Pinetum Gardens, Holmbush, St.Austell: 30 Acres of Trees, Plants and Flowers

On Sunday we visited Pinetum Gardens, Holmbush. We hadn't been there for about seven or eight years and were quite impressed.

Everything seemed so much improved  than I remember. Best of all, as you will see by the photos, there was colour and flowers on display. Great to see in January.

There are some 30 acres to explore and they claim that they have one of the largest plant collections in the country.

There are ten different style gardens within Pinetum such as: a Cornish Country Garden, Japanese Garden, Woodland Garden and so on.

There is lots of openness, so plenty of room for children to run free. We had our grandchildren with us. I think they enjoyed the rope ladder most as they were able to climb high in a tree.

We also had our son's dog with us - a red fox labrador - yes, dogs are welcome too.

There are ponds and ducks, green fields, mature trees and much, much more.

I'll do another post on Pinetum Gardens, with photos of the trees, open spaces and so on.

Pinetum Gardens is on the A390 Holmbush Road, between St.Austell and St.Blazey, Cornwall.

Pentewan Harbour, Beach and Village, Cornwall

Following on from my previous post. After walking through the woods we reached the small village of Pentewan.

Pickle Cottage above was once a fisherman's home - but this was way back as the cottage was built in 1823. It's now a holiday let.

More village cottages below.

Soon the old harbour comes into view.

We soon reached the far end of Pentewan beach. As you can tell it's was a chilly old morning!

Pentewan has a long, sandy beach, even more so when the tide is out.

At this section of the beach there are the remnants from the time when Pentewan was a busy harbour.

Back in the late 1800's and early 1900's Pentewan would have been a hive of activity. China clay and various metals were exported worldwide from here in sailing ships. 

There is a photo of the harbour in days of old on my blog post Pentewan: Comparing How It Looked In 1900 With Today.

Pentewan harbour is now land locked ...

… but still with a wide expanse of water.

Bits and pieces remain from when it was a working harbour.

Having walked along the beach and around the harbour we returned to the village.

The road leading out of the east side of the village is narrow and steep. If driving a car you have to shut your eyes and hope for the best - well, sort of.

We wandered through the village, passing Piskey Cove ...

… and The Rocks and then joined the footpath to retrace our steps as in my previous post. I guess our Sunday morning walk was just over 3.5 miles. So not too strenuous for a before dinner stroll.

Walking at Pentewan, Cornwall: River, Woods and Trees

On Sunday morning it had been bucketing down. When the rain finally stopped we went for a walk along the footpath to Pentewan, Cornwall and to glimpse the sea before dinner. 

A sign post, with a dangling lost mitten, was becoming covered with moss because of all of the recent rain and dampness.

For the first part of the walk the path follows what is known as the St. Austell River. It's proper name is the Vinnick River though, to confuse things, locals often refer to it as the White River as the water is sometimes coloured white by nearby china clay deposits.

After following the river we turned off through the woods.

A few puddles remained from the recent rain, but the path was quite walkable. It is also used by cyclists and the occasional horse rider.

At the side of the path a few smaller trees were swimming in water, though they didn't manage to get very far.

Walking through an arch of trees the sun began to shine - yippee.

Almost to the end of the woods, but first a wooden bridge and a ford used by horses and sometimes cyclists.

More dampness and moss on the trees but we have now virtually reached Pentewan village.

The path opens up to the narrow road leading to the village - and what is the first thing we see? A fashion shop! Being Sunday luckily it was closed.

I'll carry on with the photos, and a glimpse of the sea, in my next post: Pentewan Harbour, Beach and Village, Cornwall

13 Photos of Mevagissey Harbour, Cornwall

After so much rain and greyness the sun finally shone (10th of January) so we headed down to Mevagissey. The tide was out so the Inner Harbour - above - was a jumble of boats.

I snapped a few photos as we walked. The boats were still able to manoeuvre in the outer harbour.

Mevagissey is primarily a fishing village. Years ago the boats would catch pilchards, but the demand gradually decreased. The pilchards were then rebranded as Cornish Sardines - and the sales increased! What a difference a name can make.

Looking east from the harbour wall shows the rugged coastline.

Two girls were out at sea on their paddle boards. The sea was so blue, calm and perfect. As I have no doubt said before, the sea around Cornwall has many colours and shades dependent on the weather conditions.

Along the wall that divides the inner and outer harbours are some of the paraphernalia for the fishing boats. The public aren't allowed along this walkway for safety reasons.

Not sure if She Sells sells sea shells but you'll find the shop by the harbour.

Looking out to the entrance of the outer harbour. Hard to believe this is January.

A few fishing boats and one of the harbour walls. Always interesting to walk along the wall unless, of course, the weather isn't too good.

A further stretch of the walkable harbour wall.

Below is the entrance to Mevagissey's inner harbour - used when the water has risen to a suitable level.

Houses overlooking the harbour. Many are now holiday or second homes. This has pushed the prices up and up. So much so that it is now difficult for locals to afford them, especially the young looking for their first home. Many have to move away. This effects the dynamics of the whole village: the shops, pubs, businesses and the community.

There's a range of small shops (and pubs & restaurants) in the village but many are aimed at the visitors who flood Mevagissey in the main summer months.

Here are three more Mevagissey posts with lots of photos:

An Introduction to Mevagissey, Cornwall The Two Saint Village

Mevagissey The Two Saint Village and Harbour - 10 Photos


Mevagissey, Cornwall - Where It's A Good Job That Cows Can't Fly!

Cornwall's Eden Project and its Varying Art Work

Today a different look at Cornwall's Eden Project. Instead of the usual plants and flowers we look a few of Eden's art work.

Above is a marble statue, which is also a water fountain. The work was created by Ryan Gander and is fabricated in the likeness of his wife, Rebecca, who playfully spits water!

In the outer regions of Eden is the gentleman below - not exactly sure what he signifies.

Moving on to the Mediterranean Biome we find Gaia, an illuminated globe by Luke Jerram. 

The globe is seven metres in diameter and has NASA detailed imagery of the Earth's surface - as it would be viewed from space.

The bird below was happily amusing himself on cacti plants.

Oh, and this wicker animal was also frolicking happily in the Mediterranean Biome - well he would be if he could.

Moving on to Eden's Core building we find Infinity Blue.

It is believed that Infinity Blue is the world's biggest ceramic sculpture. It weighs in at 20 tonne and is said to pay homage to cyanobacteria, one of the world's smallest living beings.

The structure is around nine metres tall and fires out vapour rings spasmodically from it's 32 'cannons'.

This is popular with children as they enjoy trying to catch the vapour rings before they disappear. Okay, I do too!

Moving on, there is art work around the gardens in varying forms.

Finally for this post we come across artwork called Crowd 4 designed by Julian Opie. I don't really get this, but it is described as a monolith sculpture with animation played on a double sided LED screen.

The film features a number of people crossing the screen, thus creating a monument to crowd or flock.

So there you are - various art at Cornwall's Eden Project.

All this art work, so I thought I'd give Rebecca a bit of colour instead of her marble whiteness. 

More Posts on the Eden Project:

Cornwall's Eden Project With The world's Largest Indoor Rainforest - Plus Much More

A Flavour Of Cornwall's Eden Project: 15 Photos

More Flavour of Cornwall's Eden Project - 14 Photos