The Gardens & Galleries of Cornwall

THE GARDENS AND GALLERIES OF CORNWALL

A FIVE NIGHT HOLIDAY | 3 SEPTEMBER 2023

Cornwall’s unique microclimate makes it the perfect destination for a late summer escape, and the warmth combined with the special quality of the light here has – much like the French Riviera – long attracted both artists and horticulturalists. In the company of expert gardener and writer Kirsty Fergusson, we will visit some of the very best of the county’s gardens – both public and private – as well as important art galleries, including the recently extended Tate St Ives.

the itinerary

Please make your own way to Falmouth where we stay for the duration of the tour at the 4* St Michael’s Resort. Dinner will be taken in the hotel’s restaurant this evening.

Today we go to two adjacent gardens on the Helford River. The first, Trebah, is a wonderful sub-tropical paradise with glorious views out across the river. Established over 160 years ago by the Quaker polymath Charles Fox as a pleasure garden, it is full of exotic species. Then we go to Glendurgan, another garden established by the Fox family, who were great gardeners and plant collectors. Now run by the National Trust, Glendurgan combines exotic plants with banks of wildflowers.

This morning we will travel to the Lizard peninsula, the most south-westerly point of the British mainland. Here we visit Bonython Manor gardens, where owners Sue and Richard Nathan arrived from South Africa in 1999, bringing with them a love of South African plants. While the walled gardens remain traditionally English in their inspiration, the lakeside slopes are planted with a bold mixture of grasses and plants native to the Cape. We then cross the Helford River to Trelowarren, home to the Vyvyan family for 600 years to enjoy lunch in the Estate’s own restaurant and explore the gardens.

Our first visit this morning is to Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens. Here impressive exotic and sub-tropical planting is combined with works by internationally renowned artists including James Turrell, David Nash and Richard Long, who have created sculpture to complement the surrounding Cornish landscape. Next we head to the Tate St. Ives. Reopened in October 2017 after a four-year redevelopment, the Tate is now able to display a semi-permanent collection in the original building including several works by artists associated with Cornwall, as well as a programme of temporary exhibitions in the new wing. We will then visit the nearby Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden where the artist and sculptor lived with her husband, Ben Nicholson, after they moved to Cornwall. She died here on 20 May 1975 after a fire swept through the building.

Tate St. Ives Trebah Garden

DAY 5

Tregrehan, a family estate belonging to the Carlyon family, is set on the slopes above St Austell in 20 acres of woodland. Victorian kitchen gardens, and beautifully presented greenhouses are evidence of the family’s deep and knowledgeable affection for plants, particularly those of the southern hemisphere. Tom Hudson, the latest family member to take on the gardens has added to the wonderful collection of trees from his many plant hunting trips in high-altitude Asia. We continue to Polkerris, in Daphne du Maurier country, for lunch at a traditional pub beside the beach. In the afternoon we visit Hidden Valley Gardens where Tricia and Peter Howard have created three-acre garden and nursery brimming with late summer colour, including a pond area with wildlife and bog planting a shady Fernery, Japanese and Mediterranean areas.

6

The tour ends after a visit to nearby Potager Garden; a relatively new garden on the site of a former plant nursery where the emphasis is on enjoyment and relaxation – and there’s a fabulous cafe.

DAY

TOUR INFORMATION

DEPARTURE DATE & PRICES

DATE PRICE SINGLE SUPP 3 September £2,149 £295

Our prices are per person, based on the shared occupancy of a twin/double room.

WHAT WE INCLUDE

• Five nights’ accommodation with breakfast • Three dinners and two lunches • All sightseeing, entrance fees and gratuities • The services of the Kirker Tour Leader, Kirsty Fergusson