Day 47 - Wendron to Falmouth

 

Date: Sunday 20^th June 2010   Distance: 16.01 Miles

 

It was another great breakfast with a friendly couple to chat to. Bob mended the bike of grandchild of the B and B people. That sort of thing makes his holiday.

This was a very nice laid back place to stay.

 

We cycled to Glendurgan Gardens (NT) only to find that because the incumbents are Quaker and therefore it’s closed on Sunday. Not far away is Trebah, another garden and we were lucky to get Bob in free as it was Father’s Day and we had a pound off for cycling.

 

We were a bit disappointed with the lay out but it seems they have been having problems. Rhododendrons had been removed because of oak sudden death and large areas had been cleared. There wasn’t a lot of colour for June. There was a private beach at the end of the garden that gave lovely views and a large party of teenagers had been having an art class there. They were very self -conscious about their pictures which were mostly left behind. We liked the garden’s recycling policy and the iced water available free in main café.

 

A little pond was teeming with tadpoles at different stages of their life cycle- so many that there couldn’t be any fish to eat the frog spawn. We watched dragon flies laying eggs on leaves in the water after an aerial courtship dance while turquoise blue damsel flies flitted in and out. It seems to us that the natural flora and fauna here are the most worth seeing as the planting is most uninspired.

 

It was busy cycling to Falmouth. We visited the Castle Owned by English Heritage. This was OK if you like cannons and items of warfare. The castle is bare walls, with spiral stairs up and down for views and a feel for the dungeon.

 

There are 2 ferries in Falmouth but they are both quite small boats with slippery steps to carry a bike down. Only one actually saved us miles if we used it so we decided to cross the estuary higher up.

 

This was the first B and B on a main road though we had a back room with a king sized bed and nice comfy settee. We found a real ale pub where sea shanties were sung all night as part of the sea shanty festival and despite having to leave to eat food in another hostelry we were soon back for a convivial atmosphere and a jolly good sing!