite, you can enjoy a circular walk (on what can sometimes be a hybrid path and stream &#8211; you have been warned) down through Penberth Woods to swim at Penberth before climbing the steep path up the cliff to the west towards the Logan Rock (above) that gives the pub it’s name and then inland back to Treen for a cream tea in the pub from whence you set out…</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Nanjizal</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="664" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/01/nanjizal-beach-pool-arch.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-21468" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/01/nanjizal-beach-pool-arch.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/01/nanjizal-beach-pool-arch-300x199.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/01/nanjizal-beach-pool-arch-720x478.jpg 720w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/01/nanjizal-beach-pool-arch-768x510.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2021/01/nanjizal-beach-pool-arch-791x525.jpg 791w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>I used to try to keep this marvellous beach a secret but countless write-ups in “wild swimming” guides have wrecked that. &nbsp;It remains special, though, partly because there is no car park so it’s truly one of those beaches you can only reach by <a aria-label="walking some way across the fields (opens in a new tab)" href="https://cornwall.muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/muddy-walks-nanjizal-beach/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">walking some way across the fields</a>. Facing due west, it catches the sunset. It often has seals still exploring its waters first thing. A stream tumbles down from Nanjizal valley onto it so there’s always somewhere for dogs to drink and cool off. It has caves to explore and the wondrous cleft in the cliff called The Song of the Sea (above) where walkers these days are forever struggling to capture to perfect selfie for Instagram. Trust me, you’d hate it. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/Patrick-Gale-garden.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-25994" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/Patrick-Gale-garden.jpeg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/Patrick-Gale-garden-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/Patrick-Gale-garden-500x500.jpeg 500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/Patrick-Gale-garden-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/Patrick-Gale-garden-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/Patrick-Gale-garden-525x525.jpeg 525w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/Patrick-Gale-garden-200x200.jpeg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>If you happen to visit in June, you can make an appointment to visit our garden up the cliff at Trevilley (above). This is the westernmost walled rose garden and probably my very favourite spot on earth, which we open for charity through the National Gardens Scheme. Full details <a href="https://findagarden.ngs.org.uk/garden/36814/trevilley">here</a><a class="" href="http://www.ngs.org.uk/">.</a>&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">St Endellion</h2>



<p>I have to include this spot as it’s the place that drew me to live in Cornwall &nbsp;in my early twenties. There’s very little there, beyond a clutch of houses around a simply staggering ancient church with one of the most perfect acoustics in the county, but three times a year it hosts festivals for which you’ll need to fight to buy tickets. At Easter and high summer there are the St Endellion Music Festivals (which recruited me as a choirboy, and thereby hangs my Cornish tale) and over the last weekend in September there’s the <a href="https://endelienta.org.uk/north-cornwall-book-festival/">North Cornwall Book Festival</a>, which I helped to start nearly ten years ago and where I bow out after my final festival this year. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/St-Endellion-Patrick-Gale.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-25995" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/St-Endellion-Patrick-Gale.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/St-Endellion-Patrick-Gale-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/St-Endellion-Patrick-Gale-720x480.jpg 720w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/St-Endellion-Patrick-Gale-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/cornwall/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2022/02/St-Endellion-Patrick-Gale-787x525.jpg 787w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>We’ve an incredible line up, this year, including evening gigs by Haunt the Woods and the Poet Laureate’s band, LYR and we lay on a lovely Cornish market and a fantastic café to encourage you to linger all day. Tickets are disappearing rapidly but hurry and you may yet get lucky.&nbsp;I recommend just letting yourself into the church outside festival season simply to sit and breathe in its extraordinarily attentive atmosphere, admire the beautiful carvings and remind yourself why Cornwall has been attracting pilgrims for centuries and not simply since the invention of staycations.</p>



<p><em>Patrick Gale is Artistic Director of the <a href="https://endelienta.org.uk/north-cornwall-book-festival/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">North Cornwall Book Festival </a>at St Endellion. His latest novel, Mother&#8217;s Boy was released in 2002.</em></p>


My fave places: Patrick Gale, Author

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